Interaction with Adults

I found the way that Claudia and Frieda see adults extremely interesting. They look at adults as if they are another species, one that they do not understand and cannot fully communicate with. The two girls obviously study the interactions of adults frequently, due to their analysis of how adults speak to each other, and the fact that in that time period, children were seen and not heard. Claudia also says that, "The edge, the curl, the thrust of their emotions is always clear to Frieda and me" (Morrison 15), which shows the extensive study of adults that Claudia and Frieda have completed, seeing as they can sense the emotions of adults despite what they're saying. Claudia expresses the fact that she does not understand adults when she says, "We do not, cannot, know the meanings of all their words, for we are nine and ten years old" (Morrison 15). She believes that due to her age, she cannot understand what adults are saying, simply beacuse she is not one of them yet. I think that it will be interesting to see how the relationships between Claudia and adults evolve over the course of the novel and if she begins to understand what they are saying as much as what they are feeling.