Summary

In “Mrs. Elberhart,” the narrator began noticing an elderly woman who lived on Jefferson Street, Mrs. Elberhart. She lived alone in an unkempt house with an unkempt yard, sitting on her porch waving to passersby. She caught the narrator’s attention when he saw her “accusing the postman of stealing her mail” (101). Curious to know more about her, he began walking past her house regularly.

The more he walked on Jefferson, the more bothered the narrator became by Mrs. Elberhart’s “filthy . . . living conditions” (102). He guessed “she was lonely” and that she “lacked the energy to tend to” her appearance and home (103). Yet he did nothing to make her acquaintance. Instead, he telephoned her neighbors, posing as a government official or policeman, and insisted they tell Mrs. Elberhart to fix up her property. The neighbors told the narrator to tell Mrs. Elberhart himself...