Buckeye Chapter Six: Arrival and Reinvention in Columbus

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Margaret arrives in Columbus in 1936, immediately struck by the city’s size and anonymity. She explores: palm readers, the fine arts museum, neon signs. She finds a lodging house full of exhausted young women. After three days she calls Lydia. On day four she interviews at Anton’s cafeteria with Mr. Higgs, who takes her to lunch then to a furnished apartment where he has sex with her. He hires her as a line server and gives her fifteen dollars to buy better clothes. She begins the job, hates the tedium, but uses her first paycheck to buy makeup and new outfits at Lazarus. Her appearance transforms how strangers and coworkers treat her. She begins dating multiple men: Bernard (a stutterer who becomes her best sexual partner), a sheet music salesman, a teacher obsessed with Tibet, and a museum docent. Through coworker Dotty she meets Felix Salt, a handsome, proper junior executive. They date for months, attending movies and dances. Felix proposes in Lazarus in January 1937 with an emerald ring. Margaret accepts, though she does not love him—she trusts him. They marry at City Hall in February after a brief illness. The wedding night is awkward; Felix has sexual difficulties. They settle into an apartment. She quits her job, takes art and dance classes, learns homemaking from magazines. She hides her orphanage past from Felix. He wants children; she demurs. In 1939 Felix receives a promotion to manager in Bonhomie, a town an hour from Toledo. Margaret protests, but Felix insists the move will improve their lives.

Key Events

Margaret arrives in Columbus and explores the city, encountering men who whistle, a palm reader, and the art museum.
She interviews at Anton’s cafeteria; Mr. Higgs takes her to lunch then to an apartment where he has sex with her before hiring her.
She takes the line-server job, hates it, but uses her first paycheck to buy a new wardrobe at Lazarus department store.
She begins casual sexual relationships with multiple men, finding Bernard the most satisfying.
She meets Felix Salt at a bowling alley through coworker Dotty; they begin a chaste courtship.
Felix proposes in Lazarus after three months; Margaret accepts despite doubts about love.
They marry at City Hall after Felix recovers from a brief illness; their wedding night is awkward and sexually disappointing.
Margaret quits her job and moves into their apartment; she takes art classes and learns domestic skills.
Felix is promoted to manage a plant in Bonhomie, Ohio (1939); Margaret resists but he insists they move.

Character Development

Margaret: Transforms from a naïve orphan into a woman who uses her appearance and sexuality to survive. She learns to perform adulthood—buying the right clothes, applying makeup, making small talk—while hiding her past. Her internal conflict between practical decision-making and emotional fulfillment deepens as she accepts Felix’s proposal without love.
Mr. Higgs: A predatory employer who uses his power to coerce sex from job applicants. He embodies the transactional nature of Margaret’s early encounters with the adult world.
Felix Salt: Introduced as handsome and successful, he reveals layers of sexual insecurity and emotional reserve. His physical difficulties in the bedroom and his insistence on moving to Bonhomie show a man who needs control and order.
Bernard: A brief but significant partner who provides Margaret with her first mutually enjoyable sexual experiences, contrasting with the exploitative encounter with Higgs and the strained one with Felix.
Dotty: A coworker who offers Margaret friendship and social opportunity, though their connection fades after Margaret marries.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Reinvention and performance: Margaret consciously “reinvents herself” at Lazarus, buying makeup and clothes that signal a new identity. She views her life as a movie, mimicking what she thinks grown-ups do.
Sex as currency and survival: Sex is transactional with Higgs (job), exploratory with Bernard, and dutiful with Felix. Margaret uses it to gain footholds in the adult world.
The gap between fantasy and reality: The neon signs and department-store glamour promise a Hollywood ideal, but Margaret’s actual experiences—dull work, coercive sex, sexual dysfunction in marriage—undercut that dream.
Class and appearance: Margaret’s makeover changes how strangers treat her. Money and dress function as a “secret handshake” to a friendlier world.
Loneliness and hidden selves: Margaret conceals her orphanage background from Felix, fearing it will make her seem “lesser.” Her isolation persists even in marriage.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the hinge of Margaret’s coming-of-age. She moves from the structured dependency of the orphanage to the chaotic freedoms and dangers of independent city life. Every choice—sleeping with Higgs, buying clothes, dating multiple men, marrying Felix—reveals her pragmatic survival instinct. The chapter establishes the core tension of the novel: Margaret can reshape her external life but remains disconnected from her own emotional truth. Felix’s promotion and her reluctant acceptance of the move to Bonhomie set up the next phase of her married life.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Margaret rationalize sleeping with Mr. Higgs?
She tells herself she can “kill two birds with one stone”—get the painful first sexual experience over with and secure a job. She sees it as a practical trade, not a violation, and later cries but refuses to call it something she didn’t decide to allow.
What does Margaret’s shopping trip at Lazarus symbolize?
The makeover is her deliberate performance of middle-class adulthood. Buying three lipsticks instead of two, for instance, earns her warmth from salespeople. She is learning that appearance purchases acceptance. The store itself feels like a “Hollywood musical”—a fantasy world she wants to enter.
Why does Margaret accept Felix’s proposal even though she doesn’t love him?
She trusts him, which is rare in her life. She also believes she can grow into love, just as she has grown into other roles. The proposal feels like a “deal”—tender and significant, unlike the one-off with Higgs. She hopes that marrying him will make her happy, even without passion.