Loopholes can be found in this code and those who find them might often be despised, but they are still tolerated in this society. Lawrence Lefferts is the prime example of hypocrisy, having numerous affairs but extolling Christian virtues and snubbing Ellen for leaving her husband. Newland realizes that if he leaves May for Ellen, society's sympathy will be with May, even though he could have a quiet affair and get away with it. May must pretend that she does not know Newland is in love with her cousin, but from her deathbed confession the reader sees that she lived with this knowledge most of her life. In the age of alleged innocence, hypocrisy abounds.
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