Character Analysis
In a lot of ways, aside from the wolves, Pearl is the only true friend our heroine has in the novel. Julie meets Pearl just after her wedding to Daniel, when Pearl finds Julie moping on an oil drum. She takes Julie to the Quonset, a community center of sorts, and shares a Coke with her new friend.
We like Pearl. For one thing, she reaches out to Julie when it seems like no one else will. And for another, she gives Julie a way out of her scary marriage. In their very first conversation, she assures Julie that "all you have to do is leave the house or run away and everything's forgotten" (2.86). Later, when Julie does run away, Pearl gives her food, a sleeping skin and hide, and needles without which our Julie would surely be doomed. This is a girl who really comes through in the clutch.
But we have to ask: is she misguided in her advice to Julie? Has she put Julie in danger by suggesting she run away? What do you think?