The theme that this quote demonstrates is the importance of knowing who you are.
Squeaky is an individualist. She likes to do her own thing. The quote that you have included demonstrates how Squeaky is different from other girls her age. Squeaky’s mother wants her to dress up for the May Day dance, but Squeaky would rather run in the race.
Squeaky does not have an easy life. Her brother has special needs, and taking care of him falls to her most of the time. She finds a release in running. Even though her mother wants her to dress up, she stands her ground. Squeaky notes that she once had to play a strawberry in a Hansel and Gretel pageant, and dancing on her toes is not her thing.
I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run. That is what I am all about. So I always come late to the May Day program, just in time to get my number pinned on and lay in the grass till they announce the fifty-yard dash.
To know who you are at this age is rare. Squeaky sounds very confident, but at several times throughout the story she shares how she has difficultly relating to girls her own age, and how even her mother sometimes finds her odd. It is not until the race against Gretchen that Squeaky understands that she is not the only one passionate about running.
And I look over at Gretchen wondering what the “P” stands for. And I smile. Cause she’s good, no doubt about it. Maybe she’d like to help me coach Raymond; she obviously is serious about running, as any fool can see. And she nods to congratulate me and then she smiles. And I smile.
Squeaky has found a way to be herself and also get along with others. She sees Gretchen no longer as a competitor or an insincere adolescent, and instead sees her as a potential friend. Without changing who she is, Squeaky is learning she can grow as a person by finding common ground with others.
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