Chapter 8 is a significant one in Lyddie because it's here that the protagonist starts work at the Concord Corporation factory. An important character in this chapter is Diana Goss, who shows Lyddie the ropes in her new job. She also helps Lyddie write letters home to her family. However, Lyddie soon discovers that Diana is widely distrusted by the other workers at the factory. They see her as a trouble-maker, an agitator, someone whose tireless efforts to improve wages and conditions at the factory are counter-productive. To some of the other girls, Diana is a dangerous radical.
Nevertheless, Lyddie comes to develop a close friendship with Diana. Though initially skeptical of agitating for better pay and conditions, she eventually signs Diana's petition, but mainly to try and get her friend out of trouble.
The reader gets introduced to quite a few new characters in this chapter. Obviously, one of the characters in this chapter is Lyddie. Much of this chapter takes place in the boarding house that Mr. Bedlow took Lyddie to. He took her to this particular boarding house because Mrs. Bedlow (his sister) operates it. Lyddie spends the first night in the attic, and the next morning she meets some of the other girls that live in the boarding house and work in the mills. Lyddie meets Prudence, Amelia, and Betsy. Of those girls, Betsy, is probably the most important to Lyddie because Betsy helps Lyddie learn to value reading and education. Lyddie begins to read Oliver Twist on her own because of Betsy. The chapter ends with Mrs. Bedlow taking Lyddie to the mills for the first time.
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