"A Spinster's Tale"

Elizabeth has definitely changed from the beginning of the story to the end. At the beginning she is but a child who is afraid of everything and is trying to cope with life without a motherly influence. She is full of questions, and is at a time where she is trying to figure out herself, and life in general. She goes through several tough times, included the passing of her mother, her brothers tendency to drink alcohol, her fathers shaky emotions, and her encounters with her fears ( Mr. Speed).

Her continual watch for Mr. Speed in a way shows her slowly stepping up to her fears and growing up. The story mentions how when she was younger and her mother was alive, she would bury her head in her mother so she wouldn't have to look at the old man. As the story goes on, she slowly moves towards the window and watches a little bit at a time to where she finally has an encounter with him. After calling the police, she actually feels sorry for this man that she used to be so afraid of. At this point I seen how much she grew in her maturity. She didn't just feel sorry for him because he was going to jail, but she actually said " I saw myself as a little beast adding to the injury that what was bestial in man had already done him." She pitied him and felt sorry for him because of everything he had probably went through to make him the way he was.