Flannery O Connor Short Stories Analysis

O’Connor’s medical history is also critical background information because it serves as an explanation to the firm religious perspective from which this story is told. She struggled with the detrimental effects of lupus disease which rendered traces of violence and anger entwined throughout her literature written during this dark period (Gordon). Her waning health can be argued to account for her rather extreme change in religious portrayal in comparison to the other stories written around the same time. Although religious content was generally present in her earlier short stories, it tended to be much more concealed allowing her readers to perceive the material from a strictly secular basis if chosen to do so. In contrast, her final stories, including “Revelation,” portray Christian beliefs in a much more bleak and overt manner, as if O’Connor were attempting to ensure her ideologies were understood out of fear of them being misconstrued in previous context before she passed away (“O'Connor's Short Stories”).

With this information a reader can follow her thought process and trace it back to her Christian beliefs. This way, the story becomes much more decipherable and a comparison can be made between Flannery O’Connor and the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin. Although O’Connor was sick when the story was written, confidence is prevalent throughout the story. Similarly, it is repeatedly mentioned throughout “Revelation” that Mrs. Turpin’s largest flaw is the fulfillment she finds out of her own sense of materialistic retention. Although she can be characterized as fundamentally flawed, she is still content with herself. This comparison helps a reader develop a greater understanding of the characters’ origins and could not be made without knowledge of the author’s