Eva's Story

Abstract

This work is an interpretive reading of one Mexican American woman's story as told to an Anglo researcher. It demonstrates the methodological meaningfulness of reading for conflict and voice in the narratives of women who have experienced abuse and, perhaps more important, brings others into relationship with Eva and her story. The story is read through the interpretive lens of women's moral development as described by Carol Gilligan. The article begins with a review of Gilligan's theory of moral development, followed by a detailed interpretation of the reading of Eva's story. The method used for the analysis is an adaptation of the method developed by Gilligan and several of her colleagues. This method of analysis explicates experiences described as creating moral conflict, the narrator's sense of self, and the voices of psychological distress and resilience in her story.