Summary

This story is set around 1944 on a rundown, desolate Southern plantation. On this plantation there lives an old woman and her daughter, Lucynell Crater. The old woman's name is also Lucynell, but she is simply referred to as "the old woman" throughout the story. Lucynell is slow and does not speak. Though she is around 30 years old, her mother presents her as being 15 or 16 years of age, because of her "innocence." Lucynell is a physically beautiful girl, with long golden hair and blue eyes.

In the opening scene, the old woman and her daughter are sitting on the porch when Mr. Tom T. Shiftlet walks up their path at sunset. The old woman views him as a tramp, and no one to be afraid of. Mr. Shiftlet is gaunt, with long, black, slicked hair, and is missing half of his left...