Ethos, Logos And Themes In 'Revelation By Flannery O' Connor

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In the short story, Revelation, author Flannery O’Connor uses a series of different analytical devices to help get the theme of the story across to the audience. Throughout the short story, Mrs. Turpin is continuously trying to get Mary Grace to like her and to get her approval. While she waits in the doctor 's office, Mrs. Turpin tries to figure out why Mary Grace keeps glaring and does not want to interact with her. In her own thoughts, Mrs. Turpin keeps wondering when Mary Grace will come to her senses and it’s almost like waiting for some type of revelation. O’Connor does a great job using ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the novel to help get across the idea of a revelation to the audience.
Ethos helps the author create credibility
…show more content…
As many know the South was very judgemental towards people of color, and it is clear that Mrs. Turpin has that mentality. When she has her own thoughts she tends to use the word nigger very often. Towards the beginning of the story she speaks about African Americans highly, she can’t imagine her life being an easier without all of their help. Her opinion seems to change throughout the story, towards the end she seems to have a change of heart, or at least a change in personality. After she gets home she encounters her helpers but seems quickly annoyed, “Idiots! Mrs. Turpin growled to her herself. You can never say anything intelligent to a nigger” (Meyer 463). Her sudden change in heart seemed to be affected because she didn 't get the approval she wanted from Mary …show more content…
Turpin got the book thrown at her, she quickly learned she was not going to get the approval she’d been longing for and working for. That revelation was no longer going to come. At the very end of the book she seems to be content, actually content. She realizes she can’t change the things she may not like, the vision she saw helped her come to terms with that. She realizes that God gave her so much and she needs to appreciate it.
Logic also played a huge part in writing Revelation, without it there wouldn’t be any sense to the story. O’Connor uses her Southern and religious background to help create common ground with the audience. With this, she is able to connect with her audience on a deeper level, instead of just reading this short story like any other one, the audience is able to really connect with the feelings expressed by the characters in it. If O’Connor hadn’t used her background to her advantage, she wouldn’t have been able to really connect with her religious audience as much or even her Southern

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