Geraldine looked at Pecola and decided the she "had seen this little girl all her life." explain what is meant by this phrase.

Geraldine looks at Pecola and thinks about what this young little girl stands for.

“She looked at Pecola. Saw the dirty torn dress, the plaits sticking out of her head, hair matted where the plaits had come undone, the muddy shoes with the wad of gum peeping out from between the cheap soles, […] She had seen this little girl all her life. […] crying to mothers who kept saying “Shet up!”[…]They had stared at her with great uncomprehending eyes. Eyes that questioned nothing and asked everything. […]The end of the world lay in their eyes, and the beginning, and all the waste in between. [… ]

They slept six in a bed, all their pee mixing together in the night[…] crowded into pews at church, taking space from […] [other] children[…]Grass wouldn’t grow where they lived. Flowers die. Shades fell. […]” [71-71]

Geraldine feels sympathy for Pecola and all the little black girls who are in her position. Then quiet suddenly Geraldine starts thinking how disgusting and terrible these children are how they get in the way and take up space. She realizes that this could be her and hates it with all of her being. Geraldine hates that she is forced to live her life because it is the only way she will be unnoticed. She has passed her self-hatred to her son, Junior, who is similar to the boys in the school yard who victimize Pecola for two things that she cannot control, “the color of her skin, and speculations on the sleeping habits of an adult,” [50]