Formalistic Criticism For “Revelation”

2 Pages 565 Words

Formalistic Criticism for “Revelation”
Formalistic critics often analyze stories by showing the relationship between various elements’ meanings such as: plot, characters, point of view, setting tone, diction, images, and symbols. In “Revelation” the best formalistic approach is about the setting. This factor is used to define the characters in the story. It also gives the reader clues about the time period and geographic location. The protagonist of the story thinks that everyone is defined by his or her outward appearance; the question O’ Connor asks is, “Should people judge others by superficial things like appearance?” In an attempt to explore the complexity (or hypocrisy) of the class system in the South, O’ Connor uses a well-know setting described in vivid detail and stocked with stereotypical characters speaking local dialect.
O’ Connor describes the primary setting in vivid detail. In the first paragraph O’ Connor describes how the doctor’s waiting room is very small and almost full when the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin enters. O’ Connor also mentions that “when Mrs. Turpin, who was very large, enters she made the room look even smaller” (O’ Connor 338). The setting shows the closeness of all the stereotypical characters makes for a conflict that is inevitable. The room may also represent the protagonist’s small mindedness. Mrs. Turpin is narrow minded because of the way she thinks she is a good person, but yet has inner conflicts. She judges everyone by the way they look. Mrs. Turpin describes one person in particular who demonstrates lower class; as she looked around the room Mrs. Turpin sees “a woman with a yellow sweatshirt and wine-colored slacks, both gritty-looking, and the rims of her lips were stained with snuff. Her dirty yellow hair was tied behind with a little piece of red paper ribbon. Worse than niggers any day, Mrs. Turpin thought” (340). Her quick judgment reveals how small...