John and Roderick’s visit to the factor is a major turning point in the family’s misfortunes and serves as a stark reminder of the rigid social order they belong to. This reminder begins with their dealings with the factor’s housekeeper, “who clearly believed that her employment in the factor’s house made her the better of a crofter” (85). It continues when they are finally allowed to meet with the factor, who treats their presence with condescending bemusement. As everyone in the room understands, the Macraes’ visit is extremely unusual, and it is generally expected that people of their low social standing shouldn’t be demanding the time and attention of someone in the factor’s position. After John’s repeated requests to read the regulations governing his family’s tenancy, the meeting culminates in the factor revealing that, “[t]he reason [John] may not ‘see’ the regulations is because there are no regulations, at least not in the way [he] seem[s] to think” (90).

Rather, the factor explains, the rules are based on a commonsense understanding of what sorts of behaviors are and aren’t considered correct. What this really means is that the Macraes and their fellow crofters exist entirely at the whim of the powers-that-be, without any real rights or protections. As John correctly notes, all of his neighbors’ rents are in arrears given their inability to pay their rent with the money they make working their crofts, which ultimately means that any one of them could be evicted without question or fuss should they step out of line—and this is exactly what eventually happens to the Macrae family. Roderick’s parting realization “that to these important men our actions [a]re of simply no consequence” (91) is a stark reminder of his family’s precarious situation.

Roderick chafes at the injustice of his family’s position and seems surprised that Flora does not share his unhappiness but actively embraces the social hierarchies that Roderick rejects. After sharing his story about interrupting Lord Middleton’s hunt, noting that he “only acted as [he] had because [he] did not wish to see a fine stag destroyed for the amusement of the gentry,” he is surprised at her rebuttal “that the deer were on the mountain for the sport of the gentlemen and that Lord Middleton’s livelihood depended on such pursuits” (93), as well as her insistence that their whole community relies on Lord Middleton’s wellbeing. Roderick’s class consciousness serves as another device that holds him apart from his community and reinforces his sense of superiority over those around him.