We’re in total agreement on criminal justice issues here. With Natasha, however, even though you’re right, I can’t bring myself to agree because during my readings of the book she’s become one of my favorite characters in all of literature. So the pain she’s about to experience because of the mistakes she makes kind of hurt me too, empathetic fool that I am.

Then again, maybe that is just the learning, coming-to-reason process that you’re talking about.

Finally, it’s true that it’s easy, as a twenty-first century reader, to forget how truly young Natasha is given how many adult decisions and situations she has to deal with.