The Getting of Wisdom · Chapter
The Rebel's Return explained
Laura returns to school after the holidays, facing quiet but persistent ostracism from her peers.
What happens
Laura returns to school after the holidays, facing quiet but persistent ostracism from her peers. She adopts a strategy of slyness and toadying to regain her place, while inwardly rebelling against the injustice of her situation. She is moved into a room with M. P. and Cupid, and after initial coldness, she slowly wins M. P.'s approval through diligent work and careful behavior, though she suppresses her own true feelings. A philosophical discussion about truth reveals Laura's questioning nature and her struggle to conform.
Themes in this chapter
Truth, Lies, and Self-Deception
Laura's internal conflict between her rebellious thoughts and her outward conformity, and the philosophical debate about the nature and utility of truth.
Social Conformity vs. Individuality
Laura's struggle to suppress her true self to regain social acceptance, and her rebellion against the majority's judgment.
Friendship and the Desire for Belonging
Laura's desperate efforts to win M. P.'s approval and re-enter the social fold, highlighting her deep need for belonging.
Characters to notice
- Laura Rambotham
Returns to school after holidays, embittered and rebellious, but outwardly toadying to regain acceptance. She becomes sly and tactical, learning to conceal her true opinions.
- M. P.
Laura's new roommate, stern and morally rigid. She initially treats Laura with disdain but gradually warms to her after Laura's persistent efforts to please.
- Cupid
M. P.'s easygoing friend and roommate. She is more tolerant of Laura and engages in a philosophical debate about truth.
- Tilly Macnamara
Mentioned as one of the chief witnesses of Laura's disgrace, left behind in the class shift.
- Maria Morell
Mentioned as one of the chief witnesses of Laura's disgrace, left behind in the class shift.
- Kate Horner
Mentioned as one of the chief witnesses of Laura's disgrace, left behind in the class shift.
Key passages
“She became a rebel, wrapping herself round in the cloak of bitterness which the outcasts of fortune wear, feeding on her hate of those within the pale.”
Laura turned into a rebel, cloaking herself in the bitterness typical of the rejected, and nourishing her hatred for those who were accepted.
Describes Laura's internal rebellion against her ostracism.
“She learnt to weigh her words before uttering them, instead of blurting out her thoughts in the childish fashion that had exposed her to ridicule; she learnt, too, at last, to keep her real opinions to herself, and to make those she expressed tally with her hearers’.”
Laura learned to think before speaking, hiding her true thoughts and saying only what others wanted to hear.
Illustrates Laura's development of tactical self-censorship.
“If she could once get M. P. on her side, all might yet be well again.”
Laura believed that winning M. P.'s approval was the key to regaining her social standing.
Shows Laura's strategic focus on M. P. as a means of reintegration.
“Truth has got to be—and honesty, too. If it didn't exist, there couldn't be any state, or laws, or any social life.”
Cupid argues that truth and honesty are essential for the existence of society and government.
Part of the philosophical debate about the nature of truth.
