While Ginnie remains chaste, though, in hopes of losing her virginity to Ben, Ben releases his sexual frustrations with an emotionally dead but sexually predatory middle aged woman named Maggie. In a bit of dramatic irony, the reader becomes aware that the woman is in fact Ginnie's runaway mother, having dumped her lover and moved on to one-night stands with soldiers.
Ginnie maintains her virginity while Ben seeks sexual release from his frustrations with Maggie, an emotionally detached middle-aged woman who turns out to be Ginnie's estranged mother. This revelation creates a dramatic irony as the reader learns that Maggie is a former lover of Ginnie's mother and has been engaging in casual relationships with soldiers.