Character Analysis
Ordinary Girl
Quendy's pretty ordinary—especially compared to Calista. Here's how Titus describes Quendy for us: "Usually, Quendy is just like a kind of broken, little economy model of Calista, and she knows that, and feels real bad about it" (4.39).
In other words, she never quite manages to achieve Calista's coolness factor—or rich boyfriend. In fact, jealousy is one of Quendy's main motivators: she's way envious that Calista landed a rich unit like Link, and she'd do almost anything to get his attention. At one point, she has grotesque artificial lesions surgically added to her body:
She raises her arms. The cuts were like eyes. They got bigger and redder when she moved. "Do you like them?" she said, laughing. "I got it yesterday." (36.6)
Quendy won't settle for a few subtle lesions. Like someone who buys the tacky logo-covered bag instead of the most expensive and more subtle pair of shoes, she wants everyone to know what she can afford. And it just makes her uncool.
A Cut Above
There's more Quendy than artificial lesions, though. In our view, she's a little more tolerable than the other two girls: because she's on the group's margins, she seems just a little less shallow, with almost an outsider's perspective. (Maybe that's why she never quite makes it all the way in.) In fact, she characterizes herself as "the friendly one who everyone like steps all over" (19.10). For example, she has real sympathy for Violet's plight after her seizure—even though she's the one Violet called a monster. In fact, Quendy tries to school Titus in his blatant disregard for Violet's feelings:
"You know," said Quendy, "this isn't re: the world serving you some met three-course dump banquet. It isn't re: the world serving me some dump banquet. She's the one who this is happening to. I don't know what you're saying to her? But I hope you aren't sulking weirdly." (42.24)
Maybe this is why Titus ends up with Quendy in the end. She's no Violet, but at least she's not some airhead queen bee.