Maria (in the Grape Depression) is so complicated as a character. Like, obviously it’s kind of shitty that she tried to sacrifice her brother, but it was also the only way she saw to survive. She’s a teenager trying to make it through the winter. And, while it sucks that she went behind her father’s back, and that giving up Pinocchio was such an easy choice for her, I do get it. (I think that she was conflicted—you could see at the beginning how much she loved her brother—but we didn’t see too much of it, because she was trying to project a sense of certainty.)
But I think there’s another aspect. In the original story of Pinocchio (and it’s been a while since I’ve engaged with it, so correct me if I’m wrong about this), Geppetto builds Pinocchio because he doesn’t have any children, and he’s desperate for a son. But in the Grape Depression, he already has a daughter: Maria. And I feel like that adds such a deep layer to this dynamic. Maria must feel hurt by her father’s need for a son; she must feel like she’s not enough for him. And there’s got to be some resentment towards Pinocchio there, too, then, even if she loves him. She knows, logically, that it’s not his fault, but some part of her would blame him, too. You get the sense that she loved her life and the dynamic she had with her father before Pinocchio came along, and no matter how much she loves her brother, she’s still going to resent him for taking that away from her. And that’s not even touching on the resentment she’d have towards her father.
I do believe that Geppetto loves both of his children, and obviously parents can want a second child without that reflecting on their love for their first child. But from Maria’s perspective, I definitely think it would feel like a slight in this particular scenario, and I think that plays deeply into her decisions later in the play.
