Review of "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor

I don’t know where to begin after reading this story. This was written when segregation was still very common but it was amazing to me at how prejudice Mrs. Turpin was written to be. She is a hypocrite. She claims to be a good Christian woman who would do anything for anyone, except blacks and white trash. Mrs. Turpin thinks about societal classes way too much. She has a place for almost everyone, the “niggers” and white-trash are her lowest on her societal list. I also can’t imagine sitting in a place as common as the doctor’s office and listening or being involved in a conversation similar to the one held in this story. It was great when the girl threw the book at Mrs. Turpin. It’s also a good example of symbolism. Mrs. Turpin is very judgmental but according to Christianity, God is the only one who can judge. Similarly, when someone is in court and gets a guilty verdict it is said that “they had the book thrown at them”. It just happened literally to Mrs. Turpin.



I was amazed that people actually had conversations similar to this not so long ago. It would be incredibly awkward to be sitting with a large group of strangers discussing the low class members of society, especially when someone fits the stereotype within the room. I was a little surprised that Mrs. Turpin and the trashy girl didn’t get into an argument. Mrs. Turpin was blatantly rude to her. This story is a great way to see what strides have been taken in America to overcome racism. In the history of America, 40 years is a short time, and a lot has been accomplished.


The ending was a little hard to comprehend. It seems as if Mrs. Turpin has an epiphany about the meaning of what the girl said to her earlier in the day. She finally realizes that the low-class people on her societal scale are still people and everyone has the same two possible destinations.