Russell establishes Claudette's sad tone in this excerpt. Analogous to her earlier portrayal of the ball, Claudette carries on to use phrases that describe how frightened she was during the ball. She chronicles herself as a "terrified animal" after Kyle pushes her into the spotlight. Although the overall tone is dismal, Claudette also has a banterous tone toward some of her retrospection from the dance. For example, Claudette recalls one of the nuns saying, "'The Sausalito … does not in any way resemble the thing that you are doing'" when she starts pumping rather than dancing. Russell establishes Claudette's remorseful tone when Mirabella was expelled from St. Lucy's. Claudette admits she had "never loved someone so much" as she did when Mirabella
