Prep

Ault symbolizes a separate world, and Lee feels like she has to be someone else when she’s in the Ault universe. As parents’ weekend arrives, and the outside world clashes with the Ault world, Lee states, “[N]o matter what my parents might think, this—my Ault self—was now my real self” (251). Lee’s identity precludes who she was in Indiana before Ault. To fit into the distinct world of Ault, she becomes someone new, and she doesn’t want her parents to corrupt who she thinks she is at Ault. The parents become foreign bodies or others. They’re not a part of the Ault world, and, as working-class people, they don’t belong there. Lee admits, “If we left campus, it would be different. If we went into Boston, say—in Boston, we’d get along” (266). Boston represents another universe—a place that doesn’t have to adhere to the rules and standards of Ault—so Lee and her parents can get along there.

During senior week, Lee returns to Boston again and exclaims, “The world was so big!” (570). In other words, there’s an entire world beyond Ault, so maybe she didn’t have to make it seem Ault equaled the universe. Lee’s distorted sense of Ault perpetuates its symbolism as a closed-off space, but the students subvert it. Lee’s parents can get along in the world of Ault, as her friends like Terry and his blunt sense of humor.

Separate from Lee and her parents, Ault functions as an ulterior world. It’s a place with its own holidays, idioms—such as “therein lies the paradox” (153)—and schedule (classes run Monday through Saturday). It also has its own media via the newspaper, The Ault Voice, which has a gossip section, Low Notes, that turns the students into celebrities. When Lee asks about Cross, Aspeth quips, “Like, the Cross Sugarman? The famous Cross Sugarman?” (217). Removed from Ault, the students lose their mysticism and become regular, though privileged, people. Aspeth isn’t “the queen” (356) but a boutique owner, and Cross works in finance.