Both Mrs. Turpin from Flannery o’Conner’s Revelation, and the narrator from Raymond Craver s Cathedral have prejudicial worldviews. The narrator is not religious, but Mrs. Turpin does. She expresses herself openly and with her own self-satisfaction. The epiphanies of both characters save them, but they are different in their experiences.
Mrs. Turpin’s self-satisfaction is increased by judging people according to stereotypes based upon class, race, or disposition. When she first enters the waiting area, she categorizes everyone based upon their appearance: “well-dressed” women (150) are the pleasant ladies’, “lank-faced” women (150), the white-trashy mothers’ and the ugly girls’. Mrs. Turpin was so obsessed by these stereotypes that she “would spend the night time naming classes of people”. The white trash was at the bottom, followed by the colored people, then the home owners and finally the land and home owners to which Claud and she belonged. Mrs. Turpin uses this stereotype to justify condescending her manners towards others. She examines the slippers worn by the ‘white trashy mother’, which are “exactly” what she would be expected to wear (151), confirming Turpin’s claim that this woman is ‘trashy.’ In a conversation between Mrs. Turpin and the pleasant Lady’, Turpin gives attention to the white-trashy Mother’ only because she is not worthy. Mrs. Turpin feels a sense of satisfaction as she considers herself better than ‘niggers’ or ‘white trash’ or ‘ugly folks’.
Turpin is not a true Christian. Her belief system may be superficial, but she still claims to believe in Christ. Mrs. Turpin is a regular churchgoer and has “never spared anyone in need, regardless of whether they are white, black, trash, or decent.” (155). She may be proud of her generosity, but it is likely that she does this to feel superior. She constantly thanks Jesus for allowing her to have a bit of everything. She has it all, but her faith is lacking.
Turpin believes she’s better than Mary Grace because of her superficiality. Turpin was horrified by the fact that a girl of that age had a face so distorted. Turpin’s skin was always good, despite her being fat. She expresses her disapproval of the girl for her coarse behavior. As the girl “looked right at Mrs. Turpin with a smirk” (151), she clearly does not like it. However, Mrs. Turpin is blind to the fact that the girl behaved in a way that reflected her own judgmental and prejudicial attitudes towards those she does not even know. Mrs. Turpin fails to realize that the girl she calls ugly is not more beautiful.
The narrator, like Mrs. Turpin in the story, relies heavily upon stereotypes when judging others. Robert was “blind” despite never having met a blind person in real life. The movies were the source of his notions about blindness. In the movies, blind people never laughed or moved fast. They were sometimes led by seeing eye dogs” (732). The narrator makes it clear that he does not want Robert to live in his house due to stereotypes about blind people.
The narrator is not a believer in any other power than what he can see and feel. Through a series of taped conversations about trivial daily life issues, the narrator minimizes any attachment or connection his wife might have with Robert. His wife may not care about the physicality of Robert touching her face. What matters is the emotion that comes with it. The narrator complains about how the blindman “touched her nose, her lips, and even her neck”(732) but ignores the poem written by his wife about the feelings she felt when the blindman touched her nose or lips. The narrator is unable to relate to Robert and his wife because he refuses to share any experiences other than his own.
In order to escape the world around him, he retreats, smokes dope, watches TV and dismisses others. In contrast to Mrs. Turpin’s self-satisfied remarks, the narration implies the narrator’s self-centeredness by ignoring the opinions of others: “But he and she were in love, etc.” (732). The use of “etc.” and casual narration technique show that he doesn’t care about his ex-wife’s relationship with the narrator’s wife. When the narrator hears his wife describe Beulah in “more detail than [he] wanted to know” (734), Robert’s affection for Beulah is dismissed as “pathetic”. The narrator says that he is “not looking forward” to having a blind person in his house (732), because he doesn’t expect him to be interested by a blind person.
The narrator is preventing himself from exploring other perspectives. Robert is not seen as a person by the narrator, but rather through the stereotypical lens. The narrator makes fun of Robert’s full beard in secret: “A blind man with a beard!” Too much for me.”(734). Robert is also surprised that the narrator doesn’t know if he uses a walking cane or if he wears dark glasses. The narrator is dismissive of Robert’s qualities because he seems to fit his stereotype for blind men.
Both characters encounter epiphanies, which change their worldviews. They can also do this by relying on the assistance of those they originally despise. Each character’s individual nature determines how they are helped and their epiphanies. Mrs. Turpin’s ‘ugly thoughts’ are forced into the light by the ugly girl, whereas the narrator learns how to’see” through the blindman’s guidance.
Mrs. Turpin’s faults are revealed by the ugly girl because she is so coarse. The ugly girl, who is frustrated by Mrs. Turpin for her constant self-satisfaction, finally reaches a limit when she throws the book “Human Development”, symbolically named at Mrs. Turpin. In a direct, forceful manner, Mrs. Turpin shows the potential to gain her epiphany. Although upset, Turpin accepts, despite her anger, that the girl is sending a God-sent message. A message for a character as self-satisfied, pretentious and arrogant as Mrs. Turpin can’t be beautiful or gentle. After holding her breath as if she were waiting for an announcement (157), Mrs. Turpin hears “Go to hell, old warthog, where you come from” (157). Mrs. Turpin finds this shocking, considering that she’s always considered herself to be superior. It is a sudden, unpleasant event, but Mrs. Turpin is so self-satisfied that she needs an outright incident to see her faults.
Mrs. Turpin is saved by her superficial religious beliefs. Turpin may not have wanted to accept the fact that she’s called a ‘old warthog’ but her denial was ineffective (158). She is deeply troubled and cannot ignore this God-given warning. So, she confronts God and asks: “What is the message for ?…How do I become a hog? How can I be saved from hell and also? (161). When Mrs. Turpin confesses that she sees herself as a pig and challenges God to explain why, Mrs. Turpin has a divine experience:
A vast horde was rumbling towards heaven. There were groups of white trash, all clean for once in their life, and black niggers in robes of white. Battalions of freaks or lunatics were also present.
Mrs. Turpin has a frightening vision of the divine that makes her question her own self-righteousness. The imagery used to describe Mrs. Turpin’s vision is ‘bands or black niggers.’ It also includes ‘battalions, of freaks and crazy people.’ She is paralyzed by her prejudices and the horrifying celebration. She is paralyzed by her old prejudices and this horrifying celebration. Despite this, Mrs. Turpin feels safe and secure as she surrenders to the beautiful yet terrifying vision. This beautiful life, whether black, white, or trashy is available to everyone.
The narrator has a smooth build-up to his epiphany. Robert is constantly surprising the narrator by his self-confidence. The narrator begins to value these traits that contradict his stereotypes. The narrator slowly dispels his stereotypes as he “watched [Robert] use his knife and fork to cut the meat” (736). Robert smokes dope like he’s done it for years. Robert’s attempts to convince the narrator of the fact that “there’s no such thing as a second time” (737), along with his staying up “until he is ready to fall asleep” (738), make the narrator feel more appreciative for Robert. The narrator says, “I am glad for company” (738).
The narrator then begins to be more honest with Robert. The narrator shares his experiences with Robert as they watch the cathedral. “They’re now showing the outside…There’s paintings on the walls of that one church” (739). It is evident that the narrator has a superficial view of reality. He tries to explain what he sees and feels, but fails to recognize how Robert experiences things in a different way. So, the narrator’s surprise is that Robert is learning more than him from this television show. Robert asks Robert, “Are frescos painting, bub?” The narrator is unable to answer the question. The blind man who takes everything as a chance to expand their perspectives, shows the narrator how “learning doesn’t end” (738) as long as you are willing to learn new things.
Robert teaches the narrator to try and see Robert from Robert’s perspective. He starts to question what other perspectives have to say and begins to look beyond his own. Robert is asked for the first-time how he understands a large cathedral. In the beginning, Robert is unable to comprehend what a “cathedral” is because it means nothing to him (740). But as he perseveres in trying to describe the cathedral to Robert, his understanding grows. “They’re like viaducts…But I don’t think you know them either”(740), the Narrator corrects his mistake after stepping inside Robert’s shoes. The narrator explores new perspectives as he draws the cathedral together with Robert. Together they build a Cathedral in a world that exists outside of the paper or boundaries on which they are working. I created flying buttresses. I hung great doors. I couldn’t quit.” (740). The narrator states, “It’s like nothing I have ever done before”. The narrator can only see when he closes his eyelids.
The epiphany has occurred, but Mrs. Turpin does not move. She is physically in the same place as the “hogs” and mentally absorbs their voices, which are all shouting “hallelujah”, and climbing upwards into the starry sky. The narrator also remains with the blind man, his eyes closed and still shut, when he finally realizes that he is in his house. I knew it. But I did not feel like I had been inside anything.” (741) Mrs. Turpin is empowered by a thought that cannot be expressed.
