You're Simple

"Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and rerverse, that she used for all her human dealings" (167).

I think Mrs. Freeman was the smartest person in this story because she didn't see things in just one way as Mrs. Hopewell did or Hulga/Joy did. This passage shows that she kept up with things, people, or places, she was not naive and thought outside what most people around her thought. When it says that she thought forward, I think this shows that she really looks at people and isn't fooled easily. She looks beyond the surface. As in the end when Mrs. Hopewell talks about the world being better if more people were simple, Mrs. Freeman says that "some people can't be that simple...I know I never could" (195). Today, it's an insult to be told that you're simple. It means you're narrow-minded and don't have much common sense. This idea of common sense shows significance in Mrs. Hopewell saying that Mrs. Freeman's daughters had common sense. They get this from their mother, Mrs. Freeman. I think the real good country person in this story is Mrs. Freeman.