Finding Dorothy

“If Maud’s suffragist mother, Matilda, had taught her anything, it was that if you wanted something, you needed to ask for it—or demand it, if necessary.”

Elizabeth Letts sets up a central point of tension in the early pages of the novel. By introducing Maud’s mother and the suffragette movement, Letts invites readers to start thinking about the inferior social and economic position of women, not only in Hollywood but in the world.

“Just because you can see a rainbow doesn’t mean you know how to get to the other side.”

Maud is referring to the literal rainbow in the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” However, this is also a symbolic moment. Maud feels that her goal of consulting on the movie is as achievable as finding the end of the rainbow. She wants to chase her dream but starts to believe it is unattainable.

“A diploma for a woman seemed even more impossible than a crow getting a fair shake in the world.”

The above quote uses an analogy, where something is compared with something else to illuminate a point. For women in 1871, getting an education is even less likely than a bird “getting a fair shake.” This emphasizes how women are second-class citizens. Maud’s pet crow symbolizes the hopes of the women fighting for their rights in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Just as Mr. Crouse kills the crow, Maud’s hopes for future women, and their ability to rise above their current position, dies.