to be a parallel between thisfact and someone’s story throughout the book. Maureen Peal is an example of a light-skinned,“pretty,” middle-class girl. Although she is not the“ideal” beauty in society, in the story, to all thepeople in town, she is close to this ideal. In thedescription in the novel, she is idealized and in a way“worshipped” by everyone who knows her. She becomeseveryone’s favorite in the school. Her clothes aredescribed perfectly and they are flawless, as Maureenherself (according to the narrator). Claudia says thatMaureen is not their enemy, their enemy is what makesMaureen cute and the rest of them ugly, that “thing”that makes her cute. Although racism is not the main catalyst toeverything bad that happens throughout the novel (it ismore deep-rooted issues in society), plays a key role inthe development of the characters as individuals, aswell as society as a whole. Morrison excels indescribing racism as one of the many issues which canruin a person’s self-identity and confidence. Althoughshe, like anyone else, cannot explain and does not havean answer as to “why” racism exists, she describes indetail how it (along with other related factors) canbring about an individual’s self-distruction. ...
