Choices and Consequences: Chapter 33 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ 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

The chapter opens with a flashback to Margaret’s thirteenth year, during the war. Her mother worked long days and frequent overtime at a factory, and the family was stretched thin by rationing. Margaret, described as a bundle of hormones and contradictions, wanted a large birthday sleepover with fourteen girlfriends—none of whom she remained in contact with. Her mother countered with permission for two girls, then three, and declared the negotiations closed.

Margaret would not be deterred. She raised the topic again in the church vestibule, hoping an audience would make refusal harder. Her mother warned her: one more word and there would be consequences. Margaret didn’t listen, and the slap came. She was shocked, embarrassed, and chastised—she hadn’t truly believed her mother would follow through in such a public setting.

The chapter then shifts to the present. Margaret hangs up the phone after Leonard Clement fires her. She feels the same humiliation and shock. She had softened her criticism of advertisers and polished the column until the writing was as tight as possible, convincing herself it had at least a fifty-fifty chance of publication. Her worst-case scenario had been that Clement would yell, kill the piece, and assign her something mind-numbing like soap operas, visiting mothers-in-law, or floor wax. She never believed he’d actually fire her for writing something good.

Distraught, she sinks onto the sofa, forgetting the broken coil, and gets a sharp poke. She mourns the lost income—a few more months of writing would have bought a new couch. She buries her head in her hands and calls herself stupid.

Walt, who wandered into the kitchen for a snack, saw her distress and overheard the call. He is furious—not with Margaret, but with Clement. He calls the column her best work by far. Margaret calls herself an idiot and “just a housewife.” Walt insists she is more: his wife, one of the smartest, most talented people he’s ever met. He calls Clement’s action censorship and un-American. Margaret corrects him: publishing is a business, writing is a product, and publishers only care about selling magazines and advertising space.

Walt narrows his eyes, flips through the magazine, spots something, and announces he’s going to call the advertising department.

Key Events

Flashback: Margaret’s mother slaps her after repeated demands for a fourteen-girl sleepover.
Margaret is fired by Leonard Clement over the phone.
She reflects on her miscalculation: she thought the column’s quality would protect her.
She sits on the broken sofa coil, a physical rebuke.
Walt overhears, defends her work, and calls Clement’s decision censorship.
Margaret explains the commercial realities of magazine publishing.
Walt spots something in the magazine and heads to call the advertising department.

Character Development

Margaret — The chapter draws a direct parallel between her childhood defiance and her adult risk-taking. As a girl, she pushed her mother’s limits and was shocked when consequences arrived. As a writer, she pushed Clement’s limits and is equally shocked to be fired. Her self-description as “just a housewife” reveals how precarious her writer identity is; she needs external validation to believe in herself. Yet her analysis of publishing as a business shows she understands the system even when she misjudges the risk.

Walt — He emerges as Margaret’s fiercest advocate. He praises her work, defends her talent, and reframes Clement’s decision as censorship. His instinct to call the advertising department suggests he’s moving from emotional support to strategic action—he may be planning to use the magazine’s commercial interests against its editor.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Choices and consequences — The chapter’s title is explicit. Margaret’s childhood slap and her firing are both consequences of choices she made after being warned. In both cases, she underestimated the likelihood of punishment.

Defiance and punishment — Margaret’s pattern of pushing boundaries—as a teenager and as a columnist—connects the two timelines. Her mother’s slap and Clement’s firing are both responses to her refusal to back down.

Censorship vs. commercialism — Walt frames Clement’s action as censorship; Margaret reframes it as business. The tension between quality and marketability runs through the chapter. Margaret believed good writing would win; Clement proved that commercial concerns trump quality.

Housewife vs. writer identity — Margaret’s self-deprecation (“just a housewife”) contrasts with Walt’s insistence that she’s talented. The chapter questions whether she can be both.

The broken sofa coil — A small symbol of her financial situation; the writing income that would have replaced the couch is now gone.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point. Margaret has lost her column—her income, her platform, and a piece of her identity. But Walt’s discovery in the magazine sets up a new direction: he’s going to call the advertising department, suggesting he plans to use the magazine’s commercial priorities against Clement. The chapter also deepens Margaret’s backstory, showing that her willingness to take risks—and her shock at consequences—is a lifelong pattern. Her explanation of publishing as a business foreshadows the commercial leverage Walt may now exploit.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the flashback to Margaret’s thirteenth year parallel her present situation?

Both scenes involve Margaret pushing against an authority figure after being warned, and both end with a punishment she didn’t truly believe would come. As a girl, she kept asking for a fourteen-girl sleepover despite her mother’s warnings and was slapped. As a writer, she submitted a column that criticized advertisers despite Clement’s warnings and was fired. In both cases, she was shocked and humiliated because she hadn’t fully believed the threat would be carried out.

2. Why does Margaret reject Walt’s characterization of Clement’s action as censorship?

Margaret argues that magazine publishing is a business and that writing is a product. Publishers care about selling magazines and advertising space; if they don’t think a piece will sell, they won’t print it. She sees Clement’s decision not as ideological censorship but as a commercial calculation—one she misjudged by believing the column’s quality would protect her.

3. What does Walt’s decision to call the advertising department suggest about his plan?

Walt has just learned from Margaret that the magazine’s real priority is selling advertising space. By flipping through the magazine and spotting something, he seems to have found a way to use that commercial priority against Clement—perhaps by contacting advertisers directly, either to pressure the magazine or to expose the conflict. His action suggests he’s moving from defending Margaret emotionally to taking strategic action on her behalf.