This section shows Jon’s tendency to sacrifice himself for the good of others. That propensity, the novel suggests, is a sign that he, like his father Ned, has innate leadership qualities. But Jon’s maneuver here requires him to diminish himself on account of his lower social status—he is not Ned’s “trueborn” son. That points to the indignities that Jon must suffer, apparently on a daily basis, because he was born out of wedlock. The novel gradually shows the toll that those indignities take on Jon.