A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Mrs. Turpin's Revelation

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Authors tend to echo certain themes and ideas in between their different creations. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O'Connor discusses the life of a family that runs into a serial killer as they search for adventure. On the other hand, Revelation, by O'Connor, tells the story of Mrs. Turpin who lived her life faking personal interactions, but underwent an awakening after receiving a vision from God. Although the grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find and Mrs. Turpin in Revelation have innate character flaws, the “revelation” that is revealed at the end of each piece varies. Mrs. Turpin and the grandmother are both blinded by their devotion to the morally “correct” thing in life. For instance, Mrs. Turpin creates “categories” that she sorts …show more content…

First off, the revelation at the end of A Good Man is Hard to Find is conveyed through the words of the Misfit: “‘She would have been a good woman...‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (O’Connor 11). First echoed through the title of the piece, the final words of the Misfit reveal a truth about humanity: many act out of self interest and genuinely “good” people are rare. Prior to the grandmother’s death, she constantly pleads to “Jesus” requesting aid. Although she demonstrated faith, it is almost as if God sent a message through the voice of the Misfit. Likewise, Mrs. Turpin receives a vision from God; however, the message delivered differed. Due to her classification system, God revealed a line of people entering heaven, where those Mrs. Turpin deemed inferior enter first while the “upper class” goes last. Through this vision, God emphasizes the importance of equality among all human beings. As a result, the revelations followed by the misdeeds of both the grandmother and Mrs. Trupin differ in their lesson: one emphasizes the importance of kindness while the latter focuses on