Summary

In the chapter “Politics,” the narrator first discusses the differences in her view of work and Emerence’s view. Emerence believed work required bodily strength, while the narrator and her husband made their living doing mental work, such as writing. The narrator and her husband respected Emerence’s way of making a living, but Emerence believed people who did not work with their hands were parasites.

The narrator also describes Emerence as being anti intellectual, and indifferent to politics and public life. She scorned the past and the opportunities she’d once had. In fact, the narrator once told Emerence that if she had not fought so hard to keep from being influenced by the opportunities that had come her way, she might have become a powerful person because she had so much intelligence and common sense.

One day while the...