The narrator of this story is nameless, which makes her seem familiar to the reader. She is sparing with the details of her own life, as if the reader already knows these details, and the frequent asides and explanations create an intimate tone. She is a writer, and it is implied that she is unmarried and has moved away from the small town where she was raised. She has chosen a different life than her mother led, one with more freedoms but fewer certainties. The reader comes to understand the narrator through her speculations about the lives around her and through her relationship with her mother.

While her mother was alive, the narrator was often impatient with her and defined herself in opposition to her. This is seen in their very different attitudes towards the Grieves sisters, and particularly towards Flora. While her mother views Flora as a saintly figure, the narrator is more inclined to see her as dated and eccentric. She does not idealize feminine self-sacrifice in the way that her mother does and is anxious to avoid this destiny for herself.

At the time when the narrator is telling this story, her mother has been dead for many years.