How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
All country and small town people have seen such old women, but no one knows much about them (1.1)
It's funny: no one cares about the old woman when she's alive, but she becomes the talk of the town once she's dead. What does that say?
Quote #2
You see, the farmer was up to something with the girl—she was, I think, a bound girl and his wife had her suspicions (1.9)
A "bound girl" is someone forced into indentured servitude—in this case, Mrs. Grimes became a bound girl after being orphaned. As a result, the farmer sees her as his property, to do with how he pleases.
Quote #3
He got her pretty easy himself, the first time he was out with her. He wouldn't have married her if the German farmer hadn't tried to tell him where to get off (1.10)
Does this seem like the best way to start off a marriage? Survey says: Heck no! In a way, Jake marries her out of some misguided competition with the German farmer, not out of love or anything silly like that.
Quote #4
She told Jake a lot of stuff, how the German had tried to get her [...] how another time, when they happened to be alone in the house together, he tore her dress open clear down the front (1.13)
Mrs. Grimes is subjected to sexual harassment on a constant basis. But the law is on the German's side: she's a "bound girl" and legally considered his property. She couldn't get help if she tried.
Quote #5
Every moment of every day, as a young girl, was spent feeding something. Then she married Jake Grimes and he had to be fed (2.2-3)
Anderson uses the concept of "feeding" to show how women are forced to sacrifice their lives to support men. Mrs. Grimes has never been able to figure out what her dreams are—much less pursue them—because her whole life has been spent working.
Quote #6
If there wasn't anything to eat in the house when they came home the old man gave his old woman a cut over the head (2.5)
Is it really her fault that there's no food in the house? Maybe Jake should take a look in the mirror and realize that he's doing a pretty poor job of supporting his family, instead of taking out his frustration on his wife.
Quote #7
Thank heaven, she did not have to feed her husband—in a certain way. That hadn't lasted long after their marriage and after the babies came (2.8)
In this passage, Anderson has flipped the concept of "feeding" to refer to sexuality. This is telling: their sexual relationship is something that only he desires. For her, it's just another job.
Quote #8
The son and his woman ordered the old woman around like a servant. She didn't mind much; she was used to it (3.2)
Now this is just sad. Although she was freed from servitude, Mrs. Grimes ended up becoming a personal slave to her very own family.
Quote #9
Neither of us had ever seen a woman's body before. It may have been the snow, clinging to the frozen flesh, that made it look so white and lovely, so like marble (4.15)
Mrs. Grimes was ignored during life but admired during death. Isn't that weird? If you ask us, it's that the townsfolk know (subconsciously, of course) that Mrs. Grimes has given her life to "feed" men. To them, that's what a woman is supposed to do.
Quote #10
Now woman had come with the party from town; but one of the men, he was the town blacksmith, took off his overcoat and spread it over her (4.15)
It's no coincidence that only men investigate the body. Although they probably treat their wives better than Jake Grimes does, they likely share similar views with him about women's place in society.