11. Spring

The Spring part of the novel begins with the event that Mr. Henry touched Frieda’s breast. Frieda ran out of the kitchen and went to tell this to her father and mother. Her father was very angry and went in to hit Mr. Henry. Her mother told this happening to her friend and she mentioned that she is afraid of Frieda could be ‘ruined’. In here the word ‘ruined’ is important because the author used this word to show the importance of the virginity of a girl for the family. The virginity of a girl also means the honor of the family. So if something did happen between Frieda and Mr. Henry, it would mean that the honor of the family had been destroyed. But for the two little girls Pecola and Frida this word just reminds of Maginot Line. They think that if Frieda is ‘ruined’ it means that she will resemble to Maginot Line. And this thought makes them afraid of because they think that to resemble to Maginot Line is to become fat.

In here as I mentioned about before, the author tries to show the innocence of these little girls and the big difference between their life and adults’ life.

We also see in here that the MacTeers are conservative family. For them the virginity of their daughter is important. And also there is an effective father role who tries to protect his daughter which is the converse of Pecola’s father-Cholly.