"The changing of Mary Willis" in the novel Cold Sassy tree What did she do after the death of her mother? Read about how the timid, immature Mary Willis became bold and helpful.

After the death of her mother, Mary Willis Tweedy was very heartbroken. She went into many weeks of mourning and nobody thought that she would ever recover. Mary Willis was very dependent on her mother. However, Mary Willis did emotionally mature greatly in the course of this novel.

In the beginning of this novel, Mary Willis was very laid back. When Grandpa Blakeslee told her to do something, she did it with no questions asked. She rarely voiced her opinions. Grandpa Blakeslee could literally do anything, and she would just take it. On page 5, Grandpa Blakeslee said, "She's dead as she'll ever be, ain't she? Well, ain't she?" Mary Willis never said anything about it, which shows that she is so timid that she will let him be mean to her mother. That is actually very surprising considering the fact that she was very close to her mother. Also, she did not accept Grandpa Blakeslee's marriage to Miss Love; she was very immature by just ignoring Love.

Granny (Looney Tunes)

English: Mary Willis Library - Washington, GA. Fir...

English: Main entrance to the annex of Mary Willis...

She could have been a little nicer to Love and supported their marriage. Instead, she talked about Love behind her back, ignored her, and did not help her out at all.

In chapter 32, Hoyt Tweedy was trying to get Mary Willis to go to New York. She did not want to go because she was still mourning. She was also scared of what people would say. She said, "You know I cain't go, Hoyt. It would scandalize the town." Will Tweedy was trying to get her to go too. He said, "Granny would want you to. Not long before she took sick, she told me how happy she was about you getting' this nice trip." In fact, the whole town thought it would be a good break for her; she just...