Diana helpslearn to use her
loom and makes her feel at home.
Diana is the mother figure
for all of the factory girls. She has endless patience, and whenever a new girl comes to the
factory she shows her how to operate the machinery so that she wont get hurt. When Lyddie starts
at Lowell, she has no idea what she is doing. It is Diana who shows her the ropes.
Lyddie is given the machine next to Diana. It never seems to bother Diana that she has
to maintain her own machines and help the newcomers learn theirs. She doesnt complain about
reduced productivity or slow learners. She is only patient and supportive.
Diana asks Lyddie if she likes to read, and Lyddie admits that she hasnt had much
schooling.
"Well, you can remedy that," the
older girl said. "I'll help, if you like, some evening."Lyddie
looked up gratefully. She felt no need with Diana to apologize or to be ashamed of her
ignorance. "I'm needing a bit of help with the regulations..." (Ch. 9)
Diana does help Lyddie with reading and writing. She gives her
paper and encourages her to write to her mother and brother. No one in Lyddies family is
well-educated, and Lyddie left school when her father left. She just couldnt trust her mother
with the farm or her younger siblings. Diana carefully helped Lyddie write the letters and
insisted on giving her postage. Before that, Lyddies brother and mother had no idea where she
went when she left the tavern.
Diana is a force of comfort for Lyddie. Since
money is so valuable to her, Lyddie worries about signing Dianas workers rights petitions, but
Diana is so important to her that she eventually goes to a meeting. Diana confides that she is
going to have a baby, and the father is married. She has to leave so she wont hurt their cause.
It is a terrible blow to Lyddie, who feels like she is losing another family
member.
No comments:
Post a Comment