Onawa, in Iowa, is Maribeth Robertson’s hometown and the setting of the family conflict that drives her away at sixteen. It represents both the limits imposed on her by her father, Bert Robertson, and the family ties she cannot simply leave behind: although she departs with little regret for the town itself, she remains concerned for her mother and sister, Noelle Robertson.

Home and family expectations

In Onawa, Maribeth’s wish to attend her sophomore spring dance brings her into conflict with Bert. He objects to her makeup and dress and insists that she either wear something more modest or stay home. The double standard is plain to Maribeth: her brother Ryan Robertson’s girlfriend had been allowed to dress more daringly, while Bert treats a daughter’s appearance as a matter of family propriety. Maribeth nevertheless attends the dance with David, a classmate who has asked her, arriving more than an hour late. She goes partly because she wants to experience the event and is tired of being excluded, despite feeling that she never fits in at school.

The dispute over the dance reflects a broader divide. Bert accepts the prospect of Maribeth helping with his business, but dismisses her ambitions beyond conventional women’s work. He expects girls to behave, marry, and raise children, while viewing higher education and professional careers for women as unnecessary or improper. Maribeth, by contrast, is academically accomplished and wants a future that includes further study. Her home life also offers little model of mutual respect: she sees her mother as cowed by Bert’s forceful opinions, while Ryan receives freedoms denied to his sisters.

Pregnancy and departure

Maribeth is sixteen when she becomes pregnant after her brief relationship with Paul Browne. When her father learns of the pregnancy, he confronts her and demands to know who the father is; Maribeth refuses to identify Paul. She has decided against beginning her life through a marriage to someone who does not love her and plans instead to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Bert arranges for her to go to the Sisters of Charity, telling her to keep the reason for her absence from Noelle and presenting the departure as a temporary stay away from home.

The convent proves intolerable to Maribeth. Seeing other pregnant girls separated from their newborns reinforces her sense that the process treats their circumstances as something to conceal. She leaves at dawn with her money and a small bag, buys an open-ended bus ticket to Chicago via Omaha, and writes postcards to her mother and Noelle promising to send an address. The departure ends her immediate connection to Onawa: she feels excited about the future and has no friends there she expects to miss, but her mother and younger sister remain important exceptions.

Return and lasting significance

After settling in Chicago, Maribeth meets Tommy Whittaker, who is also sixteen. Their circumstances sharply contrast: he has a home and expects to return to school, while she is living away from her family and approaching motherhood. Tommy helps her continue her education by sharing his books and schoolwork, and she studies while working at Jimmy D's. Her route out of Onawa therefore does not mean abandoning her intellectual ambitions; it creates a period in which she tries to sustain them under difficult conditions.

After Maribeth asks Liz Whittaker and John Whittaker to adopt her baby, the adoption is completed and she signs the papers three days after the child’s birth. The Whittakers also offer her money for college, and they plan for her to return to Onawa, finish school, and then choose where to continue her education. The return is practical but emotionally difficult: she hates the thought of going home and knows Bert remains a difficult presence. Onawa thus frames a cycle of departure and return, while the future offered to Maribeth depends on education and choices beyond the gendered expectations that first constrained her there.