In Vanity Fair, Becky's initial act of rebellion in throwing Dr. Johnson's dictionary out of the coach window as she leaves Miss Pinkerton's academy shows her determination to reject her inferior status, along with the values and precepts Miss Pinkerton has taught her.

At Miss Pinkerton's academy, Becky has endured the subordinate status of a poor relation. When she and Amelia leave the academy, Amelia is presented with an inscribed copy of Dr. Johnson's dictionary, while Becky is initially to be given nothing. However, Miss Jemima, Miss Pinkerton's younger sister, gives her a copy, since she thinks Becky will be unhappy if she does not receive the customary leaving gift.

Miss Jemima's gesture is kindly meant, but Becky does not appreciate it. The tussle between Miss Pinkerton and her sister over a gift which is given to Amelia as a matter of course only reinforces Becky's inferior status. By tossing the dictionary contemptuously out of the coach widow, Becky demonstrates her rejection of everything she has been taught, including the continual inculcation of her own subordinate status. She show that she considers herself as good as anyone else and that she will live by her own rules from now on.