The Primer to me was a moving example of a child’s curiosities being taken seriously at all times. I can’t help but believe this would change civilization. It is the stark opposite of my and probably most peoples experience with education

The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer ==TODO==, comment from Taylor Rogalski 2022-12-06

Some of my analysis…

We get a few clues on that topic in the book. First, there’s the passage where Finkle-McGraw and Mrs. Hackworth are watching the girls explore a wall at the edge of the estate.

“…he looked to the three little girls ambling across the garden. One of the girls had raven hair that betrayed her partly Korean heritage; but having established her whereabouts as a sort of reference point, he shifted his attention to the third girl, whose hair was about halfway through a natural and gradual transition from blond to brown. This girl was the tallest of the three, though all were of about the same age; and though she participated freely in all of their lighthearted games, she rarely initiated them and, when left to her own devices, tended toward a grave mien that made her seem years older than her playmates. As the Equity Lord watched the trio’s progress, he sensed that even the style of her movement was different from the others’; she was lithe and carefully balanced, while they bounded unpredictably like rubber balls on rough-hewn stone.

The difference was (as he realized, watching them more keenly) that Nell always knew where she was going. Elizabeth and Fiona never did. This was a question not of native intelligence (Miss Matheson’s tests and observations proved that much) but of emotional stance. Something in the girl’s past had taught her, most forcefully, the importance of thinking things through.

“I ask you for a prediction, Mrs. Hackworth. Which one shall reach the moor first?”

…

When the girls had reached to within a stone’s throw of the wall, they began to move toward it more purposefully. Elizabeth broke free from the group, ran forward, and was the first to touch the cool stones, followed a few paces later by Fiona. Nell was far behind, not having altered her steady stride.

“Elizabeth is a Duke’s granddaughter, accustomed to having her way, and has no natural reticence; she surges to the fore and claims the goal as her birthright,” Finkle-McGraw explained. “But she has not really thought about what she is doing.”

Elizabeth and Fiona both had their hands on the wall now, as if it were Home in a game of tag. But Nell had stopped and was turning her head from side to side, surveying the length of the wall as it clambered and tumbled over the increasingly rough shape of the land. After some time she held out one hand, pointing at a section of the wall a short distance away, and began to move toward it.

“Nell stands above the fray and thinks,” Finkle-McGraw said. “To the other girls, the wall is a decorative feature, no? A pretty thing to run to and explore. But not to Nell. Nell knows what a wall is. It is a knowledge that went into her early, knowledge she doesn’t have to think about. Nell is more interested in gates than in walls. Secret hidden gates are particularly interesting.”

Fiona and Elizabeth moved uncertainly, trailing their tiny pink hands across the damp stone, unable to see where Nell was leading them.

…

“The secret passage is found by Nell, but she is cautious and patient. Elizabeth is taken aback by her early impulsiveness—she feels foolish and perhaps even a bit sullen. Fiona—”

“Fiona sees a magical gateway to an enchanted kingdom, no doubt,” Mrs. Hackworth said, “and even now is crestfallen to find that you have not stocked the premises with unicorns and dragons. She would not hesitate for a moment to fly down that tunnel. This world is not where my Fiona wants to live, Your Grace. She wants another world, where magic is everywhere, and stories come to life, and …”

10:37 AM
Later, in the context of a discussion on Miranda’s role:

“To make a long story short, the three girls have turned out very differently. Elizabeth is rebellious and high-spirited and lost interest in the Primer several years ago. Fiona is bright but depressed, a classic manic-depressive artist. Nell, on the other hand, is a most promising young lady.

“I prepared an analysis of the girls’ usage habits, which were largely obscured by the inherent secrecy of the media system, but which can be inferred from the bills we paid to hire the ractors. It became clear that, in the case of Elizabeth, the racting was done by hundreds of different performers. In Fiona’s case, the bills were strikingly lower because much of the racting was done by someone who did not charge money for his or her services—probably her father. But that’s a different story. In Nell’s case, virtually all of the racting was done by the same person.”

“It sounds,” Carl said, “as if my friend established a relationship with Nell’s copy—”

“And by extension, with Nell,” said Lord Finkle-McGraw.

Carl said, “May I inquire as to why you wish to contact the ractor?”

“Because she is a central part of what is going on here,” said Lord Finkle-McGraw, “which I did not expect. It was not a part of the original plan that the ractor would be important.”

“She did it,” Carl Hollywood said, “by sacrificing her career and much of her life. It is important for you to understand, Your Grace, that she was not merely Nell’s tutor. She became Nell’s mother.”

10:39 AM
Dr. X, reflecting with regret on his experiment with the AI-driven books for the Chinese girls:

“My opinion is that we made a mistake in saving the girls.”
“How can this act of humanity possibly have been a mistake?”
Dr. X considered it. “It would be more correct to say that, although it was virtuous to save them, it was mistaken to believe that they could be raised properly. We lacked the resources to raise them individually, and so we raised them with books. But the only proper way to raise a child is within a family. The Master could have told us as much, had we listened to his words.”

10:47 AM
An important conversation with Mrs. Matheson on her deathbed:

I wonder what you suppose you will do with your life when you leave this Academy, as you must soon, and go out into the world?”

“Take the Oath, of course, as soon as I reach the age of eligibility. And I suppose that I should like to study the art of programming, and how ractives are made. Someday, of course, after I have become one of Her Majesty’s subjects, I should like to find a nice husband and perhaps raise children—”

“Oh, stop it,” Miss Matheson said. “You are a young woman—of course you think about whether you shall have children—every young woman does. I haven’t much time left, Nell, and we must dispense with what makes you like all the other girls and concentrate on what makes you different.”

At this point, the old lady gripped Nell’s hand with surprising force and raised her head just a bit off the pillow. The tremendous wrinkles and furrows on her brow deepened, and her hooded eyes took on an intense burning appearance. “Your destiny is marked in some way, Nell. I have known it since the day Lord Finkle-McGraw came to me and asked me to admit you—a ragged little thete girl—into my Academy.

“You can try to act the same—we have tried to make you the same—you can pretend it in the future if you insist, and you can even take the Oath—but it’s all a lie. You are different.”

These words struck Nell like a sudden cold wind of pure mountain air and stripped away the soporific cloud of sentimentality. Now she stood exposed and utterly vulnerable. But not unpleasantly so.
“Are you suggesting that I leave the bosom of the adopted tribe that has nurtured me?”

“I am suggesting that you are one of those rare people who transcends tribes, and you certainly don’t need a bosom anymore,” Miss Matheson said. “You will find, in time, that this tribe is as good as any other—better than most, really.” Miss Matheson exhaled deeply and seemed to dissolve into her blankets. “Now, I haven’t long. So give us a kiss, and then be on your way, girl.”

10:53 AM
Stepping back, these passages suggest three factors which contribute to the differences between Nell, the aristocratic girls, and the Han orphans:

The hardships of her youthful environment. (“something in the girl’s past had taught her, most forcefully, the importance of thinking things through.”)
The intangible contributions of Miranda (which aren’t just about having one person do all the racting, since Hackworth did most of the racting for Fiona)
The influence of people like Mrs. Matheson (particularly in the dialogue above) and (it’s suggested in a few other places) Harv.

My read of the first passage (and particularly Mrs. Hackworth’s last speech) is that curiosity-chasing isn’t enough; in Fiona’s case, it produces a fantastical detachment (later: “manic-depressive artist”).

Last updated 2023-07-13.