The sensitive side of Esther is aghast that Hilda, the girl who is extremely fashion conscious, is wearing lots of "bile green"; even this latest fashion color seems to say, "I'm glad they're going to die" — meaning the Rosenbergs. Esther's response to the Rosenbergs' electrocution is quite different from many of the girls' opinions, but she never voices her opinions or argues with others about their conservative or cruel opinions. As with Buddy's comment on his poem being only dust, we see that it has taken Esther years to get the courage even to consider presenting her negative views about her associates.
At the end of the Ladies' Day sojourn, all the girls are to have their pictures taken with something that symbolizes their future. Betsy is having her picture taken with corn to represent her plans to marry a farmer. No one can decide what might best represent Esther's desire to be a poet. Then Jay Cee cuts a rose off her hat, and Esther is posed for her picture; but before it can be taken, she bursts into tears and is left weeping on the pink loveseat in her editor's office.
For the finale of Esther's New York stay, Doreen has arranged a blind date for Esther with an attractive Peruvian. Before the date, Esther is plagued with indecision, especially about her clothes, so Doreen wraps Esther's clothes in a ball and throws them under the bed. The date, a rich suburban dance affair, is a young girl's classic horror date. The suave Marco gives Esther his diamond stickpin at the beginning of the date in a grand romantic gesture. Then he proceeds to order the evening for his liking. So Esther drinks daiquiris, and even though she protests that she really doesn't know how to dance, Marco forcefully sweeps her to the dance floor telling her to "pretend you are drowning." Now she learns why many women love men who are womenhaters, she tells us — from a distance, of course — for this is Esther the adult narrator speaking. The mesmerizing Marco leads Esther outside, where he throws her to the ground and rips her dress down to the waist. She kicks and hits him until he is at bay, and when he demands his stickpin back, she leaves him searching for it in her small bag in the mud. Back at her hotel, she goes onto the roof and throws her newly acquired, expensive clothes off the parapet, one by one, piece by piece. She describes these gray scraps as being like "a loved one's ashes."
