by paminala » May 17th, 2010, 4:07 pm
The way I read it, the 1st time I read the book, this is what I understood. He offers to change places for cash, she gets out of line to "buy" the new spot but since the money is no good (which everyone else knew and is why they all laughed at her for trying it) she not only didn't get the better spot but lost the one she had. I thought the fellow was probably mocking her since he would have known the cash wouldn't be worth anything either. Please don't ask me where I got that impression, but there is so much chatter among the "crowd" about class and who is better than the others that it felt right for it to be a sin of pride that got her cast out of the line. Or maybe I had too many customers in the store where I work that day who put on airs and thought they could buy and sell everyone they met and it colored my impressions. Or maybe I'm just wrong. That has been known to happen.
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.
~ Galileo Galilei