Society and Class

Flavia, Flavia's family, and Mary demonstrrate that class differences existing in society are man-made. In reality, there are no extreme differences between Flavia, whom people perceive as being rich, and Mary, who is from a lower class. In a similar manner, the house where Flavia lives is crumbing, much like society's distinctions between social classes are fading.

Flavia's behavior is no different than Mary's when they are together at the hotel. Thus, Flavia and Mary are seen as equals. However, Mary perceives Flavia to be different from her due to her social class and by the way Mary greets Flavia. Mary uses Flavia's whole name which sounds like a title. She says, “You’re Flavia de Luce" (85) as opposed to identifying Flavia by her first name. Flavia goes on to further identify Flavia as someone who is superior to her by saying that Flavia...