Student Question
What is Jemmy's plan for freedom in The Whipping Boy?
Quick answer:
In "The Whipping Boy," Jemmy plans to gain freedom by first accompanying the prince outside the palace, intending to later abandon him. When captured by highwaymen, Jemmy pretends to be the prince and devises a ransom note demanding an exorbitant amount of gold and jewels, aiming to return the prince to the castle and separate from him. Ultimately, Jemmy's successful escape involves simply running away and hiding in a hollow tree.
Jemmy comes up with several plans for escaping various circumstances over the course of The Whipping Boy. First, Jemmy hopes to escape his role as whipping boy by accompanying the prince who wishes to sneak out from the palace and later ditching him.
When the boys are caught by highwaymen, Jemmy pretends to be the prince and puts together a plan to send the prince back with a ransom note asking for a ridiculously high ransom: a wagon load of gold mixed with jewels. This is less a plan for Jemmy to escape from the highwaymen and more a plan for getting the prince back to the castle and for Jemmy to separate himself from the prince.
When this fails, Jemmy falls back on a simple plan of making a run for it and hiding in the hollow of a tree, which ultimately works.
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