Hagar being embarrassed by her family occurred when she was about to get married. Against her father's will Hagar married Bram Shipley. At her wedding, none of her immediate family came and no one wanted to even appear to be happy that she was marrying this man. Before the wedding occurred Hagar's father tried to get her not to go through with the marriage but due to the fact that she was stubborn, Hagar would not obey her father. This disobedience caused her to become angry and upset that her family would not come to the wedding or even accept Bram as part of their family. She could not accept the fact that her family could have been right about Bram Shipley, or the way that they talked about him was correct, so she married him anyway. Hagar's family was not the only one that had problems with Bram Shipley. Hagar soon realized why her family did not think that he was a suitable mate for her. On a Sunday morning Bram and Hagar went to church, a situation occurred that would change Hagar forever. The event occurred as follows:
             At the front of the church, above the choir loft and the organ, were painted letters in blue and gold. The Lord Is In His Holy Temple - Let All Within Keep Silence Before Him. I don't know if the Lord was there that day or not, but my father certainly was, sitting alone in the family pew. He never turned, of course, but after Bram had blurted his impatience I saw my father's shoulders lift in a massive shrug. Nothing to do with me, his shoulders apologized to the congregation. I never went to church after that. I preferred possible damnation in some comfortably distant future, to any ordeal then of peeking or pitying eyes. (Laurence 89-90)
             Hagar was extremely embarrassed by what Bram had shouted out in the middle of church. She could not stand seeing other people laugh at her husband, so she decided never to go to church again. What really occurred was that she allowed the group of townspeople to determine her...