Winter Girl and Maureen free essay sample

Claudia and Frieda envy Maureen, but then they also adore her because of her beauty. They thought she was so perfect that they â€Å"looked hard for flaws to restore their equilibrium†. 6 3) When they found out Maureen was born with six fingers on e ach hand, and had a dog tooth they smiled. â€Å"We took what we could get-snickering behind her back and calling her Six-finger-dog-tooth-meringue-pie. But we had to do it alone, for none of the others girls would cooperate with our hostility†. (63) When Frieda, Claudia and Maureen see a group of boys in a circle. They see the boys (Bay Boy, Woodrow Cain, Buddy Wilson, Junie Bug) harassing Pecola. As they harass Pecola they chant â€Å"Black e mo. Black e mo. Yadaddsleepsnekked. Black e mo black e mo ya dadd sleeps nekked. Black e mo †(65) Frieda breaks up the harassing circle of boys by dropping her books down on Woodrow Cain’s head and threatening to reveals one of his secrets. We will write a custom essay sample on Winter: Girl and Maureen or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When Maureen appears in front of the boys, the boys stop immediately as if they were put into a trance by her springtime eyes. â€Å"They buckled in confusion, not willing to beat up three girls under her watchful gaze. †(65) The boys leave. The boys’ chant shows me self-hatred in them. They consider themselves black and ugly too. Instead of them showing their ugliness, they keep it inside of them and cause pain to others. â€Å"It was their contempt for their own blackness that gave the first insult its teeth. They seemed to have taken all of their smoothly cultivated ignorance, their exquisitely learned self-hatred, their elaborately designed hopelessness and sucked it up into a fiery cone of scorn that had burned for ages in the hollows of their minds†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (65) Claudia and Frieda begin to accept Maureen when they see Maureen friendliness towards Pecola and when she offers to buy her ice cream. When it comes clear to Claudia that Maureen isn’t offering her or Frieda ice cream, she quickly tries to hide the fact that she â€Å"fully expected Maureen to buy her and Frieda some ice cream, that for the past 120 seconds she had been selecting the flavor, and that she didn’t have a penny. †(69) Maureen offers Pecola ice cream to be nice because of the harassing boys. The girls’ fascination with pop culture represents the beauty they want to have. Ladies like Betty Grable’s appearance at the Dreamland Theater (69) is mentioned, as well as Hedy Lamarr’s whom Claudia mentions. Mr. Henry uses the names of Ginger Rogers and Greta Garbo as pet names for Claudia and Frieda, as if being called by the names of these famous white beauties would be perceived as a great compliment. Pecola is referenced to a mulatto girl in the movie Imitation of Life. The girls talk about Hedy Lamarr and how â€Å"she doesn’t even menstrate yet, and she’s sixteen year’s old. (70) She goes on to ask Pecola if she menstruates yet, and as we all know she is. Maureen reveals that she is too, and she has been for the last two months. â€Å"Do you know what it is for? † Pecola asked. For babies. † Maureen raised two pencil-stroke eyebrows at the obviousness of the question. â€Å"Did you ever see a naked man? †(71) This starts the whole confrontation between the girls and Maureen. As the girls are walking home Maureen keeps harassing Pecola about if she has ever seen her daddy naked? Pecola blinked, then looked away. â€Å"No. Even when Pecola s ays no, Maureen keeps on pounding the question on her trying to get it out of her. Frieda and Claudia can’t withstand the peer pressure over Pecola anymore and come to her rescue by confronting Maureen. You stop talking bout her daddy. †(72) â€Å"What do I care about her old black daddy? † asked Maureen. When you hear this from Maureen you get the sense that she knows she is better than the other girls because of her fascinating beauty. Frieda doesn’t want to go to Isaley’s because she say’s â€Å"suppose Meringue Pie (Maureen) is hanging around. You want to run into her, Claudia. †(76) So they go to Miss Bertha’s. When the girls return home from Miss Bertha’s, instead of seeing their mother they see Mr. Henry and two women. Mr. Henry is sucking the finger of one of the women. The girls quickly identify these women as China, and the Maginot Line two whores, whom Mama and Big Mama hated. â€Å"Back already? †(78) This is what Mr. Henry say’s as the girls return home. Frieda ask Mr. Henry who were the two women in the house? Mr. Henry replies by saying they are member of his bible class, and they came over to read with him today. â€Å"Bed† not mention it to your mother. She don’t take to so much Bible study and don’t like me having visitors’ even if they good Christians. †(79) The girls agree so they don’t have to hear their mother’s mouth.