Maureen Peal
>
Pecola Breedlove
Quote 1
I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute! (2.4.35)
Maureen insults Pecola, Frieda, and Claudia by using the same racially loaded language as the young boys.
Maureen Peal
Quote 2
I was glad to have a chance to show anger. Not only because of the ice cream, but because we had seen our own father naked and didn't care to be reminded of it and feel the shame brought on by the absence of shame. (2.4.31)
This passage suggests that Maureen is trying to make Claudia feel bad about something innocent and normal – seeing her father without his clothes on. We might also think about innocence itself as being defined by an absence of shame.