In Flannery O’Connor’s short story titled “Revelation,”
internal and external ugliness are compared and contrasted in various ways. Here are
some examples:
- Claud has an ugly sore on his
leg, but this external ugliness is as nothing when compared with the internal ugliness
of his wife. - Mrs. Turpin thinks that she is physically
unattractive because she is too fat, when in reality it is her spiritual ugliness that
is far more significant and blameworthy. Rather than being embarassed about the
condition of her body, she should be ashamed of the state of her
soul. - Mary Grace has ugly skin, but far more important is
the ugly personality she reveals later in the story. - Mrs.
Turpin is thankful that her skin is not ugly, like the skin of Mary Grace, but Mrs.
Turpin reveals an inner ugliness that is far more important than Mary Grace’s lack of
physical beauty. - The “white trash” characters in the
doctor’s waiting room are not well dressed and are physically unappealing in other ways,
but it is Mrs. Turpin who seems, in many respects, the ugliest character (spiritually)
in the entire story. - At one point, Mrs. Turpin looks at
Mary Grace, and O’Connor writes as
follows:
Mrs. Turpin felt an awful pity for the girl,
though she thought it was one thing to be ugly and another to act
ugly.
Of course, it never
occurs to Mrs. Turpin to regret or attempt to control her own ugly
thoughts.
- When the white trash woman remarks
that she would like to get some “joo’ry” (that is, jewelry), Mrs. Turpin thinks that she
ought instead to get “a wash rag and some soap.” In other words, Mrs. Turpin considers
the white trash woman physically unclean, unfortunately ignoring her own spiritual
uncleanliness.
This list could easily be
extended, but by now the main point is clear: O’Connor contrasts superficial physical
ugliness with the spiritual ugliness of the sin of pride, which is the source of perhaps
all of the real and important ugliness in this story.
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