Who is Joan from Friend of My Youth: Stories and what is their importance?

Joan's life has been deeply affected by her mother. In childhood she was taught that she was special, and to expect great things in life. She was made to feel that she was better than everyone else, and enjoyed mocking and judging other people with her mother. She lived in a house separated and barricaded from the rest of the town, and she often looked out at the world through the red stained glass next to the door. This colored her view of the world in more ways than one, making everything seem sinister, dull or depressing. In later life, she is still colored by this view. She looks at the rest of the world as rubble, and does not feel any connection to it or to anyone else. She is disapproving of most other people, and still feels that she is in some way special.