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It's all the fault, she decided, as the tall fellow drew something on the back of an envelope, something that was to be looped up or left to hang, of these absurd class distinctions. Well, for her part, she didn’t feel them. Not a bit, not an atom.
Laura is supervising the workmen’s construction of the marquee. She admires their friendliness and lack of pretense. She wishes she could be friends with men like them instead of the “silly boys” in her own social circle. As she watches them work, she admits that she cannot befriend them due to the social taboos against the mixing of classes. She tells herself that the class distinctions are ridiculous and make no sense. She lies to herself when she protests that she doesn’t feel the class divisions “not a bit, not an atom.” Laura has grown up with privilege and cannot entirely separate herself from it, at least not at this point in her development. By acknowledging the absurdity of class distinctions, she shows that she is at least beginning to hold views that differ from those of the rest of her family.
"I don't understand," said Laura, and she walked quickly out of the room into her own bedroom. There, quite by chance, the first thing she saw was this charming girl in the mirror, in her black hat trimmed with gold daisies, and a long black velvet ribbon. Never had she imagined she could look like that. Is mother right? she thought. And now she hoped her mother was right.
Laura is confused. She thought her mother would agree that having the garden party in light of their poor neighbor’s death is wrong, but her mother does not. Considering the matter settled, her mother gives her an extravagant hat. At the moment, Laura cannot bring herself to look at herself wearing it. However, when she accidentally sees herself in her bedroom mirror, she admires her reflection. She has to admit to herself that the hat, and the wealth and privilege it symbolizes, look good on her. This acknowledgement causes Laura to falter in her emerging ideas about the absurdity of class distinctions. She feels pulled back toward her family and their upper-class values.
"It was simply marvellous. But Laurie—” She stopped, she looked at her brother. "Isn't life," she stammered, "isn't life—” But what life was she couldn't explain. No matter. He quite understood.
Laura is returning to her home after having an epiphany at the side of Mr. Scott’s corpse. Instead of revulsion or sadness, Laura feels a sense of peace and contentment. She encounters Laurie, who has come to look for her. He asks if the experience was “awful.” Instead of awful, Laura says it was “marvellous.” Marvellous can mean “extraordinary,” but it can also mean “causing great wonder” and “miraculous.” And yet, she stammers when she tries to articulate her complex thoughts and the overwhelming feelings about life she has gained from the experience. The narrator says that Laurie understood. However, readers might wonder if he really does. In Laurie’s earlier appearances in the story, he has acted whole-heartedly upper class. So much so that Laura could not bring herself to ask his opinion on whether they should cancel the party, fearing or knowing that he would side with Jose and their mother. And, having not shared Laura’s experience, how can he truly understand?
