Lee, I'm not good enough for him.""Now, what do you mean by that?""I'm not being funny. He doesn't think about me. He's made someone up, and it's like he put my skin on her. I'm not like that-not like the made-up one.""What's she like?""Pure!" said Abra. "Just absolutely pure. Nothing but pure-never a bad thing. I'm not like that.""Nobody is," said Lee."He doesn't know me. He doesn't even want to know me. He wants that-white-ghost.
In John Steinbeck's "East of Eden," a character named Abra expresses her insecurity and feelings of inadequacy in a conversation with Lee. She feels that the person her love interest has imagined is an idealized version of her, which she believes she cannot live up to. This idealization makes her feel disconnected from the reality of who she is, as she perceives herself to be flawed and not the "pure" individual he envisions.
Lee attempts to comfort Abra by acknowledging that no one can embody such perfection. He emphasizes that the expectations set by others can often be unrealistic and that her love interest does not truly see or know her. This dialogue highlights the broader theme of self-identity and the pressures of living up to impossible ideals.
