In a world that encourages people to look exactly alike and follow specific beauty standards, originality of character and mind is a beautiful thing. In her short story “The Jest That Failed,” L.M. Montgomery shows that a proud, ingenuine character, which arises from artificiality, cannot compare to the beauty and effervescence of a truly genuine soul.
Jest Proud
Agnes Walters and Edna Hayden (two freshmen at Payzant College) spitefully discuss their fellow freshman, Grace Seeley. To them, Grace disgraces their class, since she is poor, dresses “dowdily,” and must pay for her room herself. They sincerely believe that “if it wasn’t for her being in it, [their] class would be the smartest and dressiest in the college.”What’s worse is the fact that Grace doesn’t get the hint that many of the freshmen girls dislike her. Frustrated, Edna says, “If we could only manage to inflict some decided snub on her, she might take the hint and give up trying to poke herself in where she doesn’t belong.”
