Wicked (Post 2)

“Madame Morrible chose to laugh, thank Lurline! ‘A spark of spunk! You may come to my chambers this evening and tell me the story of your Ama’s shortcomings, as I should know them. But I will compromise with you, Miss Galinda. Unless you object, I will have to ask your Ama to chaperone both you and another girl, one who comes without an Ama. For you see, all the other students with Amas are already paired off, and you are the odd one out.’ Madame Morrible scanned the page of names, and said, ‘Very well. To join Miss Galinda of the Arduennas in a double room--- shall I invite the Thropp Third Descending, of Nest Hardings, Elphaba?’ No one stirred. ‘Elphaba?’ said Madame Morrible again, adjusting her bangles and pressing two fingers at the bottom of her throat. The girl was in the back of the room, a pauper in a red dress with gaudy fretwork, and in clumpy, old-people’s boots. At first Galinda thought what she saw was just some trick of the light, a reflection off the adjacent buildings covered in vines and flatmoss. But as Elphaba moved forward, lugging her own carpetbags, it became obvious that she was green. A hatchet faced girl with putrescent green skin and long, foreign-looking black hair. ‘A Munchkinlander by birth, though with many childhood years spent in Quadling country,’ read Madame Morrible from her notes. “How fascinating for us all, Miss Elphaba. We shall look forward to hearing tales of exotic climes and times. Miss Galinda and Miss Elphaba, here are your keys. You may take room twenty-two on the second floor. She smiled broadly at Galinda as the girls came forward. ‘Travel is so broadening,’ she intoned. Galinda started, the curse of her own words lobbed back at her. She curtseyed and fled. Elphaba, eyes on the floor, followed behind.” (70)

I liked this quote because it shows how much Elphaba looked different from the other students at Shiz and it gives some insight as to how Elphaba and Galinda knew each other. Here the book is set at Shiz in Elphaba’s later years (Shiz is supposed to be a university in Munchkinland). Galinda is a girl who didn’t follow instructions and was trying to get out of rooming with a large group of girls by saying that her ‘Ama,’ which is like a chaperone, had a condition that would not allow her to care for a large group of girls. But as it turned out she was paired with what she would have considered the worst roommate, Elphaba. And Elphaba keeps to herself but after awhile Galinda starts to befriend her but then she turns around and mocks her for things when she meets up with her friends later. In their room, Galinda has very little reservations about talking with Elphaba but in public when Elphaba comes over to sit with Galinda during a poetry reading by Madame Morrible, she is completely embarrassed and worries about what other people might think of it. And she is even rude to Elphaba when she asked Galinda what she thought. I think that its kind of interesting here, too, that the author succeeds in proving the point that our society is based on how we want to look to others and trying to please everyone else. And how focusing on one’s studies don’t seem to be a very high priority in higher education and being a socialite is on so many peoples’ minds during those times.