Rhoda, a mature young eight year old loses a penmanship medal won fairly by her schoolmate, Claude. Claude is suddenly murdered and everyone is taken back by the incident while Rhoda pays little attention to the news. Christine, Rhoda’s mother, finds the penmanship hidden in Rhoda’s Jewelry box. According to Plato, “Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is,” (869). Christine is seeing the light and moving away from ignorance towards her child. She starts to contemplate whether Rhoda could have been the person responsible for Claude’s death. Christine now suspects Rhoda and questions her about the penmanship. Now, Christine’s attitude and demeanor towards Rhoda changes, as she no …show more content…
Leroy states that the shoes are in his possession. She is determined to get them back. Rhoda takes matches while Christine remains ignorant that Rhoda has placed the matches back not realizing Rhoda is planning to burn Leroy alive. After Leroy is found dead in front of Christine’s window, Christine cannot believe her eyes that she has let Rhoda gone too far. Christine is in the cave not realizing that her daughter could kill again. Plato argues that, “And suppose once more, he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be painted and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.” (869). Christine, representing “he” in the quote, Christine sees clearly who her daughter is, with no questions. Here, she shows Rhoda that she does not want to be dragged into her schemes any