# XXIV explained — The Getting of Wisdom > Chapter companion for The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson. ## What happens Laura returns home for the holidays burdened by her secret failure and the fear of disappointing her mother, who has sacrificed much for her education. She becomes irritable and quarrels with Pin, and feels increasingly isolated. Back at school, without Evelyn, she throws herself into her studies but finds solace in a renewed religious fervor, praying fervently for success in her examinations. ## Themes in this chapter ### Education and the Nature of Wisdom Laura's fear of failing examinations and her mother's view of education as a tangible investment highlight the pressures and superficial measures of academic success. ### Family and Maternal Expectations Mother's financial sacrifices and disappointment in Laura's behavior underscore the tension between maternal expectations and Laura's internal struggles. ### Truth, Lies, and Self-Deception Laura hides her academic failure and her mother's work from others, leading to feelings of guilt and isolation. ## Character check-ins ### Laura Rambotham Struggles with guilt over her secret failure, becomes irritable and isolated, then turns to intense religious devotion. ### Pin Bears the brunt of Laura's acrimony; they quarrel and fight frequently. ### Mother Unaware of Laura's troubles, she scolds Laura for her behavior and laments the cost of her education. ### Evelyn Souttar Absent from school; Laura deeply misses her and writes long letters to her. ### Sarah Intervenes when Laura and Pin fight, threatening to fetch their mother. ## Key lines > Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker. What does not kill me makes me stronger. _Nietzsche's aphorism sets the tone for Laura's resilience amid her trials._ > She held her peace, and throughout the holidays hugged her disgraceful secret to her, untold. She remained silent and kept her shameful secret to herself during the entire holiday. _Laura's concealment of her failure deepens her internal burden._ > The knowledge weighed the more heavily on her own mind. The secret knowledge pressed even more heavily on her conscience. _The weight of her secret grows as she hides it from her family._ > She saw chiefly rocks ahead. She foresaw mostly obstacles and difficulties in her future. _Laura's anxiety about the future is palpable._ > Mother was one of those people who laid tremendous weight on prizes and examinations, as offering a tangible proof that your time had not been wasted or misspent. Mother valued prizes and exams as concrete evidence that one's efforts were worthwhile. _Mother's pragmatic view of education adds pressure on Laura._ > The money which, by hook and by crook, had been scraped together and hoarded up for Laura’s education was now coming to an end. The money that had been gathered with difficulty for Laura's schooling was nearly exhausted. _Financial strain intensifies the stakes of Laura's academic success._ > Laura’s eyes were rudely opened to the struggle Mother had had to make both ends meet. Laura suddenly became aware of her mother's difficult financial struggle. _Laura gains a harsh insight into her mother's sacrifices._ > Sufferers are seldom sweet-tempered; and Laura formed no exception. People in pain are rarely pleasant; Laura was no different. _Laura's suffering makes her irritable and difficult._ > Pin, her most frequent companion, had to bear the brunt of her acrimony. Pin, who spent the most time with Laura, suffered the most from her bitterness. _Laura's anger is directed at her sister Pin._ > They quarrelled passionately, having branched as far apart as the endpoints of what is ultimately to be a triangle, between which the connecting lines have not yet been drawn. They argued fiercely, having grown as distant as the corners of a triangle whose sides are not yet connected. _The sisters' relationship has become strained and disconnected._ > I’ll fetch your ma to you⁠—that I will! I'll go get your mother for you! _Sarah threatens to involve their mother in the fight._ > Great girls like you⁠—fightin' like bandicoots! Big girls like you fighting like wild animals! _Sarah scolds Laura and Pin for their physical fight._ > All I say is, big girls as you are, you deserve to have the nonsense whipped out of you. I say that as big girls, you deserve to be punished for your foolishness. _Mother threatens physical punishment._ > How pretty your eyes look, mother, when your eyelashes get floury! Mother, your eyes look beautiful when your eyelashes are dusted with flour. _Laura's sudden compliment defuses the tension momentarily._ > You used to have nice, ladylike manners... Now, you’ve no more idea how to behave than a country bumpkin. You used to have proper, polite manners... Now you don't know how to act any better than a rustic. _Mother criticizes Laura's social behavior._ > You don’t want me to tell stories, I suppose? You don't expect me to lie, do you? _Laura defends her bluntness by refusing to be dishonest._ > If a child of mine doesn’t know the difference between being polite and telling stories... then, all I can say is, it’s a⁠ ⁠… a great shame! If my child can't tell the difference between politeness and lying... then I can only say it's a great shame! _Mother is outraged by Laura's lack of social grace._ > If only I’d never let you leave home. I wish I had never let you go away from home. _Mother regrets sending Laura to school._ > She journeyed to Melbourne on one of those pleasant winter days when the sun shines from morning till night in a cloudless sky, and the chief mark of the season is the extraordinary greenness of the grass. She traveled to Melbourne on a beautiful winter day with constant sunshine and unusually green grass. _The description contrasts with Laura's inner turmoil._ > The absence of Evelyn came home to her in all its crushing force. The full weight of Evelyn's absence hit her. _Laura feels the loss of Evelyn acutely._ > A gap yawned drearily where Evelyn had been⁠—but then, she had been everywhere. A sad emptiness existed where Evelyn used to be—and she had been present in every aspect of Laura's life. _Evelyn's absence leaves a pervasive void._ > Her companions were not wilfully unkind to her... But her idolatrous attachment to Evelyn had been the means of again drawing round her one of those magic circles, which held her schoolfellows at a distance. Her classmates were not intentionally cruel... but her obsessive devotion to Evelyn had created an invisible barrier that kept them away. _Laura's past behavior isolates her from her peers._ > Laura set her teeth and flung herself on her lessons like a dog on a bone, endeavouring to pack the conscientious work of twelve months into less than six. Laura gritted her teeth and attacked her studies with fierce determination, trying to cram a year's worth of work into six months. _Laura's intense study regimen reflects her desperation._ > By chance she lighted on the Fourteenth Chapter of St. John, and the familiar, honey-sweet words fell on her heart like caresses. She happened upon the Fourteenth Chapter of St. John, and the familiar, sweet words soothed her heart like gentle touches. _Laura finds comfort in scripture._ > She believed, with her whole heart, in the existence of an all-knowing God, and just as implicitly in His perfect power to succour His human children at will. She believed completely in an all-knowing God and in His absolute power to help His human children whenever He chose. _Laura's faith is described as deep and unwavering._ > An aching void was in her and about her; it was for Him to fill this void with the riches of His love. There was a painful emptiness inside and around her; it was God's role to fill that void with His abundant love. _Laura turns to God to fill the emotional gap left by Evelyn._ > She comforted herself for her previous lack of warmth, by the reminder that His need also was chiefly of the heavy-laden and oppressed. She consoled herself for her earlier lack of devotion by remembering that God especially needs those who are burdened and oppressed. _Laura rationalizes her past indifference to religion._ > Soon she felt herself led by Him, felt herself a favourite lying on His breast. Soon she felt guided by Him, felt like a favored one resting on His chest. _Laura experiences an intimate, favored relationship with Christ._ > Was it then impossible, they asked themselves, for Laura Rambotham to do anything in a decorous and ladylike way? Must she at every step put them out of countenance? They wondered if Laura could ever do anything in a proper, ladylike manner. Did she have to embarrass them at every turn? _Her schoolmates are embarrassed by her excessive religious fervor._ > Religion, felt they, should be practised with modesty; be worn like an indispensable but private garment. Whereas she committed the gross error in taste of, as it were, parading it outside her other clothes. They believed religion should be practiced modestly, like a necessary but private piece of clothing. But she made the terrible mistake of displaying it publicly. _The social norms of religious expression are contrasted with Laura's open devotion._ > The farther she spun herself into her intimacy with the Deity, the more indifferent did she grow to the people and things of this world. The deeper she wove herself into intimacy with God, the more detached she became from worldly people and concerns. _Laura's religious focus leads to social withdrawal._ > Now the time had surely come when she might claim to be rewarded. Now it was for Him to show that He had appreciated her homage. Now was the time for her to ask for a reward. Now God should show that He valued her worship. _Laura begins to see her devotion as transactional._ > Oh, dear Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me, miserable sinner! ... only let me pass my examinations, Lord, and there is nothing I will not do for Thee in return. Oh, dear Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner! ... just let me pass my exams, Lord, and I will do anything for You in return. _Laura's prayer reveals her bargaining with God for academic success._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/chapters/xxiv - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/chapters