I needed to start with a rebuttal, a generational rebuttal . . . Because I was the one who’d be standing at the podium, doing so was my obligation.
-- Hillary Rodham (Prologue)

Importance: This quote from the prologue represents the symbol of the Wellesley Commencement speech, the theme of service, and the motif of parallels to the real Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary thinks this to herself as she stands in front of her graduating class after they selected her to be the first student speaker. Sittenfeld begins the prologue with this moment because it serves to set the tone for the rest of the novel - of Hillary’s understanding of her role, of the importance of bravery in the task ahead, but also what she represents. This also happened in the real Hillary Rodham Clinton’s life, and she would later be covered by Life Magazine because of this speech that served as a generational...