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Mrs. Price is the story’s main antagonist. She is seen only through Rachel’s eyes, but appears dismissive towards Rachel, and seems to harbor a distinct lack of empathy for her. Mrs. Price takes Sylvia’s word as to who owns the sweater, despite Rachel claiming that it isn’t hers. She proceeds to ignore Rachel and puts the sweater on her desk. Her strange insistence that Rachel wear the sweater suggests that she has little patience for students who don’t do as she says, and that there is little room for students to push back. Mrs. Price also appears to play favorites, and Rachel is a student to whom she does not extend the benefit of the doubt. Whether she is lying about remembering Rachel wearing the sweater or not, she refuses to be told otherwise, which sets her up in direct opposition to Rachel. Her inability or unwillingness to apologize when the sweater is claimed by someone else indicates that she is wary of admitting when she’s wrong or showing any kind of weakness in front of her students, even at the expense of Rachel’s emotional well-being. This humiliation exposes the flaws in Mrs. Price as a teacher and the consequences those flaws have on vulnerable students.

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