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“ ‘Rachel,’ Mrs. Price says. She says it like she’s getting mad. ‘You put that sweater on right now and no more nonsense.’ ”

Mrs. Price is portrayed through Rachel’s eyes as a dictatorial figure. She has decided that the sweater belongs to Rachel, even as Rachel disputes this. Since Mrs. Price has made her decision, there is no arguing the point. Mrs. Price wants to have the problem solved, even if the solution is incorrect. There is a peculiar disinclination on the part of Mrs. Price to be told she is wrong. She is using her position of authority in her classroom to bully Rachel into taking the sweater, and seems to feel justified in doing so.

“That stupid Phyllis Lopez…says she remembers the red sweater is hers. I take it off right away and give it to her, only Mrs. Price pretends like everything’s okay.”

Here Mrs. Price is indisputably shown to have made the wrong call by insisting that Rachel take the sweater. However, she refuses to acknowledge that she was wrong. She simply ignores the truth, and opts to move on without apology. Here again, Mrs. Price is shown to be the worst kind of authority. She is happy to wield power over those who cannot fight back effectively, and is also unwilling to own up to her own mistakes, choosing to move on without claiming responsibility for the error.

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