I love the subtle but effective twists this story takes and what it exposes about human nature. Why can some people make us feel we are in the wrong when we know we are not? Why do we sometimes feel pity when we ought to feel rage? Or perhaps vice-versa? I think Jackson is saying it is that we recognize ourselves in one another. I believe these two women are, actually, the same, and they see that. An older and a younger version. One who has tread this path and can see herself in her younger counterpart, and one who somehow knows this too could be her, given the passing of years. Why does Mrs. Allen take such trivial things? There is an answer to that question and it is what makes this story resonate. ( )