Maggie Mallison

Twin sister of Gavin Stevens and mother of Chick Mallison, Maggie is married to Charley Mallison. Lively, articulate, and energetic in her several roles as wife, mother, and twin sister, she is also intelligent and humorous and at base a kind person, as we see when young Linda Snopes comes to her home for Sunday dinner. As a prominent member of Jefferson society, she willingly aids her brother in his determination to have Eula Snopes accepted by the ladies of the town. She also has a clear vision of her fellow Jeffersonians. About Eula, for example, Maggie says, "The ladies of Jefferson dont care what she does. What they will never forgive is the way she looks. No: the way the Jefferson gentlemen look at her" (50). In response, Charley says, "Speak for your brother . . . I never looked at her in her life," and Maggie retorts, "Then so much the worse for me . . . with a mole for a husband. No: moles have warm blood; a Mammoth Cave fish" (50).