XII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Social Conformity vs. Individuality

  Laura struggles to conform to her peers' expectations, feeling that her unique thoughts and empathy for Annie Johns set her apart and put her at risk of being ostracized.

• Truth, Lies, and Self-Deception

  Laura is honest with herself about her feelings during the expulsion, recognizing that she was more fascinated than horrified, which conflicts with the expected moral response.

• Class, Money, and Social Status

  Laura reflects on how her own experience with poverty allows her to understand Annie Johns' motive for stealing a tram-fare, contrasting with the wealthier girls who cannot comprehend such need.

• Friendship and the Desire for Belonging

  Laura desperately wants to feel the same as her peers and be accepted, but her different perspective makes her fear being cast out like Annie.

Characters to notice

• Laura Rambotham

  Laura grapples with her feelings of empathy for Annie Johns and her own fear of being different from her peers.

• Annie Johns

  Annie is publicly expelled for theft, and Laura ponders her fate and the circumstances that led to her crime.

• Tilly Macnamara

  Tilly accuses Laura of being sorry for Annie Johns, highlighting the social pressure Laura faces.

• Bertha Ramsay

  Bertha cries during the expulsion but quickly recovers, and later teases Laura about her glum mood.

• Mr. Strachey

  Mr. Strachey dramatically presides over the expulsion, delivering a theatrical speech that captivates Laura.

• Dr. Pughson

  Dr. Pughson stands among the teachers during the expulsion, part of the stern authority figures.

• Miss Zielinski

  Miss Zielinski is mentioned as one of the teachers present, noted for her dirty handkerchief by the girls.

• Mr. Repton

  Mr. Repton is the elocution master whose legs are admired by the girls, and he reads Handy Andy before the expulsion announcement.

Key passages

• “Pig—pig—pig! she muttered under her breath, and wrinkled her nose in a grimace. The real reason of her pleasurable absorption was, she supposed, that she had understood Annie Johns' motive better than anyone else. Well, she had had no business to understand—that was the long and the short of it: nice-minded girls found such a thing impossible, and turned incuriously away.”

  Laura scolds herself for enjoying the drama of Annie's expulsion, realizing that her empathy for Annie's poverty-driven motive is seen as improper by her peers, who would never understand such a situation.

  Laura's internal conflict highlights her struggle between her natural empathy and the social pressure to conform to the expected moral outrage.

• “And the child's feelings, as she stood at the window, were not very far removed from prayer. Had they found words, they would have taken the form of an entreaty that she might be preserved from having thoughts that were different from other people's; that she might be made to feel as she ought to feel, in a proper, ladylike way—and especially did she see a companion convicted of crime.”

  Laura silently prays to be made normal, to think and feel like the other girls, so she won't be judged or ostracized for her unconventional reactions.

  This passage underscores Laura's desperate desire for conformity and her fear of being an outsider.

• “For that night she started up, with a cry, from dreaming that not Annie Johns but she was being expelled; that an army of spear-like first fingers was marching towards her, and that, try as she would, she could not get her limp, heavy legs to bear her to the schoolroom door.”

  Laura has a nightmare in which she is the one being expelled, symbolizing her deep fear of being rejected and cast out by her community.

  The dream reveals Laura's subconscious anxiety about her own nonconformity leading to social ruin.