Ellen Foster Analysis Essay Example

of loneliness and does the best she can to take care of herself.

Before Ellen targets the foster family as the one she wants, she is nearly alone in the world — her own mama is dead, her father neglects and abuses her, her aunts and grandmother don't want her, and her only friend, Starletta, is a little black girl who eats dirt and appears not to speak. While Starletta's parents are kind, Ellen is always aware they are "colored" and, in the context of the Southern town where they all live, she is not "supposed to" be friendly with them.

Her outsider status is emphasized by the fact that most of the happy families she knows are black and she "wanted one that's white. " She feels she cannot be a part of either Starletta's or Mavis's families, both of whom are so supportive. Ellen's sense of herself as "not just a face in the crowd," but as someone deserving of a place in a loving family, finally enables her to find such a place and gain a sense of belonging. Ellen is finally now happy in her new home and doesn't have to go through loneliness again.