When there was a commune, the weaknesses of some members would not have necessarily been evident. If you lacked in child rearing skills, your role maybe was cooking or growing food. Therefore, everything was taken care by the one best suited to do it. There is also always a group looking out for one another, to talk to, or play with. Needs are met cooperatively. There was obviously an incident that divided the initial group. Linda's parents refused make the necessary adjustments after the fact. They became more isolated which made things even more difficult for Linda. It was like they were incredibly disappointed that their plan did not work out the way they wanted it to and just stopped trying. the forgot about the "community" in commune and turned more inward. Linda had limited social schools and did not know how to appropriately interact with others because of how isolated her home was from town. She was also very isolated within her home. Her most meaningful and loving interactions were with the dogs.
I admire her courage to leave. First she went to Duluth and then to the Twin Cities. She had a quiet, inner strength due in some part to how she raised herself in the woods and her experiences there.