Jan McCutcheon
English 48B
Journal for Mary Hunter Austin


Author Quote: “It might very well have been an unsoundness of mind which drove her to the open, sobered and healed at last by the large soundness of nature” (Norton 889).


Internet Quote: “Many of her characters are women coming to terms with lives controlled by men. Mrs. Walker, for example, walks to cure an unnamed illness; She is a woman not unlike Austin, who longed for equitable work, love, and a child” (http://www.onlinenevada.org/mary_hunter_austin).


Summary: “The Walking Woman” is a story about a woman who wanders the San Joaquin Valley of California. There are rumors about her and it’s not clear if she is sane or not, but for the most part, the rumors indicate that she is wise and true. The narrator seems to be walking as much as Mrs. Walker. Their paths cross many times, although they rarely get a chance to speak to one another. No one knows why she walks, and when the narrator finally gets a chance to have a conversation with her, she tells a somewhat cryptic story of work, love and a child.


Response: In our first glimpses of the Walking Woman, Austin tells us that “men respect her;” “that she passed unarmed and unoffended” and “the word she brought about trails and water-holes was as reliable as an Inidan’s”, painting a picture of a strong woman traveling freely in a time and place that many women did not enjoy such freedom (Norton 888 - 889). She mentions that there are contradictions in the rumors regarding Mrs. Walker’s physical appearance (that she had a “twist to her face, some said; a hitch to one shoulder; they averred she limped as she walked”) and also mentions it is unclear if they think Mrs. Walker is sane, “on the mere evidence of her way of life she was cracked; not quite broken, but unserviceable. Yet in her talk there was both wisdom and information” (Norton 889). During and after the conversations, the narrator is trying to understand what is said regarding work, love and children. Is it wisdom or the ramblings of a crazy woman? Austin states “At least one of us is wrong” (Norton 892). Is she saying that doing good honest is work enough to make make love and childbearing worthwhile endeavors? Is it possible to have all three? It’s not entirely clear if she is right or wrong, but “the track of her two feet bore evenly and white” (Norton 893).