Contents
Chapter 2
Overview
Meg describes escalating control by Miss Garnett, who sidelines Meg from school to office drudgery and preaches about hereditary unfitness. After a drawing incident, Meg is permanently barred from the classroom. Miss Garnett launches a work program sending unplaced girls to a Biloxi cannery; Ava departs, forcing Meg to abandon hope of her mother’s return.
Summary
Each morning, Miss Garnett scrutinizes Meg’s office work, enforcing Bible copying and petty discipline. Meg observes how Miss Garnett gains influence with volunteers, obsessively warning about a “feebleminded” woman, and punishes Meg with pinches and constant surveillance. Despite Meg’s love of learning, Miss Garnett keeps her doing clerical tasks and scriptures.
Meg details the orphanage hierarchy and the chairlady’s new rules, including banning big girls from babies and stopping mail. Meg’s early pleas for news of her mother are met with rebukes, deepening her isolation. Miss Garnett’s attention turns tactile and unsettling as she handles Meg’s hair and reveals she lost a child.
At Bible story hour, Miss Pripp runs a contest for a red pencil. Meg’s labeled drawing, “Jesus Gives Judas the Finger,” is deemed blasphemous and paraded to Miss Spencer and Miss Garnett. A committee swiftly rules to confine Meg to the office full-time, expelling her from the schoolroom she cherishes.
Miss Garnett then unveils a work program: unplaced girls at twelve will be sent to the Biloxi Canning Corporation for wages, schooling, and housing. Meg publicly refuses, insisting she will wait for her mother, earning a whipping in the belt closet and a sermon on hell. The punishment hardens Meg’s resolve yet exposes her dwindling hope.
On the eve of departure, Ava and Meg fantasize about food and the ocean, then argue over hope. Ava physically forces Meg to repeat that mothers do not return, cutting off Meg’s sustaining fantasy. The next morning, freshly dressed, Ava says goodbye and leaves under Miss Garnett’s direction, while Meg’s internal noise contrasts with the orphanage’s quiet, marking the loss of her closest ally and her acceptance of abandonment.
Who Appears
- Meg (Margot)Eleven-year-old narrator; punished and isolated from school; clings to then abandons hope of her mother’s return.
- Miss GarnettChairlady; controls volunteers, preaches heredity fears, isolates Meg to office work, administers whipping, sends girls to Biloxi.
- AvaMeg’s closest friend and protector; turns twelve, departs for Biloxi; compels Meg to accept mothers don’t return.
- Miss PrippOversees Bible story hour; punitive and boastful; declares Meg’s drawing blasphemous, spanks other girls, awards red pencil elsewhere.
- Miss SpencerSchoolroom teacher; supportive of academics but aligns with censure of Meg’s drawing.
- DorellaBullying orphan; wins the red pencil for a manger drawing; mocks Meg at night.
- Miss MildredElderly night attendant; locks the dorm, prompting Meg and Ava’s whispered farewell.