Today, is the last discussion concerning the book. I will summarize the last section of the book entitled, “Summer”.
Claudia recounts some of the things she associates with one particular summer; strawberries, sudden thunderstorms, and gossip about her friend Pecola. Claudia and Frieda learn that Pecola is pregnant from her father. Only a miracle can save the baby.
Claudia and Frieda believe they must do more than just pray for the health and safe delivery of Pecola’s baby because it will be the antithesis of the white baby dolls that Claudia has always despised. They decide to sacrifice their money and bury it near Pecola’s house, sacrificing their dreams for a new bicycle, promise God that they will be good for a whole month, and plant marigold seeds in the backyard. When the seeds come up, the girls will know that everything is all right. Claudia and Frieda want Pecola’s baby to live in order to validate their own blackness and to counteract the universal love for white baby dolls.
Pecola becomes isolated from the world and develops an imaginary friend who comments on her “blue eyes”. Her mother isn’t talking to her anymore becasue she feels that Pecola isn’t an innocent victim, Sammy, her brother, left town, and Cholly has ran out on the family. Frieda and Claudia aren’t talking to her anymore. Pecola is all alone and the townspeople talk about her as well.
The book jumps to the present, Pecola lost the baby and is now living on the edge of town with her mother. She has become a laughingstock. Pauline still works for the white family, Sammy is still gone, and Cholly has died. Pecola has spiraled into schizophrenia and is the product of a society that never accepted her dark skin.
Well, I will announce the next book sometime in May. Please feel free discuss any themes in the book that you have thought deeply about, or have questions about.