The Last of Pecola

But suppose my eyes aren't blue enough?

Blue enough for what?

Blue enough for... I don't know. Blue enough for something. Blue enough... for you!

I'm not going to play with you anymore. 

Oh. Don't leave me.

Yes. I am.

Why? Are you mad at me?

Yes. 

Because my eyes aren't blue enough? Because I don't have the bluest eyes?

No. Because you're acting silly. 

- pg 203-204

At this time, Morrison is exposing Pecola to the reader once and for all. Up until this point, Morrison has never given Pecola the personal narratives as she gave some of the other characters. I believe that it is important to note not only the content of the "exchange" between Pecola and her inner self but also the placement of it within the novel. Throughout the entire novel, Pecola has been recognized by the reader as someone who willingly took it upon herself to carry the waste that all of the townspeople "dumped" on her. We looked at her as a person who didn't have a voice, timid to a fault. Morrison strengthened this idea within the reader by subsequently not giving Pecola a voice. But why should Pecola have a voice now? What has changed? 

Pecola's view of herself has changed. She believes herself to have blue eyes, therefore she gains power to stand up for herself. Ironically enough, she isn't standing up to the father that raped her or one of the many people that treated her poorly throughout her short life. Rather, she is standing up to herself. She is recognizing the ridiculousness of her obsession with having the bluest eyes, and bringing it to her own attention. However the new powerful Pecola gets frustrated with the old self conscious Pecola and just like that Pecola goes back to being the same two-dimensional character the reader has followed throughout the whole novel. The same blue eyes that brought an inner strength to Pecola also squelched any hope for her ever retaining that strength. 

Why did Morrison choose to give Pecola a voice at this point in the novel, especially for so brief a period? Furthermore, why did Pecola's belief that she had blue eyes elicit an inner strength that was before nonexistent?