After she looks around the stark house of the Wrights, becoming disturbed by the worn and shabby clothes of Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale experiences guilt for not having visited Minnie Foster. For, she realizes how terribly deprived of comfort and lonely the woman has been.
Once alone in the kitchen, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale talk. Examining the skirt that they have brought into the room, Mrs. Hale remarks,
"Wright was close [reclusive and unsociable]....
After she looks around the stark house of the Wrights, becoming disturbed by the worn and shabby clothes of Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale experiences guilt for not having visited Minnie Foster. For, she realizes how terribly deprived of comfort and lonely the woman has been.
Once alone in the kitchen, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale talk. Examining the skirt that they have brought into the room, Mrs. Hale remarks,
"Wright was close [reclusive and unsociable]. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies' Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby.
Mrs. Hale contrasts Mrs. Wright with the former Minnie Foster who used to wear pretty clothes and be lively and outgoing; in fact, she even sang in the church choir.
As Mrs. Hale reflects upon the social deprivation that Minnie Foster must have experienced living on this lonely farm with no children to brighten her life, she becomes ashamed of herself for not having reached out to her neighbor by visiting more frequently. But, she stayed away because the house that is down in a hollow has always seemed such "a lonesome place." Then, too, Mr. Wright has always been what she describes to Mrs. Peters as "a hard man" who did not make a person feel welcome. Nevertheless, now she wishes she had ignored these conditions and visited Mrs. Wright, who must have been so terribly isolated from cordial and feminine companionship.
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