Mrs. Turpin's treatment of her husband shows that she is a bossy woman who is accustomed to people not fighting back against her behavior. She also, however, shows signs that she loves Claud despite being bossy, pushy, unpleasant, and racist.
When they walk into the doctor's office, Ruby chooses a seat for Claud, pushes him into it, and refuses to let him rise from it. She also speaks over him when others address him; someone asks him a question and she gives him no chance to speak. Instead, she explains the injury. Claud doesn't attempt to fight these behaviors which indicates that they are common for her.
Mrs. Turpin does care for Claud. At one point she thinks that she's grateful for him. After the fight with the girl, she asks the doctor to check out Claud first because the girl kicked him. She wants him to rest because of...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
his injury and takes over his work with the hogs so that he can take their workers home, come back, and rest.
In the short story, O'Connor uses indirect characterization to reveal Mrs. Turpin's personality to us.
Specifically, the author highlights how Mrs. Turpin treats her husband, Claud. From the text, we can conclude that Mrs. Turpin is a domineering, self-righteous, and narrow-minded woman. It is her self-righteousness which fuels her bias against men, minorities, and people who do not share her religious convictions.
From the text, we learn that Mrs. Turpin feels compelled to direct her husband's every movement. She treats Claud with contempt and never fails to speak for him. In other words, Mrs. Turpin treats Claud like a child. She has definite, fixed ideas about how everyone should act. Essentially, Mrs. Turpin feels most comfortable when the people around her adopt her dogmatic values and behave accordingly. Mrs. Turpin's obsessive behavior demonstrates how emotionally invested she is in certain outcomes.
She even orders Claud to kiss her on command. Of course, Claud complies, but the experience is less than fulfilling. The kiss facilitates a surface connection, but that's all. One senses that there is very little true affection between Mrs. Turpin and Claud. So, Mrs. Turpin's treatment of Claud characterizes her as a self-righteous, dogmatic individual.
Claude is a cuckold. From the very beginning of the story, when he and his wife, Mrs. Turpin, are in the doctor's office, she tells him where to sit:
"Claud, you sit in that chair there," and gave him a push down into the vacant one.
Claud then proceeds to do what his wife tells him because he is "used to doing what she told him to do."
Later, Claud tries to stand up, but his wife immediately yells at him to sit back down, that he is not supposed to be standing on his sore leg. When another patient speaks to Claud and asks him what has happened to his leg, Mrs. Turpin does not give him a chance to respond, but answers for him - "He got kicked by a cow."
After the girl attacks Mrs. Turpin, Claud is overcome after trying to help her and left struggling on the floor. When Mrs. Turpin comes to, she asks for him, and tries to find him - illustrating that she is controlling. When they go home, go to bed and then wake up, Mrs. Turpin orders Claud to kiss her, which he dutifully does.
Mrs. Turpin is an overbearing woman and a shrew and her treatment of her husband is used by the author to reinforce these aspects of her character.
How does Mrs. Turpin's treatment of her husband characterize her in "Revelation"?
There are especially two aspects of Mrs. Turpin's treatment of Claud that reveal her characterization. First: she includes him in her self-aggrandizing thoughts about how superior she and her are compared to white trash and other unacceptable people. Second: she inadvertently uses incorrect grammar when speaking of her experiences with Claud. The English usage is to put the other person ahead of the speaker in speaking or writing: Claud and I. Yet Mrs. Turpin consistently puts herself before Claud, in language, in attitude, and in action as in the phrase, "she and Claud."