The Book
- When Sara "adopted" Lottie, she talked about how both their mothers were in heaven and were now angels watching over them.
- The first time Sara talked with Becky. Becky was utterly stunned by the kindness Sara showed her, because Becky was a scullery maid, was regarded as less than human, and was always treated horribly at the school.
- Becky would later return the favour. After Sara's father passed away and there was no money left for Sara at all, she was made into a servant and sent up to the attic to where she would sleep. Becky, whose room was right next to Sara's, came to comfort her.
Sara: (crying) Oh Becky, I told you we were just the same - only two little girls - just two little girls. You see how true it is. There's no difference now. I'm not a princess anymore.Becky: Yes, miss, you are. Whats'ever 'appens to you - whats'ever - you'd be a princess all the same - an' nothin' couldn't make you nothin' different. - When Sara, despite being desperately hungry herself, gave five buns to a beggar child with the money she found on the ground. She was only able to do it by reminding herself:"She's hungrier than I am...She's starving...I'm not starving..."
- Taken even farther after Sara regains her wealth. She finds out that the beggar girl, newly named Anne, has become an apprentice to the kindly baker and is being given room and board!
- After being punished by Miss Minchin by having no meal tomorrow (Sara quietly reminded her that she didn't have anything to eat today either), both Sara and Becky went to bed with heavy hearts and tears on their cheeks. Just before she fell asleep, Sara tried to keep her spirits up by imagining that the room had supper and a warm bed for her. But to her surprise, when she woke up, Sara found that the dirty, cold room she slept in had been transformed into a marvelous, beautiful bedroom, with warm blankets and a nice meal set for both her and Becky at the table. She quickly went to show Becky the transformation, leaving both of them in awe and joy for the rest of the night.
- Made even better that the one who did this for them was a sickly rich man, who lived next door to the school and greatly despised himself for having so much money, feeling he'd come by it dishonorably. He later saw that Sara had been treated badly and wanted to cheer her up. So he sent his servants to decorate her room and lavish her with gifts, now finding joy with his money to do good.
- And the kicker? He was Sara's father's old friend, who had been searching for Sara for years and didn't realize that the little girl he was helping was Sara herself. Despite not knowing this fact, he helped two little servant girls just because he could.
- At the end, when Sara and Mr. Carrisford meet and each realizes who the other was.
- Mr Carrisford and Mr Carmichael's conversation in 'The Other Side of The Wall.' Mr Carrisford is determined to find Captain Crewe's daughter and tormented by the thought that she might be suffering and penniless while he has no idea of her whereabouts. His current state of ill health comes from having a mental breakdown when he believed that he had ruined his old friend and it's only this which keeps him from travelling with Carmichael while he tries to track down Sara.Mr Carrisford: I can only sit here wrapped in furs and stare at the fire. And when I look into it I seem to see Crewe's gay young face gazing back at me. He looks as if he were asking me a question. Sometimes I dream of him at night, and he always stands before me and asks the same question in words. Can you guess what he says, Carmichael?Mr Carmichael: Not exactly.Mr Carrisford: He always says: "Tom, old man - Tom - where is the Little Missus?" I must be able to answer him - I must! Help me to find her."
- Becky, having been left behind at the school, was crying because she could no longer see Sara anymore, even though she was happy for her friend. When she gets back to her room, one of Mr. Carmichael's servants is waiting there to tell her that Sara never forgot about her and starting tomorrow, she would be Sara's personal attendant.
- Little Donald Carmichael giving Sara the sixpence. Her first proud instinct is to refuse the gift, but the boy is so sweet and kind that she can't bring herself to do it.
- Becky, overworked as she already is, making Sara a pincushion for her eleventh birthday. Sara is very touched by the pains she has taken. Though it leads to a bit of a funny moment when she finds a card from Miss Amelia on it (Becky borrowed it because she wanted to give Sara a card with her present).
- Ermengarde. She might not be as clever as Sara but she is a kind and loyal friend. She actively seeks Sara in the attic after she becomes destitute, even when Sara appears not to want to speak with her, and it's her visit which inspires Sara to start pretending and imagining again. And when Sara finally confesses how hungry she is, her reaction is not pity but woe that she never knew.Sara: "It would have made me feel like a street beggar. I know I look like a street beggar.""No, you don't - you don't!" Ermengarde broke in. "Your clothes are a little queer - but you couldn't look like a street beggar. You haven't a street-beggar face."
The Films
- Miss Minchin in the end of the 1996 Goodtimes cartoon is about to leave her boarding school for good, but Sara notices her leaving and runs to her. Miss Minchin says to Sara that she believes that she herself should leave teaching, for the way she treated Sara, but Sara and her father believe that everyone deserves another chance. Miss Minchin, puzzled, is then reassured by Sara. Miss Minchin, crying in tears of joy, hugs Sara, thanking her for forgiving her.Miss Minchin: "Sara Crewe. You truly are a princess".
- The 1995 American adaptation tells the story of Sara giving food to the beggar child differently than the novel, showing Sara paying forward small acts of kindness to make life better for others. In the film, a boy mistakes Sara for a beggar and gives her a coin. She tries to return it, but the boy's mother thinks she is only chasing them for more money. So Sara decides to use the money to buy a hot bun for herself. As she starts to take a bite, she notices a poor family trying to sell flowers while the children suffer in the cold. She gives them the bun, and they offer her a flower in gratitude, "For the princess." Sara smiles and takes it. Finally, on her way home to Miss Minchin's, Sara passes the house of Mr. Randolph, who is distraught about his missing son. She leaves the flower at his door as a consolation.
