How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
This disrupter of seasons was a new girl in school named Maureen Peal. A high-yellow dream child with long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her back. She was rich, at least by our standards, as rich as the richest of white girls, swaddled in comfort and care. The quality of her clothes threatened to derange Frieda and me. (2.4.3)
Maureen's skin color and class status are both deemed oppressive to other blacks here. Her hair is described as "two lynch ropes," presenting a loaded image of racial oppression. The passage suggests that the success of Maureen's family goes hand-in-hand with the oppression of poorer, darker-skinned families.
Quote #5
It never occurred to either of us that the earth itself might have been unyielding. We had dropped our seeds in our own little plot of black dirt just as Pecola's father had dropped his seeds in his own plot of black dirt. Our innocence and faith were no more productive than his lust or despair. (from second Prologue)
This raises the question of who is to blame with regard to Pecola's fate.
Quote #6
We saw her sometimes. Frieda and I – after the baby came too soon and died. After the gossip and slow wagging of heads. She was so sad to see. Grown people looked away; children, those who were not frightened by her, laughed outright. (4.11.2)
The town reacts to Pecola's madness by ignoring her, expressing shame and sadness.