Pecola

While reading the novel I noticed Pecola's resistance to growing up. She seems to want to remain a quiet child forever instead of learning to speak for herself and become a young adult. An example of this is when Frieda and Claudia's mother is complaining about the missing milk. Although Pecola did drink all the milk, it was not out of greediness or thirst; "We knew she was fond of the Shirley Temple cup and took every oppurtunity to drink milk out of it just to handle and see sweet Shirley's face" (Morrison 23). Here Pecola drinks the milk so she can admire and enjoy a cup, she does not understand at the time what she is doing, in her naive frame of mind she is doing nothing wrong. In my opinion, Pecola's wrecked homelife and childhood leads to her resistence of giving up her youth. As a young child, she does not have to understand and realize the horrors from her home, instead it is acceptable for her ignore this through daydreams and play. I believe Pecola is clinging to her childish side because through acting as a child she is able to block out the reality of her life.