I thought one aspect of the short story that was interesting was the battle between the North and SOuth and over the thoughts of slavery. I think that this battle was in the story for a reason as it was written shortly after the ending of the civil war. Mrs. Cook is a Northerner and thinks of the South as being immoral and wickedly terrible, while the widow thinks the South is a place of heaing and comfort.
Mrs. Cook has many prejudicies against the South. She comes down to find facts for a book she is writing and lets her prejudices effect how she interprets the culture an the people of the South. She fels that Southerners are greedy. They think you have money. These Southerners are impoverished by the war and have an indea that every Northerner is overloaded with wealth and is fair game. (p 249). Mrs. Cook turns out to be the foil of the story as her absolute dislike for all things related to the South, turns the readers against her and for the character of the widow.
The widow initially comes to the South to improve the health of her sickly baby. She immediately feels at home in the South and falls in love with its culture, people, and friendliness. Se as no complaints about anything in the South, unlike Mrs. Cook and seems to have no ill thoughts about slavery.
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I also thought that there were clear distinctions made between the North and South in the story. It seemed like Miss Cook was supposed to represent the North, which was seen by her negative remarks about the South. You can definitely feel throughout the story that the war was not long ago and people are still coping with what wen on during the war.
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