Zoe Richardson
Judgment on the Conscience
John Paul II High School
Faculty Sponsor: Heather Cernoch (heathercernoch@johnpauliihs.org)
Judgment on the Conscience
School, like life, is full of people who won’t succeed because of their
shortcomings. For example, that girl over there, she’s new to the school; she’s shy and
seems out of place. The boy in the back, who answers all the time and seems like a knowit-all, is a genius and still doesn’t know how to socialize with his fellow classmates.
Thank goodness I don’t judge others and that I am not awkward, rude, or socially
incompetent like those people. But am I really perfect? I bet you judged me as a cruel
insensitive human being as you read my thoughts on my fellow peers. The sad truth is
that my actions are one of the many parts of the infrastructure of human nature. Flannery
O’Connor knew much of this charmingly destructive aspect. In her short story
“Revelation,” O’Connor arouses in her seemingly angelic character, Ruby Turpin, the
realization that beneath her perfect interpretation of herself she is as tainted by the filth of
human nature as everyone around her.
O’Connor portrays Ruby Turpin as a shining example of the good of humanity.
She is “a respectable, hard-working, church-going woman” (O’Connor 24). Not only is
her moral compass on track, but she also has the best of everything. She has a loving
husband, plenty of money, and good social status, and people to do her work for her. In
her mind, she is ranked in the middle of society while leaning slightly toward the richer
side of life, yet despite all her eminent good qualities, she behaves in a way contradictory
to these notions. On entering the doctor’s office, Turpin, like a spider, weaves a web with
“her little bright black eyes,” immediately ensnaring people based on their looks and
manners into her venomous mind (1). To her, people should dress neatly, act politely, and
treat everyone fairly with kindness and respect. She silently analyzes and condemns all
the victims sitting unaware of their wrongdoings in the doctor’s office. Her first subject is
a five- or six-year-old boy who she deems unworthy because of his “dirty blue romper”
and social awkwardness for being “slumped,” “idle,” and not wanting to “move over” (12). This boy, as we later find out, was cursed at birth with an ulcer and is in much pain,
resulting in his careless dressing and social norms. Turpin also goes on to identify other
subjects based on their unkempt looks and unappealing personalities. Among these
people are Mary Grace, who Turpin criticizes as an “ugly girl” as well as her reluctance
to socialize; she also criticizes the mother of the child who she deems “white trash”
because of her opinions and poor dressing. She deems the black man unworthy because
of the color of his skin despite his good nature (5). Turpin in a sense sees herself reflected
in the faults she finds with these people. She is quick to find others’ faults and put them
into categories. She thinks often about how others fit on her sliding scale of
disappointment or the class system when the narrator reveals, “On the bottom of the heap
were most colored people… then next to them… were the white-trash; then above them
were the home-owners, and above them the home-and-land owners, to which she and
Claud belonged” (6). Turpin degrades everyone beneath her, and she knows she is a
better version of these stereotypes. For example, she imagines herself as a “near clean
respectable Negro woman” (6). Although she detests Negros, Turpin knows if she were
unfortunate to be one, she would be better than any other Negro. Because of her hubris,
she wants to sit a shiny platform for all to see. Human nature ensnares her in her own
web. She has no sense that she contradicts her very ideals in her actions and drowns in
her own condemnation.
Like many people in today’s society, Turpin is unaware of her shortcomings. She
thinks she is the perfect person, yet like all people Turpin is saved by undeserved grace.
She is so wrapped up in herself that she doesn’t see this grace as a gift but rather as a
harsh punishment. Mary Grace, the “ugly girl,” delivers this life-altering grace when she
says, “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog” (5). These words speak
the truth about Turpin and are the reason she can’t get the stinging rhythm of them out of
her head. She tries to convince herself that she is a Christian lady and not from hell, yet
despite her exasperated attempts, she can’t rid herself of these words. Why was she the
one to receive these words instead of the many other people who obviously had faults
tattooed on their foreheads? Turpin is angry with God for singling her out as the most
hellish creature of the bunch. She fears she lives a fake life. Her realization as if waking
from a hellish dream is that she lives a lie. She considers more and more that her selfimage is not who she really is. This idea sprouted from the girl’s malignant words, and
her own newly found self-doubt physically manifests itself in her encounter with her
Negro workers. She searches for pity from the servants as she tells her tale of woe, yet as
she receives praise that she is “the sweetest lady” and “pretty,” she realizes that this
flattery is worth nothing because it doesn’t resonate the truth (29). In her soul, she knows
she deserves this divine rebuke for her pride. This realization starts her redemption,
which she doesn’t even know she needs. Human nature prohibits us from realizing who
we really are. For Turpin, she needs the push of divine providence portrayed through
Mary Grace’s words to spur her into action. Without these words, she, like most of
society, would never realize there was something wrong in the first place and therefore
would remain eternally wronged.
These words of sage-like wisdom lead Turpin to ask the question, “How am I
saved and from hell too?” (32) God more or less gives her an answer. She receives a
vision of heaven from her window and a “visionary light settled in her eyes. She saw the
streak as a vast swinging bridge extending upward from the earth through a field of living
fire. Upon it a vast horde of souls were tumbling toward heaven” (35). This vision
extends when she sees this grand procession continue to go up to heaven and surprisingly
sees those who she considers inferior in the lead. Why would God want these unworthy
people to enter Heaven first? As she looks closer, she realizes God wiped all of them
clean of their earthly impurities, and because of their eternal goodness, they are clean for
his kingdom. Sadly she realizes that people like her are at the end and suffering as they
try to march with the procession. She glimpses these people burned due to how they are
on the inside. They receive the best of everything on earth and now must suffer due to
their corruption. God blesses Turpin with this revelation. We all need to realize that some
apples, although perfectly juicy and luxuriously red on the outside, are rotten as soon as
we take a bite.
Works Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. “Revelation.” Everything That Rises Must Converge. New York:
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1993. 1-35. Print.