In Guy de Maupassant’s “Old Mother Savage,” Victoire Simon is originally described as kind and welcoming when she provides wine to the narrator, however she is later characterized as a self-reliant, tough, undaunted, and vengeful old woman. Mother Savage exemplifies her independence by surviving and maintaining the house even after her husband, “had been shot by gendarmes” (176). This is especially impressive since during that time period the man would nearly always do the work and earn enough money for food and other essentials. Generally the women’s role was to cook, clean, and take care of children, yet Victoire had to do all the housework and would go to the village every week on her own, trekking through the snow to buy some bread and meat. Even when, “there was talk of wolves being about… she would take a gun with her,” for the trip (176). This shows how tough and courageous Mother Savage was. Despite the fact that ferocious wolves could at any moment jump at her and tear out her flesh, she still made her routine walk over to the village. She had been hardened to a difficult style of life by society’s restrictions on women, the killing of her husband, and war deprivation. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, women’s lives were, “sad and … dull,” meaning that the roles women assumed left them without the ability to experience life for themselves and discover their identity outside of the family (176). So, after receiving the shattering news that her only son died in battle, she had nothing left to live for. As a result, Victoire brutally murdered the soldiers who had become like, “four good sons,” to her (177). She also told the people around her to make sure to tell everyone that she, “Victoire Simon, that they call the Savage,” had burned the four German soldiers to death, despite knowing that there would be fatal consequences to such a confession (180). Mrs. Simon also gave the names and addresses of each soldier so letters could be written to their...