I found Geraldine to be an interesting character. She is very selective of the type of African Americans her son is allowed to play with. I feel her discontentment with lower class African American symbolizes how she isn't comfortable being African American herself. she loathes poor African Americans in fear of becoming one, and being seen in the public eye as one. In essence she uses low class African Americans as an outlet for her own insecurities. Her cat represents lost compassion and love. Her love and compassion for her family is lost within the cat. She only really shows affection to the cat, which explains Juniors hatred towards it.