To Fit In...?

When a group of colored boys were taunting Pecola, it did not matter "That they themselves were black, or that their own father had similarly relaxed habits..." because, "It was their contempt for their own blackness that gave the first insult its teeth."

Claudia and Frieda came to Pecola's aid and were going to get in a fight but the confrontation did not die down until Maureen made her presence known. The bothersome boys, "...buckled in confusion, not willing to beat up three girls under her [Maureen's] watchful gaze." This whole situation demonstrates that in the world there is not only a struggle between white vs. black race relations, but also social relations within each race. Although it seems ridiculous that black children would bother someone about issues that they themselves are dealing with, it can be seen in other races including the whites.

For example, if we took this same situation and changed the race to whites, this type of thing can be seen today. When kids are self-conscious about anything, they like to find that common imperfection in others and exploit it to make themselves feel better about themselves. This is just basic human nature. So, even when white boys make fun of a white girl and a popular girl that they like shows up, suddenly the boys do not want to look foolish and so the bullying quickly stops. This popular girl can then proceed to come to the rescue and become the best friend of the victim (but only for like half a second). Any other girls besides ones that the boys like, who tried to come to the rescue, would not hinder the boys' jeers. This is exactly what happened when Claudia and Frieda tried to help. And, these girls would be jealous of the victim's sudden acceptance and care from the popular, savior girl. This is what happened when Maureen offered to buy Pecola ice cream while Claudia and Frieda were left to pay for their own, but unfortunately, they didn't have the money. "It was extremely important that the world not know that I [Claudia] fully expected Maureen to buy us some ice cream, that for the past 120 seconds I had been selecting the flavor, that I had begun to like Maureen, and that neither of us [Claudia or Frieda] had a penny." This was only the beginning to the falling apart of this quick, "superficial" friendship.

The girls quickly got into controversial conversation where they were accusing each other of things they said or saw. Claudia, "...was glad to have a chance to show some anger" when Maureen was bothering Pecola about the specifics of what she had said. This silly, typical girl drama when girls start debating about what they did or didn't say and other rash accusations that have nothing to do with the original topic, quickly escalated into name calling and Maureen running off. Unfortunately,this is the "half a second, best friends" relationship that is typical for girls.

So, it doesn't matter if this whole situation had been dealing with the white or black race. There are still social tensions within each racial social hierarchy. This could be seen in either race because whites and blacks are humans, and humans do what humans do.