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 6, 2005. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Violent-Illumination-Of-Salvation/37569.
"A Violent Illumination Of Salvation." Essayworld.com. December 6, 2005. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Violent-Illumination-Of-Salvation/37569.
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