29 pages • 58 minutes read
Sylvia PlathInitiation
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Societal Acceptance Versus Independence
Millicent struggles throughout the story with the benefits and drawbacks of either being accepted into an in-group (the sorority) or remaining independent but (in her estimation) isolated. At first, she wants nothing more than to belong, reflecting that it would be “rather exciting to be part of a closely knit group, the exclusive set at Lansing High” (241). She believes, until late in the story, that she needs this kind of acceptance to feel connected to others—a belief the story implies is driven by insecurity.
Correctly or not, Millicent feels isolated from others. She views herself as having been “shy” until quite recently, and though she has a friend, Tracy, the tacit acceptance involved in that relationship does not satisfy her need for validation. More than belonging to a group per se, Millicent wants others to recognize that she belongs. She daydreams about the public hazing because “everybody would know, even the boys would know, that she was one of the elect” (241), and she is pleased to think that someone watching her and Louise talking to one another might assume that they are good friends. Because Millicent is unsure of her own worth, she relies on others’ perceptions to reassure her of her place in the world.
Ironically, the hazing ritual is what teaches Millicent that all she needs to connect with her fellow humans is the willingness to reach out and engage with them. Her brief, amicable conversation with the man on the bus inspires Millicent to be brave in her interactions with other strangers throughout the hazing process. She begins to enjoy herself and understand that she is already part of an in-group—humanity at large. She does not “have to belong to a club to feel related to other human beings” (246), nor does her membership in this group hinge on behaving any particular way; as the heather birds conversation proves, idiosyncrasy itself can be a point of connection.
The realization that she is not so isolated as she might feel steels Millicent against fears of rejection: “Millicent thought of the heather birds […] strong and proud in their freedom and their sometime loneliness” (247). Loneliness becomes bearable both because of the independence it affords and because it is ultimately a passing (“sometime”) phenomenon. Moreover, Millicent learns that seeking societal acceptance entails its own form of isolation: “So many people were shut up inside themselves like boxes” (246). Millicent’s reflections on whether Herb would want her if she weren’t a sorority member suggest that it is for this reason above all that she rejects the invitation, privileging authentic connection over superficial group membership.
Fitting in Versus Standing Out
Adjacent to the question of societal acceptance is the theme of fitting in or standing out. Upon joining the sorority, the initiates will fit in with the other girls who belong to that group. In the meantime, however, the hazing process psychologically tests the girls by forcing them to stand out. Sometimes this is as simple as requiring them not to wear lipstick or curl their hair, which prevents them from adhering to the same beauty standards as their peers. Other demanded behavior is quite a bit more noticeable, like dancing the Charleston on the way to school while loudly singing a song. Such tasks reinforce the idea that standing out from the crowd is a punishment whereas fitting in is both desirable and conditional. The implied rationale is that the initiates will value sorority membership all the more—and strive even harder to fit in—because they have experienced what it means to stand out.
Nevertheless, the message such rituals send is not so straightforward as it might seem. At school, for instance, the initiates’ very nonconformity marks them as part of “the elect.” This undercuts the punitive element of that nonconformity, but it also (and more importantly) illustrates that conformity is not binary: What makes a person blend into one group may make them stand out from another. The question therefore becomes how one relates to multiple groups in different settings. Millicent’s relief that she is no longer the “plain, shy” girl she once was is a good example. Someone who is “plain” and “shy” would presumably blend into the crowd, so Millicent’s rejection of this identity suggests that blending in is not exactly what she wants. Rather, she wants to “stand out” as a member of an elite group, becoming a “celebrity” like Louise.
However, when Louise explains what makes Tracy’s appearance “too different,” Millicent merely replies, “I guess so” (243), signaling her reservations about the kind of conformity Louise represents and implying that Millicent might want to stand out in a different way. What that way is becomes clearer when the man on the bus explains his unique and entirely “mythological” breakfast to Millicent. His answer significantly deviates from the other passengers’, and the delight Millicent feels helps her understand that being wholly oneself can be its own reward—and a way of connecting with others. Throughout the rest of the initiation experience, Millicent’s nonchalant attitude toward the hazing techniques sets her apart from the other initiates. She comes to enjoy engaging with strangers and asking them about themselves. In the end, she decides that standing out is a necessary part of fitting in, choosing not to join the sorority but rather to remain “friends with everybody” (247).
Societal Pressure to Perform Femininity in Set Ways
One of the chief kinds of conformity the story considers is female gender norms. As teenagers, Millicent and her peers are on the cusp of adulthood womanhood and are already expected to adhere to many of its dictates. This is why Louise disparages Tracy’s bookbag as “kiddish”; presumably, most other girls her age have begun using purses, even though doing so means carrying their schoolbooks by hand. It is also why it is a hazing ritual to bar the initiates from wearing lipstick or curling their hair. Such beauty practices were all but expected of women at the time, as Millicent’s thoughts reveal: “Sure, the girls had to come to school for five days without any lipstick on and without curling their hair, and of course everybody noticed them, but what could the teachers do?” (241). The teachers’ frustration is especially telling, implying just how disruptive the girls’ deviation from gender norms is and therefore how deeply entrenched those norms are.
Nor do societal expectations regarding femininity stop at outer appearance. Many of the tasks the sorority commands the initiates to do serve to draw attention to them: They sing loudly, they dance in public, they ask questions of strangers, and they find all of these activities mortifying because they fall so far outside the realm of acceptable behavior for young women and girls. In most cases, these girls would have learned to do the opposite of these activities—to show reserve, composure, and modesty.
The ban on the initiates speaking to their male schoolmates in some ways serves the opposite function; this passivity and silence exaggerate rather than flout traditional gender norms, as Herb’s appreciative response to Millicent’s “silence” suggests. However, the episode also crystallizes the impossibility of living up to the often-contradictory demands placed on women. Securing a male partner was of paramount importance to young women for both practical and social reasons, but showing too much interest in men was suspect; women were expected to respond graciously to male attention but also to maintain strict boundaries, to be friendly but demure, etc. Symbolically, Millicent’s cautious smile, which Bev derides, is an unsuccessful attempt to square this circle.
Millicent’s attitude toward conventional femininity follows much the same path as her attitude toward conformity in general. Millicent recognizes both the norms she is expected to adhere to and the consequences of failing to do so. When a fellow initiate remarks that her sister found her boyfriend after joining the sorority, Millicent reflects that such an outcome “[isn’t] bad”—i.e., not one to set aside lightly. However, Millicent ultimately chooses not to pursue this safer form of womanhood—a point the story underscores via the gendered language in which Millicent conceives of her “initiation.” Early in the story, Millicent imagines herself to be a “disinherited princess […] com[ing] into her rightful kingdom” (241). By the time of her final decision, she rejects this vision of her “coronation as a princess” in favor of a “harder” and less well-defined “victory” (247).
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By Sylvia Plath
