Revelation

Throughout Flannery O'Connor's, "Revelation", the definition of grotesque became increasingly fitting for the story as it twisted from a normal day at the doctor's office to an eye-opening coming to God experience. The main character, Ruby Turpin, has a complete 360 of how she perceives people, as she was originally a very pretentious class obsessed woman who then realized that her own vanity and feeling of superiority would be her demise. This short story made me realize that our class or status in society or in any situation is ultimately irrelevant when our life is over and is insignificant to God. Ruby Turpin spent so much time worrying about her public image and her prominence around her peers that it consumed her life in every aspect. I feel this could be related to anyone who cares deeply about their public image, which is most people out there whether it be their financial situations or their outward appearance. People will always care about how they are perceived, but to waste one's life on something that will not matter is useless in the end. "Revelation" makes this message clear as Ruby sees herself in the back of the line on the way to Heaven as she has a vision of the after-life and realizes her faults.

"Revelation" as earlier stated, has many grotesque characters and situations featured throughout the story. Many of the people in this story are grotesque as they seem to be dirty or ugly people in funny situations. The young daughter in this story has horrible acne and a scarred face, yet her mother is a beautiful, pleasant woman much unlike her. She eventually strangles Mrs. Turpin, which is kind of funny and dark, and sets Mrs. Turpin off on her "Revelation" as she ponders the event. Mrs. Turpin is very fat, which could be frowned upon back then, but she tends to think the world of herself no matter what. We think of her as an ugly person, yet she makes the story very comical as we laugh at how she lives her life and her view on the world. The family in the office is also very dirty and almost freaky, but also offers comic relief throughout the story. Claude is also a very strange character who seems to be under the complete control of Mrs. Turpin, and almost acts strangely childish in their relationship, he also has a gross ulcer on his leg, but his major injury is rather pushed aside by Mrs. Turpin's frivolous conversation with the pleasant woman.

Something I would really like to discuss is Biblical references in "Revelation" and how they connect to the characters and their behavior throughout the story. I would also like to discuss any other grotesque situations seen throughout the story.