Orphan Train

Orphan Train

What did Vivian and Molly learn from each other?

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Vivian reveals her history to Molly as their friendship develops in the novel’s present day setting. By doing so, Vivian releases the negative feelings and secrets she had kept pent up for decades, triggering a similar release in the much younger Molly. And like Molly, Vivian's emotional health improves by the end of the book, to the point that she is ready to face the long-lost daughter she had abandoned. In short, even while acting as antagonist (i.e. trigger of transformation) in protagonist Molly, Vivian undergoes a transformation (a healing) herself.