How does Dianna help Lyddie in Lyddie?

Diana helps Lyddie learn to use her loom and makes her feel at home.

Diana is the mother figure for all of the factory girls. She has endless patience, and whenever a new girl comes to the factory she shows her how to operate the machinery so that she won’t get hurt. When Lyddie starts at Lowell, she has no idea what she is doing. It is Diana who shows her the ropes.

Lyddie is...

Diana helps Lyddie learn to use her loom and makes her feel at home.

Diana is the mother figure for all of the factory girls. She has endless patience, and whenever a new girl comes to the factory she shows her how to operate the machinery so that she won’t get hurt. When Lyddie starts at Lowell, she has no idea what she is doing. It is Diana who shows her the ropes.

Lyddie is given the machine next to Diana. It never seems to bother Diana that she has to maintain her own machines and help the newcomers learn theirs. She doesn’t complain about reduced productivity or slow learners. She is only patient and supportive.

Diana asks Lyddie if she likes to read, and Lyddie admits that she hasn’t had much schooling.

"Well, you can remedy that," the older girl said. "I'll help, if you like, some evening."

Lyddie looked up gratefully. She felt no need with Diana to apologize or to be ashamed of her ignorance. "I'm needing a bit of help with the regulations..." (Ch. 9)

Diana does help Lyddie with reading and writing. She gives her paper and encourages her to write to her mother and brother. No one in Lyddie’s family is well-educated, and Lyddie left school when her father left. She just couldn’t trust her mother with the farm or her younger siblings.  Diana carefully helped Lyddie write the letters and insisted on giving her postage. Before that, Lyddie’s brother and mother had no idea where she went when she left the tavern.

Diana is a force of comfort for Lyddie. Since money is so valuable to her, Lyddie worries about signing Diana’s workers’ rights petitions, but Diana is so important to her that she eventually goes to a meeting. Diana confides that she is going to have a baby, and the father is married. She has to leave so she won’t hurt their cause. It is a terrible blow to Lyddie, who feels like she is losing another family member.