Division and judgment is a common stumbling block we all face. A lot of things divides us from each other. What if because of social division one is stopped from getting to know her true self? What if the people or the thing that was once looked down upon is exactly what is needed to see life in a different perspective? Mrs. Turpin in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Revelation, is a prejudice and judgmental woman who spends most of her life prying on the lives of everyone around her. Mrs. Turpin judges people based on their social and economic class, and ethnic background. It is not until she has a “Revelation” that she realizes she is not much different. The story is narrated in the third person and begins with the main protagonist, Mrs.
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When Mary Grace slams the book shut and looks straight in front of her and looks directly through Mrs. Turpin her eyes seem ‘lit all of a sudden with peculiar light, an unnatural light like night road signs give.’ This is important because it represents a sign or a path that Mrs. Turpin must take. O’Connor is also using symbolism through Mary Grace’s book; ironically it is called Human Development. Eyes play a significant role again just before Mrs. Turpin asks Mary Grace is she in college, she notices Mary Grace’s eyes ‘fixed like two drills’ on her and that there ‘was something urgent behind them.’ Mrs. Turpin doesn’t realize it yet but it is through Mary Grace’s eyes that the reader begins to realize that Mrs. Turpin needs to have a look at herself and in the things that she believes in. The reader already knows that Mrs. Turpin believes in a hierarchy and that she places herself, because she is white and a landowner, above other people, particularly black people and those she considers white trash. Mary Grace’s eyes are again significant later in the story when Mrs. Turpin again notices them after Mary Grace has attacked her. Mary Grace’s eyes ‘seemed a much lighter blue than before, as if a door that had been tightly closed behind them was now open to admit light and air.’ This is important as it may symbolize that Mrs. Turpin is about to open the door on her own belief system and look at herself in a different
When Mary Grace slams the book shut and looks straight in front of her and looks directly through Mrs. Turpin her eyes seem ‘lit all of a sudden with peculiar light, an unnatural light like night road signs give.’ This is important because it represents a sign or a path that Mrs. Turpin must take. O’Connor is also using symbolism through Mary Grace’s book; ironically it is called Human Development. Eyes play a significant role again just before Mrs. Turpin asks Mary Grace is she in college, she notices Mary Grace’s eyes ‘fixed like two drills’ on her and that there ‘was something urgent behind them.’ Mrs. Turpin doesn’t realize it yet but it is through Mary Grace’s eyes that the reader begins to realize that Mrs. Turpin needs to have a look at herself and in the things that she believes in. The reader already knows that Mrs. Turpin believes in a hierarchy and that she places herself, because she is white and a landowner, above other people, particularly black people and those she considers white trash. Mary Grace’s eyes are again significant later in the story when Mrs. Turpin again notices them after Mary Grace has attacked her. Mary Grace’s eyes ‘seemed a much lighter blue than before, as if a door that had been tightly closed behind them was now open to admit light and air.’ This is important as it may symbolize that Mrs. Turpin is about to open the door on her own belief system and look at herself in a different