"Then she went on, parting her way from side to side with the cane, through the whispering field" (page 225).
After reading this story, I tried my best to discover the theme of it. However, I was drawing a blank. This lady just seems crazy to me. She travels through the forest, talking to herself and other animals. I feel that she is characterized as an innocent, old lady who really does have a passion for life. However, like any other old lady, she's kinda crabby. What does the part of her forgetting to get her grandson medicine symbolize? Does she even have a grandson or is she losing it mentally? I don't know. The story doesn't really have a purpose. It just kinda starts and ends. Nothing really gets accomplished and the story just kind of rambles on. However, once I got to the end, I noticed something of significance. Throughout the story, the old lady is travelling "uphill." She may be crazy and losing her memory, but she knows the way of the forest. She knows the path. Then, the story ends with her traversing downward. The very last sentence is "her slow step began on the stairs, going down." Maybe this symbolizes her life. Her life was going uphill for a while, and once she reached her destination, her life just went downhill. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too far into things. However, this just makes sense to me. Also, there are many obstacles along the way. This is similar to a person's life. We all have final destinations and the desire to make the final quest. However, obstacles arise along the way and hinder us from reaching our destination in a timely manner. In my religion class, we discussed that the journey is more meaningful than the destination because it forms a person's inner being. Maybe this is the case here.
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