Friday, February 24, 2012
Old Woman Magoun is CRAZY!!!!
I thought the short story "Old Woman Magoun" by Mary Wilkins Freeman was very interesting but too predictable. Old Woman Magoun herself is crazy and even though she does what she felt was right she did not have the right to make that choice for Lily. I know we discussed that she actually did not kill Lily, but her not warning Lily about the berries is a lot like killing her. It would be like omitting the truth or not mentioning something important and then being called a liar later for it. I knew Old Woman Magoun was going to do something crazy; when I read the line about her, "face was that of one upon whom a long-anticipated blow had fallen" (422). I knew Old Woman Magoun was not happy that Lily met her father and that a man had talked to Lily. At first I thought Old Woman Magoun was going to do something to Lily's father but when Old Woman Magoun said, "The Lord will take care of her" (423) I knew that Lily was a goner. Old Woman Magoun cannot really justify what she did to Lily and her carrying Lily's rag doll around after Lily dies just makes her seem like she fell off the deep end.
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I would agree that Old Woman Magoun let her emotions overwhelm the idea of rational behavior. As readers, we can assume that she predicts a harsh future ahead of Lily, and (due to the fact that Lily is described as looking and behaving much younger than she is) it seems apparent that her maturation is being stifled. It seems that Magoun becomes irrational only after the adoption of Lily is denied, and the two head back to their hometown. At this point, Magoun becomes so mentally abstracted by the seeming inevitability of Lily's future that she fails to fulfill even the most basic parental responsibilities. Because she is so heavily conflicted about Lily's demise, she inadvertently causes it. It seems that her worries have become the vehicle of her suffering. How ironic!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Matt. She clearly doesn't start off crazy--she is in fact almost hyper-rational.
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