The quote has allot to do with the american dream because that what everyone is here for. By being in a “low caste” or poor you can’t really achieve much and you feel like a minority. I know how it feels like to be in a caste though i am not in a low caste. But i see how people of the lowest class are treated. Americans call them “untouchables” which is the lowest caste in India. In the presence of higher castes they have sit on the floor; they barely socialize outside of their caste because no one wants to talk to them and they live in very poor conditions. So they are treated just like Pecola when she went to the store and the white store owner thought she was dumb, ugly, and dirty. This kills the psyche or a whole race of people. That is what this is all about, psychological warfare, to make you feel so worthless that you wont move up in life and be stuck in a certain mindset. So you can never reach the so call “American Dream” if you think so little of your self.
Professor Laura Westengard
Email: lwestengard@citytech.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30-11:30 am and by appointment
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I like and agree with the comparison of the quote and pecola. I think it definitely applies to her, and the example you used with the white man in the candy store not wanting to touch her makes her seem like an”untouchable”. I think that it can be a form of psychological warfare by forcing people to believe they are nothing,which convinces them to stay in their place;however, I think that if Pecola wasn’t so young and if she didn’t have such negative example in her life she wouldn’t be as impressionable.
I agree with Shashe. The connection between the concept of the “untouchable” caste and the scene at the candy story is very insightful!