ith a biscuit in her hand and held it to my face. No matter how good it looks it’s still a colored biscuit” (31).After spending more and more time with Starletta she became more aware of the similarities between them. Ellen has a small epiphany when she goes to sleep at Starletta’s house; “ When I got up in the morning I was surprised because it did not feel like I had slept in a colored house. I cannot say I officially slept in the bed because I stayed in my coat on top of the covers.” (39) This part in the book is very important because it marks the spot where Ellen starts to realize that maybe there is not a difference between being black or white. Ellen finally ends the stage in life when she thinks it is wrong to like blacks. She says; “ I thought while I chopped from one field to the next how I could pass for colored now… But that was OK now I thought to myself of how it didn’t make much of a difference anymore”(66). By the end of the book she looks back on her assumptions on black people shamefully: “I wonder to myself am I the same girl who would not drink after Starletta two years ago or eat a colored biscuit when I was starved?” Ellen even says, “ Sometimes I even think I was cut out to be colored and I got bleached and sent to the wrong batch of folks”(85).While working hard at looking at people more equally, Ellen also was working hard at strategizing for the future. Ellen could be categorized as a young person who knows how to plan ahead and make choices. Every month her mama’s mama sent an envelope of money, and Ellen always saw to it that she got a hold of the money before her father did. “I figured out what I needed and took it. You got the lights, gas to heat and cook, food and extras” (25). Not only did Ellen figure out how much she needed for the month, but she also found the best deals at the supermarket. “I found th...
