"Jealousy we understood and thought natural- a desire to have what somebody else had; but envy was a strange, new feeling for us."
After reading this, I had to pause and think about it for a moment. I never really distinguished a clear difference between the two emotions. I think this quote is important to the overall theme of the book because it expresses how Pecola, and even Claudia, were feeling about the world around them. There is so much jealousy and envy floating around our society- there is always something to crave, something to desire, something that somebody has that you don't. I then decided to figure out the clear line between jealousy and envy. Jealousy is when a person perceives another person to be receiving or giving something away that should belong to him or her. For example, attention or affection (like the Shirley Temple and Bojangles example). Envy is when someone may feel resentment towards another person for having qualities they desire. Claudia never felt resentment or discomfort towards any of the "perfect blue-eyed" children, but she did indeed start to feel envious of the little girl Maureen. I think Claudia is starting to drift into a world that many people of society today thrive in- a world of envy and discontentment with their own lives- which is very sad indeed.
Madelyn Moon.
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