In the story "Old Woman Magoun", the importance of the
story lies in the fact that the piece is a part of Naturalistic literature. Naturalists
believed that an animal lived in every man (or woman), that survival was based upon ones
own ability to survive (Herbert Spenser and Charles Darwin), the free will did not
exist, and that the text was a part of an objective experimentation by which the author
was simply an observer in the action of the
piece.
Therefore, old woman Magoun is simply not powerful
enough to make a decision for her granddaughter, Lily. ONly nature, according to the
Naturalist, is powerful enough to determine if one lives or
dies.
While Magoun believes that she knows best regarding
Lily, tragically, it is nature (nightshade berries) which takes her life and not
Magoun.
That being said, think about all that has happened
to Lily in her short life: her mother has died, she has lived a sheltered life, and her
estranged and unknown father wishes to take her away from the only life she has ever
known. Magoun knows that Lily cannot survive a life with her father. She is worried that
a life with Nelson Barry (Lily's father) would eventually kill
her.
So, is Magoun selfish? Does she think that she knows
what is best for Lily? respectively, no and yes. No- Magoun is not selfish- in reality,
she is only thinking of Lily and how a life with her father would harm her. Yes- Magoun
does know what is best for Lily. Ask any parent if they know what is best for their own
children and you will typically receive a resounding yes from them as
well.
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