The Great Gatsby

Clyde Edgerton's Walking Across Egypt (1988) tells the story of a seventy-eight year old woman, Mattie Rigsbee, and the many adventures that find her in her little hometown. Mattie often says to herself and others that she is "slowing down", but in reality she is continuing to speed up by taking on tasks not fit for a senior citizen. Mattie is a devoted, outgoing, and independent individual.

Mattie is a devoted person. When Mattie lets Wesley, an escaped prisoner from the rehab center who is her dogcatcher's cousin (Mattie didn't know that he had escaped), stay at her house and he gets caught by the police and taken back to prison, she shows her devotion to this boy by helping him become a better man by signing the papers to be his legal guardian, which means that he gets out of prison and gets to stay with her. When Wesley is staying in Mattie's house for the night, after escaping from rehab, Mattie displays her devotion to him and to the church of God by stating to Wesley,''' Well, I want you to go with me in the morning (to church)''' (131).

Mattie is an outgoing lady. When she heard from Lamar, her dogcatcher, that Wesley was in rehab, she exemplifies her ability to be outgoing by going by the rehab center and taking him baked goods and talking to him. When anyone says that they will be coming by her house, Mattie, in this situation, always says, '''Why don't you stay and eat a bite? ''' (30).

Mattie is independent. When she wakes up every morning, she prepares her own meal, washes all of her dishes, and once, she even fixes the bottom of a chair by getting under the chair and nailing in all the wood on her own. Since Mattie's husband died, she has proven her independence by living alone. When an ill, stray dog arrives on Mattie's porch, she shows her independence by telling her son, ''' You know I