"Revelation" By Flannery O'Connor

1. Identify at least three allusions in the story and explain their significance.

There are several allusions to pigs and hogs in the story, such as " 'Two thangs I ain't going to do: love no niggers or scoot down no hog with no hose.' " and " 'Our hogs are not dirty and they don't stink,' she said. 'They're cleaner than some children I've seen..." In the story, the hogs are used to describe different views on black people and white-trash. The white-trash woman states that hogs are dirty animals several times, and she discriminates against black people. Mrs.Turpin, who believes that she is superior to both white-trash and the blacks, insists that her hogs are clean, since she thinks that she is better than everyone so her hogs are also better. When Mrs.Turpin is called a hog, by Mary Grace, she realises that it is an insult, and that everyone is equal in the eyes of God.

Another frequent allusion is the reference to Jesus. Mrs.Turpin considers herself lucky to be a white woman and a landowner, and thanks Jesus for this, to show that she is grateful. Her thoughts also reflect her prejudices towards white-trash. An example is " 'If Jesus had said to her before he made her, 'There's only two places available for you. You can either be a nigger or white trash,' what would she have said? 'Please, Jesus, please,' she would have said, 'Just let me wait until there's another place available,' and he would have said, 'No, you have to go right now', and I have only those two places so make up your mind.' She would have wiggled and squirmed and begged and pleaded but it would have been no use and finally she would have said, 'All right, make me a nigger then-but that don't mean a trashy one.' And he would have made her a near clean respectable Negro woman, herself but black."

The name "Mary Grace" is an allusion to grace. Mrs.Turpin is a Christian, so she will find salvation, but she does not have grace, while Mary Grace does, as she realises that all people are equal.

2. What is the revelation Mrs Turpin experiences?

Mrs.Turpin realises that all people are equal in God's eyes and that no one is categorized as black people, white-trash, land owners and so on. She also realises that she is just like a hog, below human, for not being able to see that everyone is equal, and that she is not necessarily saved. Mrs.Turpin sees that being a thanking Jesus for being a white woman is not enough to get to heaven, because her racist attitude does not comply with Christian ways. She understands that she will only find salvation if she treats everybody as equals.

3. What circumstances triggered her revelation?

When Mary Grace has a seizure, instead of asking her what's wrong or trying to help, Mrs.Turpin keeps asking Mary Grace what she has to say to her. Mrs.Turpin feels like Mary Grace knows her in a personal way and that in that moment she is close to God. So when she is called a warthog, Mrs.Turpin is shocked and insulted, and can't figure out why this revelation happened to her and not to someone else. When she goes to wash the hogs, she realises that her sins cover her, just like the dirt covers the hogs.

4. Ruby Turpin’s experience seems to be something revealed to her by another agency. Identify that agency and explain how O’Connor crafts that agency into her story.

The agency that reveals to Mrs.Turpin that her ways are wrong might be God or Jesus. God or Jesus both love all of their people and want the best for them, so God or Jesus shows Mrs.Turpin that she is wrong in judging people, so that she can change her attitude and be able to find salvation. Using God or Jesus as the agency and not just someone else makes it easier for Mrs.Turpin to believe that everyone truly is equal, since no one would question God's or Jesus' authority.

5. Select three statements from the story and explain the meaning O’Connor squeezed into their 

context.

“Why me?”

Mrs.Turpin has believed that people can be categorized and classified all her life, and she thought that she fell into one of the better categories. She doesn't understand why she would be called a warthog, because she believes that she has always been good while there are people around her who aren't so good. She doesn't want to believe that she has been the person who was on the wrong path while she provided employment to black people, was nice to them, and went to Church regularly, while there are white-trash people who are filthy and don't even work.

“She was looking straight up as if there were unintelligible handwriting on the ceiling.”

Mrs.Turpin is thinking hard trying to figure out why out of all of the people she was called a warthog. She is staring at the ceiling, like the answer if there, but she can't read it. She feels like the answer to her question is in her reach, but she can't grasp it, because there is a part of it because she doesn't fully understand.

“...you had to have certain things before you could know certain things.”

This statement suggests that the materials someone owns and the money they have will determine their understanding of the events going on around them. Mrs. Turpin and the pleasant lady agree that the white-trash woman isn't in the position to make a choice between black people and hogs because she hasn't had to deal with either of them. Mrs.Turpin thinks that the white-trash woman can't possibly know if black people or hogs are better because she doesn't employ any black people or own any hogs because she is white-trash. Since she is white-trash she will never be on the same level as white landowners, and will never understand the things white landowners can understand. 

Ethnic Stereotypes in “The Displaced Person”

“The Displaced Person,” by Flannery O’Connor, is a story about life on Mrs.McIntyre’s farm after the arrival of a new Polish family, displaced due to the war. Throughout the story, Flannery O’Connor presents several different stereotypes, including racial, religious, business related, socioeconomic, marital, ethnic, and political stereotypes. The presentation of the standardized views of foreign ethnic groups in the story is especially effective, as it also emphasizes how oblivious the people on the farm are.

The story takes place in a farm in America, which makes Mr. Guizac and his family, or more generally the Europeans, the foreigners. Mrs.Shortley is prejudiced towards the Guizac’s even before she meets them. This is seen from the amazement that arises when she sees that the Guizac’s “looked like other people,” as Mrs.Shortley had imagined them as “three bears, walking single file, with wooden shoes on like Dutchmen and sailor hats and bright coats with a lot of buttons.” Mrs.Shortley’s astonishment increases as she watches the family, staring at them closely, squinting to see better. Mrs.Shortley had been judging the Guizac family even before they arrived, making fun of and insulting their language, by saying the word “Guizac” sounded like “Gobblehook” and that the daughter’s name sounded like something you would call a bug, and saying that they wouldn’t even know what colors are. The fact that Mrs.Shortley doesn’t see the Guizac’s as people, shows just how ignorant she is.

Mrs.Shortley’s attitude towards the Guizac family does not improve over time, and moves on to judge everyone in Europe as well. Europe is presented as a country that is not as advanced as America, where piling “dead naked people all in a heap, their arms and legs tangled together, a head thrust in here, a head there, a foot, a knee, a part that should have been covered up sticking out, a hand raised clutching nothing” is the norm. Mrs.Shortley talks about the situation in Europe without a single ounce of compassion, makes fun of the situation, which can be seen through her choice of words, and assumes everyone in Europe carries those murderous ways. To Mrs.Shortley, Europe is “mysterious and evil, the devil’s experiment station.”

Mrs.Shortley infects Mr.Shortley and Mrs.McIntyre with her way of thought. Mrs.McIntyre, who at first thought of Mr.Guizac as a source of salvation, starts to doubt him over time, even though she knows that he is the most efficient worker she ever had and saves her a great deal of money. This situation begins when Mrs.McIntyre discovers that Mr.Guizac intends to marry his niece to one of the Negroes on the farm, which leads to her threatening to fire Mr.Guizac if he insists on the marriage going through, and intensifies when she learns that Mrs.Shortley, who she considered a close friend, is dead. After this point, Mrs.McIntyre starts seeing the Guizac’s as “extra people,” and decides that she has no responsibility towards them.

Mr.Shortley’s hatred towards the displaced person starts the build up after his wife’s death. He decides that letting people from different ethnic groups learn English is a mistake, and that Mr.Guizac is to blame for his wife’s death. Mr.Shortley, coming to the conclusion that he has the right to vengeance, runs over Mr.Guizac with a tractor, taking care to make it look like an accident. The displaced person is carried away in an ambulance, dead, and failed to have earned the respect of the American’s and be accepted as a decent human being.

The River

               

          “The River” by Flannery O’Connor tells the story of a young child named Bevel who tries to baptize himself in search of the Kingdom of Christ, to make himself “count.” Bevel is introduced to Christianity by Mrs.Connin, the lady who takes care of him for a day. After seeing Reverend Bevel Summers preach to the people from a river in the forest, Bevel returns to the river the next day and drowns himself while looking for a way out of his life, which comes in the form of the Kingdom of Christ.

                Bevel’s family and his life at home are the things that push him to decide to baptize himself. Bevel’s mother and father are people who constantly drink and smoke, and don’t take proper care of their child. This can be seen several times throughout the story. When the father is dressing up Bevel before Bevel leaves with Mrs.Connin, he doesn’t take care that Bevel’s arm isn’t in the sleeve of the coat and when Mrs.Connin points this out, he replies “ ‘Well then for Christ’s sake fix him,’ ” which is a sarcastic reply that shows he doesn’t care. Bevel’s mother also displays the same attitude towards her son. When he is leaving with Mrs.Connin, the mother doesn’t say anything or help fix Bevel up because she is sick in bed with a “hangover.” When the mother does talk to Bevel, she only does so to criticize Reverend Bevel and religion. The fact that Bevel steals, and that no one tells him not to steal also shows that the parents don’t take interest in their child’s life. This can also be seen when Bevel goes to bed without changing his clothes, because no one prepares him for bed, and when he wakes up, he eats the leftovers he finds lying around and drinks “some ginger ale left in a bottle.”   Bevel is a lonely child. His parents don’t look after him and no one cares for him. He is taken care of by babysitters, especially by the ones who take the children to their own houses instead of staying at the child’s house. When Mrs.Connin takes Bevel to the river, Bevel discovers that the “River of Blood” will take him to the Kingdom of Christ, and he will be able to leave his pain and sorrow in the river, and he is genuinely affected by this. The idea of laying his pain in some muddy water, and not having to return to the apartment leads Bevel to decide to go back to the river. Since his parents don’t look after Bevel, he is able to sneak out and visit the river once more, to baptize himself, this time without having to fool with preachers, until he finds the Kingdom of Christ.

                When Bevel dives into the river and realizes that he has to come back up for air, he believes that he was deceived, and that the Kingdom of Christ does not exist and that the people at the healing were joking with him earlier. This devastates and infuriates him, since he thinks that he came all the way to the river for nothing and that he won’t be saved from his life, and Bevel yearns for salvation; he desperately wants to be saved from his life at the apartment with parents who don’t love him. While he thinks about all of these things, he forgets to think about where he is stepping and is taken to the part of the river from where there is no return. At this moment, he sees Mr.Paradise, who had followed Bevel to the river when he saw him walk by the gas station, perhaps because he was worried when he saw Bevel by himself. Yet, Mr. Paradise could have actually known that Bevel would try to find the Kingdom of Christ, since he himself went through the same feelings as Bevel, and wants to be saved, because he has cancer and can’t be cured. Mr. Paradise, however, misinterprets Christianity and God, expects real miracles to be performed, and is an animal in the sense that he will never understand religion. This is why Mr.Paradise doesn’t see that Bevel finally finds salvation when he drowns himself.

                In this story, Flannery O’Connor describes what happens to a child who lives without love of spirituality. The need of love and something greater to believe in is demonstrated though Bevel’s behavior. 

“When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


People can't help but meddle in the life of others. It's so easy to point out the mistakes others make, and tell them how to live their lives, while deciding what to do with your own is so difficult. Maybe people meddle because they want someone to tell them how to live their life, but even when people are offered advice, most of the time, they don't take it.


Seeing others mess up can be sad, but messing up yourself is worse. Asking a person to change is much more simple than trying to change yourself, because if the other person doesn't change, you'll get mad then it will be over. When you don't change, you'll be letting yourself down, and moving on won't be as easy, and somehow you'll find a way to blame it on others, since that's what people do. The best thing to do  is to live for yourself, and not for others. Your life should not revolve around pleasing other people, or the lives of other people, and then by following the omens and listening to heart, the universe can help you find your treasure.

Characterizations

My name's John Wesley.
Imma boy scout.
I wheeled General Sash onstage, for Aunt Sally's graduation.
I did what I was told to do.
I deserve a bottle o'coke.

My name is Sally Poker Sash.
I am a decent teacher.
I spent the last 20 summers learning teaching methods I'll never use.
I prayed every night for my grandfather to live till I graduate.
See him! You upstarts, see him! See how he stands!

I'm General Sash.
I'm a hunndreddddd anddd fooouuurrr!
I was at the preemy with all the beautiful guls.
I was sittin on stage but my mind was at the hole in my head.
And the black procession was comin, the were comin fast!

Heaven lies about us in our infancy.

In his poem Ode Intimations of Immortality, William Wordsworth states that as years pass, people forget where they come from, which according to him is the "celestial light," get swept into the pleasures handed to them, and loose their youth. With the line "The things which I have seen I now can see no more." William Wordsworth says that once you lose your youth, nothing will be the way it was before. He further explains this by saying that youth is the only passage way to the celestial light, and you can only remember the celestial life, when you are an infant.

When you think about children, you will find this to be quite true. Children are pure, naive, energetic and curious. For them, nothing is impossible, and they are full with optimism. Children are free, and they feel glorious. They can dream, live without a single worry, and be happy, but not forever, because they are forced to grow up. As people grow up, they explore the world, and actually understand the things going on around them, and nothing is as simple as it was before, when small toys and ice cream made them happy. As you grow up, you forget about your life in the celestial light. "Business, love, or strife" will take away all your attention, and you will learn to always ask for bigger and better things, to want the things you don't have, and life will never be pure again.

This can also be seen in Joseph Conrad's story, Youth. Marlow, a middle aged sailor looks back on his journey to the East on an old ship called Judea. Marlow describes the day he joined the ship, which had the motto "Do or Die," as one of the happiest days of his life. The ship goes through a series of unfortunate events, like getting hit by a steamer and the cargo spontaneously combusting, and the journey is delayed several times. However, none of this affects Marlow's spirit at all, since he his young, for him, everyday is a new adventure, and the world continues to amaze him. When Marlow looks back at his attitude, all that he can say his that he was so stupid, because he has grown up, life has changed him, and he is not young anymore, he is far away from the celestial light, and will never know heaven.

the wind whistles,
the waves whip at the aging wooden vessel.
the smell of salt hangs in the air,
the white foam conceals the blue.

the mast towers,
the faded paint peels off the weathered wood.
the bleached canvas of the sail droops
and below stands the man.

the young man gazes at the endless sea.
the grey skies can't dishearten him
for what he sees are countless opportunities,
adventure, hope, and liberty,
and for him, life is infinite.