feels resentful of the
injustice
when she is fired, but she knows that there is nothing she can do about
it.
Mr. Marsden targeted
Lyddie
because she saw him harassing Brigid and stopped him. Lyddie
understands that Mr. Marsden lied
about her to get her fired. However, she
also knows there is nothing she can do.
When she was
first fired for moral turpitude she had no idea what the word
meant.
She turned unbelieving from one man to the
other,
but they ignored her. She fought for words to counter the drift the
interview had taken, but
what could she say? She did not know what turpitude
was. How could she deny something she did
not even know existed? She knew
what moral was. But that didn't help. (Ch. 21)
It wasnt until she got her hands on a dictionary that she
found out
what she had been accused of. She was shocked. Mr. Marsden
claimed that she was the immoral
one, when he was the person who had acted
immorally. He had tried to force himself on Lyddie.
Now he was trying to
force himself on Brigid. In his mind, factory girls were fair game because
they could not defend themselves.
Lyddie knows that she cant do
anything
about being fired. She was not given a certificate that will get
her another job. Basically,
she has been blacklisted. No other factory will
take her, because they will assume that she did
something wrong. Lyddie does
make sure that she gets back at Mr. Marsden and protects Brigid
from him,
however.
"I have here a letter I wrote.
I
will tell you what it says. It says ifyou cause Brigid MacBride to lose her
position I will see
that your wifeis informed about what really happens in
the weaving room after hours." (Ch.
22)
Lyddie takes being fired in stride. The job meant
everything to her,
but that was back when she wanted to make money to support her family and
bring it back together. Now she knows that will not happen, because her mother is dead
and both
of her living siblings have essentially been adopted. She plans to
get on with her life, and
hopes to go to college.
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