How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It made quite a load for such an old body. No one gave her a lift. People drive right down a road and never notice an old woman like that (1.3)
The townsfolk don't even seem to notice Mrs. Grimes. It's easy to blame Jake for keeping his family isolated, but, as a great man once said: it takes two to tango.
Quote #2
Her name was Grimes, and she lived with her husband and son in a small unpainted house on the bank of a small creek four miles from town (1.5)
The Grimes family lives an isolated life. There are tons of consequences to this, from making Jake seem less trustworthy to enabling his abuse of Mrs. Grimes.
Quote #3
Once [...] the man came there and sat on the bench in front. Two or three other men were there, but no one spoke to him (1.6)
Despite all our trash talking, we feel a little bad for Jake here. He's not a good dude, but that doesn't give the townsfolk an excuse to act as snooty as the popular girls from '90s high-school flicks.
Quote #4
I remember now that she was a bound girl and did not know where her father and mother were (1.14)
Mrs. Grimes has always been isolated from society. She has no family and no friends. Even her own husband treats her less like a human being and more like an inanimate object.
Quote #5
Sometimes, when she began to look old—she wasn't forty yet—and when the husband and son were both off [...] she went around the house and the barnyard muttering to herself (2.7)
Unsurprisingly, this life has taken its toll on Mrs. Grimes' physical and mental health. Human beings need other human beings—otherwise, they end up like Howard Hughes.
Quote #6
They left everything at home for her to manage and she had no money. She knew no one. No one ever talked to her in town (2.9)
Mrs. Grimes is stuck between a rock and a hard place: abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect her, but alienated from anyone who might help.
Quote #7
Then she went to the butcher and he gave her some liver and some dog-meat. It was the first time any one had spoken to her in a friendly way for a long time (2.12)
That's a pretty low standard for friendliness, if you ask us. Are the rest of the townsfolk straight-up rude to her? Or do they just act like she doesn't exist?
Quote #8
Whatever happened she never said anything. That was her way of getting along (3.2)
The old woman responds to her abuse by becoming even more isolated, drawing within herself to stay sane. In this way, she's the most isolated at all—she's isolated internally as well as externally.
Quote #9
Such men as Jake Grimes and his son always keep just such dogs. They kick and abuse them, but they stay. (3.6)
Those dogs are a lot like Mrs. Grimes—they are abused, mistreated, and demeaned, but don't run away. This is common in abusive relationships, with the abuser isolating the abused into a sort of "Stockholm Syndrome."
Quote #10
However, the town was against them. They had to get out. Where they went I never heard (5.7)
Mrs. Grimes' death isolates the Grimes family even further. We don't think we've seen the last of them yet, though—chances are they'll just move to another town and do the same thing all over again.