These extreme swings are shown later when Cordelia appears to be friends with Elaine, while really harassing her. This again is typical of children- that they pick up on the behaviour of their parents is quite natural, especially in Cordelia's circumstances which are related when Elaine visits her with "I ask Cordelia if she is gifted, but she puts her tongue in the corner of her moth and turns away". The main motive to bully Elaine seems to be the neglect that she has to deal with at home- the older siblings who are 'gifted' and her ordinariness and inability to be more like them. It is noteworthy that the child Elaine does not analyse or interpret this, as the adult reader would, this child-like innocence is natural and convincing. Cordelia does not single Elaine out immediately, instead she tries to control all her 'playmates' but Carol is too wimpish, and Grace too strong, " "I don't want to," says Grace ", but Elaine, unaccustomed to the games of girls does not believe that she is being wronged, and therefore suffers the brunt of the attack. More and more sentences in the book start with "Cordelia says" and 'Cordelia thinks" showing, very realistically, the way that Cordelia is gaining dominance in Elaine's life subconsciously. This distinctive lack of pronouns continues as she becomes more dominant in the group situations, " "Try and see," says Cordelia. 'Go on down there. I dare you." But we don't. " shows her daring as she become a kind of leader for the group "Cordelia goes right to the railing and leans on it. Gingerly we follow." "Cordelia makes short work of this game" is the end to what the group had pre- Cordelia done together- cut out pictures from the Eaton's catalogues. The dominance continues as Cordelia begins to introduce the topic of women and their bodies, her continual fascination shaping the conversation that would otherwise have been deemed improper, yet Cordelia seems to get away with talking about unseemly things, again the boldness showing.
