Enid

Enid is one of the main characters of the short story. She is a single woman, working as a practical nurse. Her job requires her to attend primarily to women having babies, and to the old and dying. When Enid was a young girl, she thought she wanted to be a missionary. She soon realized that what she really wanted was to be good, and to do good for others. She decided to become a nurse instead. She later dropped out of her nurse's training when her father made her promise on his deathbed that she would abandon the pursuit.

Some years later, Enid accepted the opportunity to be a practical nurse, believing it was not a betrayal of her promise to her father. In the narrative present, Enid is assigned to Mrs. Quinn's care. Mrs. Quinn is dying of kidney failure. Though Enid is accustomed to the...