In Laurinda by Alice Pung, the places in the story are important for understanding what happens. The story shows the difference between Lucy Lam’s home and the rich Laurinda Ladies' College, highlighting how people from different backgrounds live in different ways and the challenges of moving between these worlds.
The story takes place in two main places: the wealthy Laurinda school and Lucy’s working-class immigrant home. These settings show Lucy’s struggle to fit in at school while staying true to herself and her background.
The book is set in the 1990s, a time when issues like race and class were important in Australia. The setting helps show Lucy’s personal struggles and also reflects bigger changes happening in the country.
Laurinda Ladies' College is a rich, private school for girls where money and power are very important. The students there are mostly from wealthy families. Lucy, who comes from a working-class, immigrant family, feels out of place at the school.
The school is fancy and full of luxury, which makes Lucy feel even more different because she is on a scholarship. The students at Laurinda care a lot about their social status.
There’s also a powerful group of girls called the Cabinet who control things at the school. Lucy’s experience with them shows how hard it is to fit in when everyone is focused on power and appearances.
In Laurinda, the setting shows the differences between race and class in Australia. Lucy’s time at Laurinda shows how hard it is for immigrants to fit into elite spaces, while her home life shows the struggles of working-class families. The story points out how places like Laurinda are made for rich people and don’t welcome those who are different.
The novel takes place in suburban Australia, where it looks at issues like class, race, and privilege. Laurinda represents the rich part of society, where wealth and being white are seen as important. Lucy’s family, however, shows what it’s like to be an immigrant and live a working-class life. The setting highlights the gap between the two worlds Lucy has to navigate.
The different settings in Laurinda—the fancy school and Lucy’s working-class home—help highlight the main themes of the story:
Class and Social Mobility: Laurinda offers Lucy a chance to move up in society, but the huge differences between her background and the wealthy school show how hard it is to fit into a new social class.
Identity and Belonging: The two settings show Lucy’s struggle with who she is. She feels torn between her immigrant family’s values and the pressure to fit into Laurinda’s rich, elite world. The contrast makes her question where she truly belongs.
Privilege and Power: Laurinda is a school that shows how the rich and powerful have control. The influence of groups like the Cabinet shows how some people hold power, while others, like Lucy, have to fight to stay true to themselves.
Lucy’s home is very different from Laurinda. She lives in a small, working-class house with her parents, who work hard in factories. Their life is modest and focused on hard work, which is different from the wealth and privilege at Laurinda.
Her family has traditional values, and they work hard to make a living in a new country. Lucy feels torn between the two worldsher family’s simple life and the fancy world of Laurinda. This makes her feel both connected to her roots and out of place at school. The big differences between these two settings show the challenges Lucy faces with her identity, class, and belonging.
Pre-Internet and Social Media Era
In the 1990s, people mostly interacted face-to-face, over the phone, or in person at places like school. By setting Laurinda in this time, Alice Pung shows how power struggles and bullying happen directly between people, not online. Without social media, the conflicts at school, like those with the Cabinet and Lucy’s exclusion, feel more personal and real.
Cultural and Social Tensions in Australia
The 1990s were a time when Australia was dealing with issues about race, class, and immigration. Many immigrants from Asia, like Lucy’s family, were settling in Australia. Setting the story in this time lets Pung explore how Lucy, as a Vietnamese-Australian, faces challenges at a mostly white school. These struggles reflect the bigger social issues in Australia at that time.
Economic Growth and Class Divide
The 1990s in Australia saw the economy grow, but also made the gap between rich and poor bigger. By putting Lucy in a wealthy school, Pung shows the contrast between her working-class background and the rich, privileged students at Laurinda. This makes Lucy’s challenges with fitting in even more difficult.
Conservative Gender Expectations
In the 1990s, people still had traditional ideas about what girls should do and how they should act. At Laurinda, girls were expected to behave in certain ways, like being polite and ambitious. Setting the novel in this time shows how these gender expectations shape the girls’ lives, and how Lucy, as an outsider, struggles to fit in.
Reflection on the Past for Contemporary Readers
By setting Laurinda in the 1990s, Pung helps readers think about how much society has changed or stayed the same, especially with race, class, and privilege in Australia. It also allows young readers to compare the past with today and understand how social issues have evolved.