Chapter thirteen begins with Betsy declaring
that the factory working girls are equivalent to slaves. Diana agrees with her. simply can't
convince herself that she is a slave. After all, she is at least getting paid for her hard
work. Because of the building tension between Lyddie and the two other girls, Lyddie begins to
avoid them. She throws herself into her work, and is one of the factory's top producers. She
is working up to four machines at one time.
Lyddie also writes a letter
home to her family explaining her successes, hard work, and attempts to pay off all of the
family debt. I believe that she is looking for any kind of support that she can find at this
point. As the chapter progresses, the reader learns that Betsy has indeed decided to sign the
petition for better working conditions. Betsy is fired for it, and then she decides to apply to
attend Oberlin College.
As Lyddie is stressed to max with her efforts to
work so many machines at one time, she is injured. Fortunately, Diana is an incredibly loving
and caring individual and doesn't avoid Lyddie the way that Lyddie avoided her. Diana helps
care for Lyddie's injury and even arranges for Lyddie to see a doctor friend of hers. All at no
cost to Lyddie.
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