Revelation in Flannery O\'Connor\'s Short Story \"Revelation,\"
In Flannery O'Connor's short story "Revelation," the characters of Mrs. Turpin and Mary Grace. Though Mrs. Turpin is ostensibly the main character of the story, Mary Grace plays such a crucial, oppositional role to Mrs.
Revelation by Flannery O\'Connor God\'s Grace Via
Thesis: "God's Grace via Violence" is a Major, Controversial Theme in Flannery O'Connor's Work
Chief among the reasons for Flannery O'Connor's enduring popularity is her consistent use of symbolism and devices to explore humanity, God's grace and our relationship with God. "Revelation" is one example of O'Connor's sometimes-controversial "God's grace via violence" theme, which has been denounced by some but staunchly defended by O'Connor. The clear implication is that Mrs. Turpin's false sense of Christian superiority has been upended by Mary Grace's violent dispensation of God's grace, so Mrs. Turpin finally sees all those "beneath" her now spiritually superior to her.
In the same vein as Mrs. Turpin, the grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is a boldly drawn smug, southern Christian to whom God's grace is revealed via violence. When this horrible grace finally transforms the grandmother into accepting the Misfit's humanity and acknowledging their kinship in Christ by reaching out to touch the Misfit, it is enough to make the Misfit kill; yet, that terribly violent grace is also enough to slightly transform the Misfit..
O'Connor's penchant for showing grace via violence has led to arguments for and against its use. However, O'Connor believed that God's grace comes through the "trauma of the cross" and staunchly defended her use of violence.