Mary Grace In Flannery O Connor's Revelation

In the waiting room of the doctor’s office is where it all begins. Mrs. Turpin and her husband, Claud, arrive to treat an ulcer on Claud’s leg. As they arrive, they see that there is nowhere to sit, because a dirty child is taking up too much space on the sofa. Immediately, Mrs. Turpin starts a mindless conversation with the only woman in the room who she deems worthy based on appearance alone. However, the woman is the mother of an extremely unattractive, fat, teenage girl reading a book called Human Development and scowling. The girl’s name is Mary Grace. Mrs. Turpin silently judges all of the other occupants of the waiting room, including a white-trash woman who is the mother of the dirty child on the sofa. While sitting, Mrs. Turpin thanks Jesus that she is not white-trashy or black. The conversation between Mary Grace’s mother turns to farming, where she brings up the topic of owning hogs, and the white-trash mother chimes in with an opinion of her distaste towards owning hogs. As a black delivery boy enters the doctor’s office, Mrs. Turpin deliberately shows him kindness, but as the boy leaves, she and the white-trash woman discuss how they think that all black Americans should
According to The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story, “Revelation” is described as “metaphorically blending the natural with the supernatural and lives up to the religious promise of its title by tracing Mrs. Ruby Turpin’s move toward grace” (Werlock 1). Although there is a great deal of racism throughout the story, along with an underlying message that all people are equal in the eyes of God, I find the amount of symbolism in this story appalling. There is so much depth to the true meaning of what seems like insignificant ideas, from Mary Grace’s name, to the way the sun sets, so I plan to successfully explore that aspect in this particular brilliant