How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
And the woman leans muttering against
a tree, exhausted, purged—
avenged in part for lifelong hidings
she has had to bear. (23-24)
The woman has had to hide her traumatic past, and it has made her life absolutely miserable. That's why she's so violent—she's angry about the past, tired of carrying that burden around, and thinks she can "purge" herself of that pain by whipping some poor kid.