How does the narrator's interpretation of events reflect his or her own interests and desires?

The narrator portrays "Little Mrs. Sommers" in an incredibly sympathetic way. Her fifteen dollars seems like a great sum "to her" as it "stuffed and bulged" her worn-out purse, making her feel important in a way that she has not for quite a long time. She is so careful, so thoughtful about how best to spend it, and we are told that her neighbors often talked of what had been, for Mrs. Sommers, "'better days'" when she did not, apparently, have to be quite so careful with money as she does now. Times are hard for Mrs. Sommers. The following description, especially, seems designed to elicit our sympathies as well:

Mrs. Sommers was one who knew the value of bargains; who could stand for hours making her way inch by inch toward the desired object that was selling below cost. She could elbow her way if need be; she had learned to clutch a piece of goods and hold it and stick to it with persistence and determination till her turn came to be served, no matter when it came.

The narrator invites us to imagine Mrs. Sommers waiting for interminable lengths of time in order to save a scrap of money, like a little bird just waiting its turn for the feeder and fending off larger birds that swoop in to snatch her meager little seeds. It is telling, too, that Mrs. Sommers doesn't even consider purchasing something for herself—she thinks only of her children—until she happens upon the silk stockings. In fact, she'd been so preoccupied with taking care of her children that she'd even forgotten to eat that day: "An all-gone limp feeling had come over her [...]." In this state of exhaustion, with this feeling of being completely spent, Mrs. Sommers gives in to temptation. Who can blame her? Who, in such a depleted state, having denied herself anything pleasurable or beautiful for such a long time, wouldn't be tempted as Mrs. Sommers is? The narrator's refusal to condemn her or to depict her as selfish seems to indicate a great deal of empathy. The narrator, thus, clearly wants to evoke our sympathy for this character.