A Violent Illumination Of Salvation
Flannery O'Connor uses violence to return characters to reality and prepare
them to accept their moment of grace. The New Encyclopedia Britannica
defines grace as the "spontaneous, unmerited gift of the divine or the
divine influence operating in man for his regeneration and sanctification"
(401). At any cost, a soul must find salvation. O'Connor states, "In my
own stories I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my
characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace"
(qtd.in Bain 407). Dorothy Walters, Associate Professor of English at
Wichita State University, believes O'Connor's single theme is the battle
between God and the devil "dueling ...
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shortcomings,
and prepares them for redemption as seen in: "A Good Man is Hard to Find,"
"Revelation," "The River," and "The Lame Shall Enter First."
Walters reasons, "The instruction of pride through lessons of humility is,
in each story, the means by which the soul is prepared for its necessary
illumination by the Holy Spirit" (73). The grandmother in "A Good Man is
Hard to Find" and Rudy Turpin in "Revelation" is each convinced that she is
a lady of elevated status. When threatened by superior beings, their self-
imposed facades fall. Inherent human weaknesses are not tolerated and the
faulty soul is damned or violently returned to reality (Walters 72). In
The Habit of Being, O'Connor emphasizes: "My devil has a name . . . His
name is Lucifer, he's a fallen angel, his sin is pride, and his aim is
destruction of the Divine plan" (456).
The grandmother is extremely prideful and identifies herself as a "lady" as
O'Connor reveals in the clothing description:
The children's ...
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eyes.
Like the grandmother, Rudy Turpin knows she is a lady. Confident in her
conviction of inner superiority, she habitually categorizes people as
"white trash," "niggers," or "homeowners" (Walters 110). In her nightly
prayers, she thanks God for her elevated status in life (Walters 25).
Turpin's neat little categories are first challenged by a hot-tempered girl,
symbolically named Mary Grace. After witnessing Mrs. Turpin's inflated
projected self-image, Mary Grace physically and verbally assaults Mrs.
Turpin. Mrs. Turpin again questions her superior status when the black
laborers dutifully sympathize with her anguish. "Mrs. Turpin knew just
exactly how much Negro flattery was worth ...
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"A Violent Illumination Of Salvation." Essayworld.com. December 26, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Violent-Illumination-Of-Salvation/19584.
"A Violent Illumination Of Salvation." Essayworld.com. December 26, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Violent-Illumination-Of-Salvation/19584.
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