Jemimah the Rabbit in Small Pleasures: Childhood Attachment, Comfort, and Fragile Family Bonds

What Jemimah Is: A Gift Born of Impulse and Loneliness {#what-jemimah-is-a-gift-born-of-impulse-and-loneliness}Jemimah is a pet rabbit that Jean Swinney buys on impulse from a pet shop in Chapter 12. The rabbit is white with a black smudge on its nose and one black ear, small enough to fit in cupped hands. Jean purchases it because Margaret Tilbury told her she wanted a rabbit or a kitten, and Jean believes the girl is lonely. The gift is rash by Jean's own admission—she calls Howard Tilbury to confess she has done something impulsive and asks whether Gretchen will object. Howard approves, calling it a thoughtful gesture, and Gretchen apparently raises no objection. Jean's mother, by contrast, warns that the surprise could backfire and upset Margaret if the parents refuse the animal. The rabbit's introduction thus carries a double charge: it is an act of kindness from a woman who notices a child's isolation, and it is also a risk—an unplanned intervention in a family Jean barely knows. Notably, Jean finds the rabbit's weight and warmth surprisingly comforting and half-hopes the Tilburys will refuse it, hinting at her own emotional hunger beneath her capable exterior. This moment connects to the novel's broader interest in appearance and reality: a simple pet is never just a pet. ## Where Jemimah Recurs {#where-jemimah-recurs}The rabbit appears at three pivotal moments in the narrative, each marking a shift in Margaret's circumstances. Chapter 12: The Gift. Jean brings the rabbit home, sets up the hutch by the back door, and endures her mother's criticism of the impulsive purchase. She calls Howard to seek approval, and the conversation ends with Jean reflecting that she wants to cause no trouble—a remark she will later remember with irony. Chapter 16: The Concert Outing. Before leaving for a piano recital at St. Mary le Strand, Margaret tells her mother, If you get lonely there's always Jemimah, offering the rabbit as a comfort object to Gretchen. During the walk afterward, Margaret asks Jean whether rabbits can actually like people, and she reveals that the angel voices have been quiet since she got Jemimah, adding that she thinks they are jealous. Jean privately wonders whether Jemimah might be a cure for Margaret's loneliness. Chapter 29: The Running Away. Margaret arrives at Jean's house on a rainy Saturday, red-eyed and clutching a struggling Jemimah to her chest. She has run away from Martha Campkin's house because Martha will not let the rabbit indoors—she is allergic to fur—and makes Margaret play with it outside in the cold. Margaret's running-away kit contains a beaded purse, a toothbrush, a notebook, and a sack of dried rabbit food, which Jean finds touchingly inadequate. Margaret's chief concern is where Jemimah will sleep that night; Howard promises to bring a cardboard box from the shop to fashion temporary accommodation. ## How the Symbol's Meaning Shifts {#how-the-symbols-meaning-shifts}Jemimah begins as a gesture of kindness—Jean's attempt to reach a lonely child. The rabbit is a tangible expression of the unofficial-aunt role Jean has adopted, a role she celebrates in her newspaper column. But the gift also reveals Jean's own needs: she finds the rabbit's weight and warmth comforting and half-wishes to keep it, suggesting that the comfort she offers Margaret is one she craves herself. For Margaret, Jemimah quickly becomes something more than a pet. The rabbit displaces the angel voices—Margaret says they have been quiet since she got Jemimah, and she thinks they are jealous. This is a striking detail: the rabbit provides real, physical comfort that the voices, whatever they are, cannot. Jean wonders whether Jemimah might be a cure for Margaret's loneliness, and the novel leaves open the possibility that the rabbit genuinely helps. By Chapter 29, Jemimah has become a symbol of the family life Margaret has lost. When she runs away from Martha's house, she carries the rabbit with her, packs rabbit food in her running-away kit, and worries about where it will sleep. Her plea that she wishes they could go back to the way things were, with Daddy, is made while clutching the rabbit. Jemimah is the one constant in Margaret's fractured world—the thing she refuses to leave behind. The rabbit's journey mirrors the arc of the Tilbury family: given when the family is intact, a source of comfort as the marriage dissolves, and carried away when Margaret flees her new household. This connects to the novel's exploration of the burden of secrets and duty and desire: Margaret's ordinary, tangible attachment to a pet stands in contrast to the extraordinary circumstances of her birth and the secrets her parents carry. ## Character Connections {#character-connections}- Jean: The giver. She buys the rabbit on impulse, motivated by noticing Margaret's loneliness. The gift reveals Jean's own emotional needs—she finds the rabbit comforting and half-wishes to keep it. Later, when Margaret runs away with Jemimah, Jean shelters them both, and her guilt about being one of the chief beneficiaries of the fractured Tilbury marriage surfaces. - Margaret: The recipient. Jemimah is her comfort object, her confidante, and her anchor. She offers the rabbit to her mother as comfort before the concert outing, showing how she uses it to manage separation anxiety. Her question about whether rabbits can like people reveals her need for unconditional affection. - Gretchen: Accepts the rabbit without objection. She also participates in the comfort economy around Jemimah, letting Margaret offer it to her. - Howard: Approves of the gift and helps with rabbit logistics, promising to build temporary accommodation when Margaret runs away. His warmth toward Jean is evident in their phone conversation about the rabbit. - Martha: The antagonist in this subplot. Her allergy to fur means Jemimah must stay outside, and Margaret's exclusion of the rabbit becomes a symbol of her exclusion from Martha's household. Martha's cold, conditional response to Margaret—I haven't decided yet. I don't dislike you—contrasts sharply with the unconditional comfort Jemimah provides. - Jean's mother: Skeptical of the impulsive gift, warning of the consequences. Her reaction highlights the generational gap and Jean's own childhood disappointments. ## Theme Connections {#theme-connections}Jemimah connects to several of the novel's central themes. The rabbit embodies childhood attachment and comfort: it is a physical object of unconditional affection in a world where adult relationships are conditional and fractured. The rabbit also speaks to appearance and reality: it appears to be a simple, harmless pet, but it carries enormous emotional weight, and its treatment by different characters reveals their true natures. Martha's rejection of the rabbit exposes her coldness; Jean's willingness to shelter both Margaret and Jemimah reveals her capacity for care. The rabbit also touches on journalistic ethics and evidence and belief in a more oblique way: Jean's investigation into Margaret's origins is driven by her concern for the girl, and the rabbit is one of the few concrete, verifiable things in Margaret's life—a counterweight to the extraordinary claims about her birth. ## Study Questions {#study-questions}### 1. Why does Jean buy the rabbit, and what does her impulse reveal about her character? {#1-why-does-jean-buy-the-rabbit-and-what-does-her-impulse-reveal-about-her-character}Jean buys the rabbit on impulse after Margaret tells her she wants a pet. The gift reveals Jean's kindness and her attentiveness to Margaret's loneliness, but also her own emotional needs—she finds the rabbit's weight and warmth surprisingly comforting and half-hopes to keep it. The impulsiveness also shows Jean's tendency to act on emotion rather than careful planning, which her mother immediately criticizes. The episode establishes Jean as someone who reaches out to others even at personal risk, a pattern that continues throughout her investigation of the Tilbury family. ### 2. How does Jemimah function differently for Margaret at different points in the novel? {#2-how-does-jemimah-function-differently-for-margaret-at-different-points-in-the-novel}Initially, Jemimah is a gift—a gesture of kindness from Jean. For Margaret, it quickly becomes a companion that displaces the angel voices and provides real comfort. By the time Margaret runs away, Jemimah has become a symbol of the family life she has lost: she carries the rabbit with her, packs rabbit food in her running-away kit, and worries about where it will sleep. The rabbit is the one constant in her fractured world, and her refusal to leave it behind mirrors her refusal to accept her new life with Martha. ### 3. What does Margaret's question about whether rabbits can like people reveal about her emotional state? {#3-what-does-margarets-question-about-whether-rabbits-can-like-people-reveal-about-her-emotional-state}The question reveals Margaret's deep need for unconditional affection. She is asking whether a creature can love her without conditions—something she may not be getting from the adults in her life. The question also shows her childlike wonder and her tendency to ask profound questions that bubble up out of her, prompted by anything or nothing. Jean's uncertain response—she is not sure how to answer—highlights the difficulty of providing the reassurance Margaret seeks. ### 4. How does the rabbit's treatment by Martha contrast with its role in Margaret's life? {#4-how-does-the-rabbits-treatment-by-martha-contrast-with-its-role-in-margarets-life}Martha's allergy means Jemimah must stay outside in the cold, and Margaret is excluded from the household in parallel ways. Martha's cold, conditional response to Margaret—I haven't decided yet. I don't dislike you—contrasts with Jemimah's unconditional presence. The rabbit's rejection becomes a symbol of Margaret's own rejection: Martha will not accommodate the rabbit, and she will not accommodate Margaret. The contrast underscores the novel's exploration of duty and desire: Martha's household offers obligation without warmth, while Jemimah offers comfort without conditions. Margaret's flight to Jean's house, clutching the rabbit, is both a physical escape and an emotional one—she chooses the person and the pet who offer unconditional care over the household that demands she adapt to its rules. The rabbit, small and seemingly insignificant, becomes the measure of what Margaret values most: a love that asks nothing in return.