Throughout the novel, Josie is emancipated from herself.
Looking for Alibrandi is a moving story about a year 12 girl's current life. Throughout the novel Josie is constantly changing her views on people. This is the reason behind her troubles to understand the people in her life. Josie also has many views of what the future beholds for herself and others. Her views on social status change during the novel and show the truth behind her misconceptions. Josie turns out to be a strong character that can adapt to the changing surroundings; the ability for her to change her thoughts gives her flexibility within her life. Throughout the novel Josie's views on herself and others change as she matures and sheds her preconceptions. There are a number of examples in the novel that demonstrate this emancipation .
The ability to understand others is explored throughout Looking for Alibrandi. Over the times of the novel Josie starts to mature and understand where others are "coming from". When Josie met Mr. Andretti (her father), for the first time she ran off in disgust. At the time she despised him and never wanted to see him again. Over time Josie and Mr. Andretti got along. Josie later says, "I"d be proud to be an Andretti Dad." This obviously shows that during the time that Josie had known Mr. Andretti, she started to mature and find out about him. After some time she realised that he in fact was a nice guy, and she was proud to be his daughter. This relationship shows that over time Josie has emancipated from her first thoughts of Mr. Andretti and maturely accepted him. .
Preconceptions in Looking for Alibrandi play a major role. From the beginning of the novel Josie, had set out many fixed plans for the future. For example, she had always imagined John Barton and herself going to university together and studying law. When she discovered that John Barton committed suicide her first reaction was rage. "How dare he kill himself when he's never had any worries!" Josie thought that John was selfish and didn't think about others.