Pecola's need for love is apparent throughout the novel. However, the other characters refuse to love her because of their own faults, but blame it on Pecola's flaws. The final pages of the novel provide the realization that Pecola served to make other characters feel better by being the flawwed, imperfect, faulted character. The other characters looked down upon Pecola, using her to boost their self esteem. The reason that Pecola was shown as ugly was that she did not feel beautiful. The idea that being white was the only way to be beautiful discouraged Pecola to the point where she pleaded for blue eyes from Soaphead. Pecola's low self esteem and unrealstic idea of beauty hindered her quality of life, but allowed the rest of the characters to feel better about their own lives.