“God, you’re square.”

After listening to Travis’ lecture on what the correct thing is, the only reply that Iris has for Travis is one sentence stating that he is a four-sided polygon with no interesting features. Through her one line reply, we can tell that Iris thinks of Travis as a boring man and that he has no authority in deciding what is best for her. For someone who believes that she is independent and capable of doing whatever she wants, Iris refuses to listen to anything he says. But, what does a twelve year old prostitute and runaway know about real independence and the true nature of life in the city? Certainly after running away from her parents and dropping out of school, she believes that she has demonstrated independence, but she is sorely mistaken.

By running off to the city, Iris wants to demonstrate her newfound independence by taking care of herself and finding a better life than the one she left. But, there isn’t much that a twelve year old girl can do in a big city like NYC that was filled with drugs, junkies, and other scum in the 1970’s. In such a corrupted society, Iris falls victim to the Sports, a man whose only concerns include money and sex, and uses prostitution as her own method of earning some pocket change. She genuinely believes that Sports loves her and that he does everything he can for her own good, but he is actually limiting her independence and corrupting her soul and body.

During the final scene, Travis decides to take away Iris’ false sense of independence and she returns to her family. After leaving the corrupted society, it is unclear what exactly has happened afterwards, but through her parents’ letter, she seems to have changed for the better and have become truly independent.