Amanda's Diary*SPOILERS*

[PrincessJennifer]

Here is the transcript of Amanda's diary:

[Sunday, March 2]
I don't know what's wrong with me.
Was it something I did?
Last month I failed.
What will happen to me this month?
Mr. Hoffman said that a new girl is coming soon.
Will I even lose to her and be all miserable?
I'm scared. I hate to think of what's in store for me.


[Sunday. March 20]
Things are going wonderfully!
Today they called me out to the backyard.
As long as that girl is here,
I won't ever be last! What a relief!


[Sunday, April 4]
Maybe there really is something wrong with me.
What have I done wrong?
I tattled on Mr. Hoffman as they told me to do, but I failed again.
I'm still lower class, even after that girl came.
I'm scared. I don't know what to do.


[Sunday, April 18]
I'm as happy as can be today!
They showed me the symbol of the Aristocrats.
If I can get a red crayon,
I, too, will be one of them!
But, that girl will NEVER get a crayon.
She's far too uncouth. In any case,
I'll never be last again. I'm sure of it.


[Sunday, June 1]
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Those awful things got into my mouth!
She'll be sorry the next chance I get.
But why me again? What have I done?


[Sunday, July 27]
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
Oh my! I've got to sew the rags...


[Sunday, August 31]
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
Oh my! I've got to sew the rags...


[Sunday, September 28]
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
I HATE HER I HATE HER I HATE HER
Oh my! I've got to sew the rags...


[Sunday, October 6]
After all that time I spent sewing it!
Basil, Fanny, George, Hector, Ida, Leo, Paul!
Why must they always bother me so?
Oh, woe is me!


[Sunday, October 12]
Oh, why can't they all just go to hell!
Basil, have a nap on the railroad tracks!
Fanny, take a dive off the roof!
George, I'll hang you upside down!
Hector, get run over by a carriage!
Ida, I have some fancy poison jam for you!
Leo, walk across an open manhole.
Paul, get smothered under a great rug!
And lastly, that girl!
The Aristocrats will have their way with her!
Oh, how very delightful life is!


[Sunday, October 19]
That wretched girl will do my dirty work.
I'll work her to the bone!
Oh, I feel wonderful today!


[Page after October 19]
I'm so worried...
I don't know what's going to happen...


As some of you may notice, there are some odd things in it.

[PrincessJennifer]

"[Sunday, March 2]
I don't know what's wrong with me.
Was it something I did?
Last month I failed.
What will happen to me this month?
Mr. Hoffman said that a new girl is coming soon.
Will I even lose to her and be all miserable?
I'm scared. I hate to think of what's in store for me."

Chances are, Jennifer is the "new girl" she refers to, but why is it stated she arrives in March? And how did Hoffman know she was coming in advance? The chapter in which Jennifer arrives at the orphanage is March, but she is shown to be there in the January chapter, which is supported by her letters to Wendy. But it is in her April letter that she actually states being there.


"[Sunday, April 4]
Maybe there really is something wrong with me.
What have I done wrong?
I tattled on Mr. Hoffman as they told me to do, but I failed again.
I'm still lower class, even after that girl came.
I'm scared. I don't know what to do."

Who did she tattle on Hoffman to and for what? How/Why did she fail?


[Sunday, June 1]
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Those awful things got into my mouth!
She'll be sorry the next chance I get.
But why me again? What have I done?


"[Sunday, October 6]
After all that time I spent sewing it!
Basil, Fanny, George, Hector, Ida, Leo, Paul!
Why must they always bother me so?
Oh, woe is me!"

What was she sewing, and what happened to it? And who are those people she mentions?


"[Page after October 19]
I'm so worried...
I don't know what's going to happen..."

What is she worried about?

[ThePrincessWendy]

The girl seemed more than a little mad...Perhaps everything she writes about is only in her head?

[Princess Katie]

I think amandas crazy, i always thought that

[PrincessJennifer]

It does seem like she is a little out of her head, that's for sure.

[Dagrous_killian]

I feel so sorry for her. She's hidieously off in the head of course, but I know what it's like to not do something right no matter how hard you try...
And I so love the pages in the end when she grows wings thengets attacked by something or other. It touched my soul, it did.

The people she mention also have their names on the classroom merit chart, so other orphans perhaps? What happened to them, then...?

[PrincessJennifer]

They have their names on the class chart? Really?

[Dagrous_killian]

Well I definitely remember Leo's name on the upper left corner, near Diana's.

[PrincessJennifer]

I shall have to investigate this.

[Joshua]

And she "tattled on Mr. Hoffman"? What is that supposed to mean? What did he do, and who did she tattle to?

[PrincessJennifer]

joshua said:

And she "tattled on Mr. Hoffman"? What is that supposed to mean? What did he do, and who did she tattle to?

I've been thinking that might be a typo. Perhaps it was meant to say she tattled "to" Mr. Hoffman. This would make sense, since that particular entry is dated around the time Hoffman notes Sir Peter getting loose. But he says he let Jennifer off the hook. Maybe the point of Amanda telling was her trying to get Jennifer in trouble for the aristocrats, thus getting Jen's status lowered below hers. When she was not punished, the ranks did not change, and Amanda was viewed as a failure.

[Joshua]

The names are kind of weird...Were they really orphans? And if so, what happened to them?

[PrincessJennifer]

Perhaps they were made-up orphans? Maybe Hoffman wanted something to back up what he said about imps sweeping away bad children, so he said that those orphans had met that fate when asked about it after having put their name on the class chart. They could also just be made up by Amanda as imaginary friends, but even figments of her own imagination turned on her. Another theory is that they are codenames for the other orphans. It would not be a good idea to write about bad things happening to the others, since they might read her diary one day, and she wants them to like her.