The Friends by Rosa Guy explores the adolescence of an immigrant from the West Indies, Phyllisia Cathy. Struggling to find friends in school because her family is more wealthy and because she devotes much of her time to studying and consequently receives good grades, she finally decides to endear herself to Edith, the only one who is kind to her. Edith and Phyllisia enjoy an on-again-off-again kind of friendship, complicated by Phyl's prejudice.
Phyllisia has been raised by a father who starves her of attention, values outward beauty, allows no criticism of his decisions, and openly hates lower-income peoples. In order to overcome her oppressive home environment, Phyllisia is forced to challenge her own preconceptions and prejudices. By the time her mother dies from an unexplained illness, Phyl has learned to value Edith for her sincere kindness and care and apologize for having abandoned their friendship for so long. Her mom could understand why Phyl kept pushing her friend away and misusing her, so she devotes her last few days to correcting her daughter's values. Because this is her mom's final wish, Phyl really pays attention. She finds the will power to change her mind and even to defy her father for propagating his own prejudice and injustice in their home.
Phyl apologizes to Edith -- who has just lost her father and all of her siblings, some to death and others to Child Protective Services -- for not having supported her through her own life challenges. This moment of reconciliation between the two of them is so profound that Phyllisia is inspired to tell her father, her only surviving parent, about her realization. Recognizing how mature Phyl has been for changing her mind in this way, her dad decides to also challenge the way he has parented, in light of his wife's absence. He becomes slightly more lenient with Phyl and her sister, despite not completely overcoming his faults. Through the transformative power of forgiveness, Phyllisia finds the authority to defy her father's expectations and to demand that he treat her and her sister fairly.
