Elaine Risley
As a child Elaine was a naive, innocent child who was babied by her family because she was the youngest. She spent a lot of time playing with her brother and overall, she was a happy child but everything that she was about, all her happiness, everything, changed once she moved to Toronto at the age of 8 and met Cordellia. Elaine talks about how Toronto changed everything for her, when she says, "before we moved to Toronto i was happy" (Atwood, 22). Cordellia, also the youngest in the family, found comfort in asserting her power upon the other girls. This, Elaine later understands, was because of the lack of power and love she was given at home. Elaine was some one that trusted people with ease and did not realize it when someone was trying to harm her. The person Elaine was, allowed her to believe that Cordellia was a true friend. The lack of self confidence and the sheer trust that Elaine has in others can be seen when she says, "I am not normal, I am not like the other girls. Cordellia tells me so, but she will help me. Grace and carol will help me too. It will take hard work and a long time (Atwood 134). Here Elaine is talking about what Cordellia thinks of her. Instead of understanding that there is nothing wrong with her, Elaine's self confidence drops further and she allows herself to put her trust in her friends, to help change her into a better person. Due to the implications that Cordellia has made, Elaine starts to change herself. She starts to dress in the manner that Cordellia approves of, and stops spending time with her brother, because Cordellia says girls are meant to stay away from boys. Elaine begins to belittle herself and does not share the things that she knows with others, instead she agrees to the myths that Cordellia tells because she does not want to loose her as a friend. To deal with the misery Cordellia bestows upon her, Elaine tries to remove herself from the emotional pain and confusion she feels as a result of the bullying, by inflicting physical pain upon herself. While she does this she thinks about everything that Cordellia has said to her. The thought process that Elaine has...
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