"Revelation" and Theme of Physical and Spiritual Tension

Paper Summary:

Flannery O'Connor shows a concern with the tension between body and mind, the physical and the spiritual. She presents this tension in the context of an almost allegorical structure in her stories. This paper examines O'Connor's "Revelation", in which events which happen to the main character demonstrate the prevalence of violence and the power it has to bring about change, for good or bad.

From the Paper:

"Then, she is attacked, and the girl calls her "an old wart hog from hell" (437), which for Mrs. Turpin this is worse than the physical assault. At the same time, the attack makes her think, opening to her for the first time a sense of her own character that is not flattering. She fails to absorb the full meaning of this message at once, but in time she does rethink her entire worldview. There is something mechanical about Mrs. Turpin's life before the attack as she goes through the same motions, holds the same opinions, speaks to the same people, and never changes. She is jolted back to her own humanity by the attack."

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