Blog Post 7

The conflict between reality and appearance in Corinthians is that she is pretending to be a secretary when in reality she is actually just a maid and lying to her family about it. She avoids the other maids, and when she goes to work she disguises her job by wearing heels and not carrying any maid uniform, but once she enters Miss Grahams house she changes into her uniform. This is supported by the quotes "She avoided the other maids on the street, and those whom she saw regularly on the bus assumed that she had some higher household position than theirs since she came to work in high-heeled shoes" (Morrison 189).
She also secretly has a relationship with Porter, wanting to keep it secret from her father. She ultimately chooses reality over her appearance, deciding to go to his place. She does it because if she did not Porter would leave her and likely never see her again, and she would be unloved for the rest of her life. "In a sudden flash she knew he was never going to see her again, and the days rolled out before her like a dingy gray carpet in an unfurnished, unpeopled hall-for-rent" (Morrison 195).
This results in Milkman telling Macon about it and Macon forcing her to quit her job, be forbidden from leaving the house and seeing Porter, effectively ruining her life. This is shown in the quote "He has forbidden her to leave the house, made her quit her job" (Morrison 215).