Self-Sufficiency

Mrs. Morrison's goal in the story is to reach self-sufficiency so that she can keep her beloved house without having to marry Mr. Butts. For a widowed woman with little money in the early twentieth century, this was a difficult task. Men had a better chance for economic survival, even if they started out poor like Mr. Butts. In addition, most men assumed that a woman, especially a fifty-yearold woman like Mrs. Morrison, would have a hard time surviving on her own. Says Mr. Butts, "But you can't, I tell you. I'd like to know what a woman of your age can do with a house like this—and no money?" Mrs. Morrison's situation is complicated by the fact that she has to pay off a small mortgage on her house. Although the two thousand dollars that she owes to Mr. Butts is not a large sum...