Summary
Analysis
If Mrs. Charles were a color, she would be bright yellow, like a banana, pineapple, or dandelion. But Claudia notes that a single drop of another color will spoil the yellow—and “dandelions are nothing but pretty weeds.”
Here, Claudia suggests that Mrs. Charles isn’t all bad. But saying that dandelions are just pretty weeds suggests that Mrs. Charles is actually a sinister character—it implies she’s a “weed” existing amongst other flowers.