Anthony Allman
“A Hog and Me Both”: The Revelation of Mrs. Turpin
Live Oak Classical School
Sponsor: Aly Barnes abarnes@liveoakclassical.com
“A Hog and Me Both”: The Revelation of Mrs. Turpin
In the pivotal moment in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Revelation,” Mrs. Turpin, a
self-satisfied Christian, is accused of being a warthog from hell. The accusation troubles Mrs.
Turpin, who wonders repeatedly, “How am I a hog and me both? How am I saved and from hell
too?” By her beliefs and her actions, Mrs. Turpin demonstrates that she is indeed a warthog—a
person who acts in an un-Christian way, who behaves like an animal instead of a human being
with a soul. Unwittingly, Mrs. Turpin uses Christianity to hide her true nature.
A warthog is distinguished for being ugly as well as predatory. In the very first sentence
of “Revelation,” Mrs. Turpin is linked to this creature: she is described as being “very large,” so
large that she appears to make the rest of the waiting room distorted. A mere two sentences later
she is also described as having “little bright black eyes”—eyes like a pig’s. It is not until a rude
confrontation with another patient, Mary Grace, that it is revealed to the reader and Ruby that her
soul is likewise brutish and unattractive.
Ruby disguises her “hoggish” behavior from herself by deeming herself “Christian”;
however, she is in fact committing hypocrisy. Ruby verbally announces her gratitude towards
God for making her the way she is: “‘If it’s one thing I am,’ she said with feeling, ‘it’s grateful.’
[…. S]he was flooded with gratitude and a terrible pang of joy ran through her.” In expressing
her gratitude she reveals complacency—believing she is perfect. After judging all the patients in
the waiting room, Ruby rejoices in herself: “When I think who all I could have been besides
myself and what all I got, a little of everything, and a good disposition besides, I just feel like
shouting, ‘Thank you, Jesus, for making everything the way it is!’ It could have been different!”
By expressing her joy, Ruby is using her harsh judgments of others to justify herself. Believing
she expresses Christian virtue through gratitude towards God, Ruby is in fact degrading the
worth of others, revealing her true hoggish self. Earlier in the waiting room, Ruby rejoiced: “He
had not made her a nigger or white trash or ugly! […] Jesus, thank you!” Her “Christian”
gratitude reveals her worldly values.
Ruby’s hypocrisy continues when she pities Mary Grace’s appearance and character.
“The poor girl’s face was blue with acne and Mrs. Turpin thought how pitiful it was to have a
face like that at that age. […] Mrs. Turpin felt an awful pity for the girl, though she thought it
was one thing to be ugly and another to act ugly.” Through her condescending judgments about
Mary Grace, it is clear that Ruby is blind to her own projection of hoggishness. Mary Grace,
however, is able to see Ruby’s hypocrisy through her “burning” stare, making Ruby very
uncomfortable: “The girl’s eyes seemed lit all of a sudden with a peculiar light, an unnatural
light. Mrs. Turpin turned her head to see if there was anything going on outside that she could
see, but she could not see anything. There was no reason the girl should single her out for her
ugly looks.” It is clear Mary Grace can see the truth beneath Mrs. Turpin: she is really a
warthog. Mrs. Turpin shows her ignorance by wondering why she is singled out. She cannot see
her own faults. Ruby’s outburst of joy in herself prompts Mary Grace to throw a book at Ruby
titled, Human Development. By its title, this book suggests that Ruby is not a full human being.
In addition to being hypocritical, Mrs. Turpin is obsessed with the socio-economic
hierarchy in which she has created three classes that are most important to her—placing herself
above “white trash” and “Negroes.” Mrs. Turpin gives order to life by means of this hierarchy;
however, she seems confused by the system of classes she has created in her head. The narrator
tells us of her thoughts: “On the bottom of the heap were most colored people, not the kind she
would have been if she had been one, but most of them; then next to them – not above, just away
from – were the white trash; then above them were the home-owners, and above them the homeand-land owners, to which she and Claud belonged.” There seems to be some ambiguity about
the classes above her, however. For instance, she wonders where to place black homeowners and
a black dentist who owns two Lincolns. While according to race they should fit below her in the
class scheme, they seem to be above her because of their material affluence. She describes this as
being “muddled.” This confusion reveals that the world is changing and Mrs. Turpin needs to
adjust. It also reveals her classes are superficial and arbitrary, for the guidelines do not always
hold. Mrs. Turpin is trying to figure out where everyone, including herself, belongs in the world
so as to have a firm grasp upon her position in order that she might maintain some sense of
control. Mrs. Turpin is trying to be God in her evaluation of the entire spectrum of peoples, but,
unlike God, she shows no love. Her hierarchy puts her above many others, whereas Jesus came
to take the lowest position.
Guided by her hierarchy, Mrs. Turpin views these inferior classes with contempt, saying
she would “kic[k] and screa[m]” before becoming a black or white trash person. She is sure of
her own place as a “clean, respectable” Christian woman. As Mrs. Turpin surveys the waiting
room at the beginning of the story, she sizes up her fellow patients based on appearances and
slots them into her hierarchy. It seems every time the “white trash lady” offers some humble,
honest advice, Mrs. Turpin snaps back with unspoken judgment. The woman with the snuff
stained lips offers Mrs. Turpin some advice about getting a clock: “‘You can get you one with
green stamps,’ the woman said. ‘That’s most likely where he got his. Save you up enough, you
can get you most anything. I got me some joo’ry.’ Ought to have got you a wash rag and some
soap, Mrs. Turpin thought.” Mrs. Turpin refuses her help and wishes the other lady had not
entered the conversation. When the “white-trash” lady explains about saving for a purchase, Mrs.
Turpin comments mentally on the woman’s her lack of hygiene. It appears Mrs. Turpin is
insulted by the snuff lady’s advice. This is because Mrs. Turpin is too proud to accept advice
from someone who she deems beneath her, due to appearance.
Mrs. Turpin does wonder who she would be if she could not be herself. “If Jesus had said
to her before he made her, ‘There’s only two places available for you. You can either be a nigger
or white trash,’ what would she have said?” Mrs. Turpin decides to settle on a respectable Negro
woman. It is clear that Mrs. Turpin views herself as a respectable, successful middle class
woman who has no serious flaws. She is content – or so it appears. Perhaps Mrs. Turpin’s
obsession for social orders reveals her insecurities about who she really is. Aside from economic
status, is Mrs. Turpin that different from “white trash” and blacks? Mrs. Turpin is like a Pharisee
who says, “Thank you Jesus for making me how I am.”
Not surprisingly, Mrs. Turpin tries to separate herself from blacks. Mrs. Turpin, in fact,
uses black people as objects. She only waves to her workers to disguise her disapproval of them.
She pretends to be equal by waving to them, believing inside that she is still superior to them.
She “caters” to them by bringing water out. She does not understand how they cannot walk half a
mile home, but the plump Mrs. Turpin herself is not capable of walking that distance. In fact, she
could be viewed as inferior to the blacks because she is not able to do much of the work they do;
she notes she has “niggers enough to do all the work.” Mrs. Turpin further demonstrates her
false relationships when she acts friendly towards the black boy who comes into the waiting
room after she has been faulting blacks for being slothful.
Although free in her criticism, Mrs. Turpin does not like having others scorn her or cast
judgment upon her. However, this does not stop her from forming opinions of others. The “ugly
girl” – Mary Grace – looks at the clock Mrs. Turpin has just pointed out as being beautiful. She
seems to scorn the clock and then smirks at Mrs. Turpin. Mrs. Turpin believes the girl’s eyes
smolder as she feels them on her. Mrs. Turpin feels pity for the girl but also thinks her actions
are ugly, to match her face. “The ugly girl beside her cast an eye up at the clock, smirked, then
looked directly at Mrs. Turpin and smirked again.” Mary Grace’s gestures reveal she believes
Mrs. Turpin’s opinions are lowly and even Mrs. Turpin herself is beneath her. This is exactly
how Mrs. Turpin views the ugly girl. The ugly girl is in fact mirroring Mrs. Turpin’s vice back to
her. Mary Grace sees Mrs. Turpin is not what she pretends to be.
A self-identified Christian, Mrs. Turpin reveals herself to be a warthog from hell. Mrs.
Turpin shows these two identities through her thoughts, actions, and even appearance. It
becomes clear to the reader as the story progresses that Mrs. Turpin is using Christianity as a tool
to disguise the fact that she is a brutish, racist, and condescending character. At the same time,
with a crew of the lowly and the misfit “tumbling” into heaven at the end of “Revelation,”
O’Connor makes the reader pause before condemning Mrs. Turpin. In condemning Mrs. Turpin,
is the reader repeating Mrs. Turpin’s own warthog-ish mistakes?