‘I must say that when I went for the interview, I was surprised that the windows and the stairs up to the offices were also far from clean’
She goes on to describe the cleanliness of the rooms, in an obsessive manner, even mentioning there were elements missing from the gas fire. The first thing she notices about anyone or any place is the cleanliness or wither they have a tidy appearance.
Lorna’s obsession for cleanliness gives us the first indication of her ignorance, although there are plenty of other examples. She is ignorant in both senses of the word, naïve to the point of being rude. Shortly before Lorna gives up her job due to the state of the ‘facilities’ she is approached in a friendly manner by her boss, he asks her what she will do with her first wages. He asked her what she did in the evenings and whether she watched Telly. Lorna’s response highlights her ignorance:
‘I did take this as an insult, because we call it T.V. and his remark made me out to be uneducated. I just stood, and did not answer, and he looked surprised.’
I believe her boss was just trying to be informal and friendly, and her decision to ignore him was shockingly rude. It is a small indication of her actual class; as if she was middle or upper class she probably would have said Television.
When Lorna meets the Darby family she was as expected, surprised at ‘the state it was in’ when n she enters their living room. She remarks on the Darby children:
‘The children clothes were very shabby for a doctor, and she changed them out of their school clothes when they came home from school, into those worn out garments. Mum always kept us spotless to go out to play’.
This is an ignorant comment; surely changing into old clothes to play in would be the sensible thing to do.
Lorna goes with the Darby family to visit Mr. Darby’s mother and she shows her ignorance again. She cannot see the charms of Mrs. Darby’s 14th century cottage, and thinks a council house w would be more desirable. She asks Mrs. Darby,
‘Are you going to be re-housed?’
She explained to her how you have to apply to the council and keep at them.
Similarly, she visits friends f the Darby’s in an apartment in Curzon Street. She remarks:
‘It was a nice place but there was no welfare centre to the flats, where people could go for social intercourse, advice and guidance, but they were well spoken.’
She is very ignorant to assume that social housing is more desirable in these examples. It highlights the control her parents seem to have on her, and how she has been molded by them. There are examples in this in the way she speaks, with expressions that don’t suit her. She often says ‘I will say that’ when criticizing something. This sounds like a phrase picked up from somewhere, because she says it so often, and so I imagine that her parents are as critical as her about such things, as it’s not something you would say when remarking in a positive manner.
We know her mother seems to be obsessed with cleanliness also, Lorna had to dress smartly to go out to play, and so it is apparent that her parents value appearance and other people’s opinions over development and enjoyment.
She often speaks of her parents opinions, when she got her first job she says:
‘Mum was pleased at this, and Dad said it was a first class start’
She also involves them in her decision to leave the same job:
‘I told Mum and Dad about the facilities and we decided I should not go back to that job’
There are many other examples of Lorna’s ignorance, and how this results in her superficial nature. She had an opportunity to secure a long term relationship leading to marriage with a wealthy man, named Willy, but his bohemian nature and unconcern for hygiene and tidiness concerned her considerably. At the end of the story she looks around her parent’s council flat and remarked at its new décor and furniture, and thought of Willy's place, she ends the story:
‘What a fool I was going with Willy, when I recall his place and the good carpet gone greasy, not to mention the paint oozing out of the tubes, I think it would break my he art to sink s low.’
This is ironic, to call herself a fool for ever being with him when it is apparent to us that she is the foolish one, to prioritize cleanliness, and to consider new modern clean uncharacteristic furnishings to equal good character and high status.
The final comparison highlights all her characteristics that stem from one another, obsessiveness, ignorance, naivety, and I personally feel these are all the result of being under the heavy influence of controlling narrow minded parents. It is easy to dislike Lorna, although her ignorance and rude comments, and superficial nature are learnt traits and I feel she is just naïve as opposed to malicious, I will say that.
