Their responses to these decisive moments demonstrate where they are in their moral development. In Harriet the Spy, the most crucial moment of the book occurs when Harriet's journal is discovered by her classmates. However, Kohlberg's theory only goes so far in explaining Harriet's moral development. The crisis which Harriet endures upon the discovery of her notebook forces her to grow. Kohlberg's theory adequately describes the development of young men into boys, but fails to assess substantial differences that exist between the development of girls and boys.
Morality is understood in terms of the preservation of valuable human relations.
Progress from stage to stage is motivated by increasing understanding of human relationships. Once Harriet realizes the true consequences of her negative actions, she begins to have this concern about her relationship with others. Fitzhugh presents Harriet in the midst of a weighty moral dilemma when her classmates discover her journal. Harriet reacts with expected horror when her friends become aware of the nasty observations Harriet has made about them. One cannot blame Harriet for her lack of moral development because she is only eleven years old.