What kind of character is Soaphead?
Soaphead is a deceptive and conniving man; as the narrator observes, he comes from a long line of similarly ambitious and corrupt West Indians. His latest scheme involves interpreting dreams and performing so-called “miracles” for the Black community in Lorain.
What is Soaphead Church's background?
Soaphead Church is a cinnamon-eyed West Indian man with light brown skin. His family is proud of their academic accomplishments and white heritage. A British Nobleman introduced the "white strain" into Soaphead Church's family in the early 1800's, leaving the child and his mother with a small sum of money before abandoning them.
What is Soaphead’s letter to God?
explain Soaphead Church’s letter to God. Soaphead is asked by Pecola to grant her blue eyes. He tells her he will if she brings meat to the dog; the meat is poisoned and it kills the dog.
How does Soaphead's obsession with children affect the community?
This obsession leads to perverted sexual desires for children, and a feeling of superiority, which results in isolation from the community. Soaphead Church is a cinnamon-eyed West Indian man with light brown skin. His family is proud of their academic accomplishments and white heritage.
Why is church called Soaphead?
Eventually, Soaphead Church moves to Lorain, Ohio, and claims that he is a preacher. The community is impressed by the way he speaks English and the women believe he is a supernatural figure because of his celibacy. They give him the name Soaphead Church, and he assumes the identity they provide for him.
What does Soaphead Church represent in The Bluest Eye?
Like Geraldine and Pauline, Soaphead Church is another example of how the worship of whiteness and cleanliness can deform a black life. His mixed blood gives him a false sense of superiority, which he maintains with delusions of grandeur.
What does Soaphead do to Pecola?
Unbeknownst to Pecola, Soaphead gives her poisonous meat to feed the dog. When the dog starts to gag and limp around, Pecola believes she is getting her wish for blue eyes. After Pecola runs away, Soaphead writes a long letter to God about being rejected by Velma.
What does Soaphead do for a living?
A light skinned West Indian man, Soaphead Church is a self-proclaimed misanthrope. After failing as a preacher, he deems himself a "Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams", and provides counsel to community members.
How did Pecola get blue eyes?
When Pecola is finally granted her wish for blue eyes, she receives it in a perverse and darkly ironic form. She is able to obtain blue eyes only by losing her mind. Rather than granting Pecola insight into the world around her and providing a redeeming connection with other people, these eyes are a form of blindness.
What is the most important theme of The Bluest Eye?
In The Bluest Eye, Morrison foregrounded the demonization of Blackness in American culture, focusing on the effects of internalized racism.
Why is Pecola named Pecola?
Remember, in the novel we're told that Pecola's name is close to a name from the 1934 movie Imitation of Life, which has a complicated story. But it's about race relations, and it features a little girl named Peola who ends up passing for white because she so hates the blackness of her mother.
What does Soaphead Church make of Pecola's petition?
Q. What does Soaphead Church make of Pecola's petition? He thinks it's “at once the most fantastic and the most logical petition he had ever received” (174). He thinks it's “a depressing petition that reflects Pecola's impoverished sense of self-worth” (174).
Who is Beatrice in The Bluest Eye?
met his Beatrice Beatrice (pronounced Bay-ah-tree-chay) was the ideal woman, beloved by the poet Dante and the symbol of divine and ideal love. She leads Dante through one portion of the Divine Comedy. sealing wax a combination of resin and turpentine that is used for sealing letters.
What is Soaphead church's birth name?
Soaphead Church (Elihue Micah Whitcomb)
What happened Cholly Breedlove?
In a confused state of love and lust, fueled by drunkenness, he rapes his daughter, Pecola, and leaves her on the kitchen floor. Eventually he dies in a workhouse.
What do Frieda and Claudia decide to do for Pecola?
Claudia and Frieda decide to help Pecola by praying and by giving a sacrifice; they will give up their seed money and plant the rest of the marigold seeds. They will bury the money by Pecola's house and bury the seeds in their own yard so that they can tend them.
What does Soaphead Church make of Pecola's petition?
Q. What does Soaphead Church make of Pecola's petition? He thinks it's “at once the most fantastic and the most logical petition he had ever received” (174). He thinks it's “a depressing petition that reflects Pecola's impoverished sense of self-worth” (174).
What do Frieda and Claudia decide to do for Pecola?
Claudia and Frieda decide to help Pecola by praying and by giving a sacrifice; they will give up their seed money and plant the rest of the marigold seeds. They will bury the money by Pecola's house and bury the seeds in their own yard so that they can tend them.
What happened Cholly Breedlove?
In a confused state of love and lust, fueled by drunkenness, he rapes his daughter, Pecola, and leaves her on the kitchen floor. Eventually he dies in a workhouse.
What is soaphead nauseated by?
Misanthropic in his perversity, Soaphead is reviled by human contact. He is nauseated by the "humanness of people — their body odor, breath odor, blood, sweat, tears, decayed or missing teeth, ear wax, blackheads, moles, blisters, skin crusts — all of the body's survivalist protections.
Why does soaphead prefer young girls?
Because the thought of being near a woman is abhorrent to Soaphead, he has begun to prefer the company of young girls. His effete and fastidious mannerisms detract from whatever masculinity he might have developed. Not surprisingly, his eccentricities alienate him from most people, which pleases him.
Who plays Soaphead Church in the movie?
Soaphead Church (Elihue Micah Whitcomb) Proud of the intermingling of the races that produced him, Soaphead Church, a self-proclaimed Anglophile, is so pleased with his looks that he is initially revolted by Pecola's appearance.
What is the story of soaphead church?from sparknotes.com
The narrator tells the history of Soaphead Church, a self-declared “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams” in Lorain’s black community. A light-skinned West Indian, he was raised in a family proud of its mixed blood. His family has always been academically and politically ambitious, and always corrupt. Family members have always tried to marry other light-skinned people, and, if unable to do so, they have married one another. Soaphead Church’s father was a sadistic schoolmaster and his half-Chinese mother died soon after he was born. Born Elihue Micah Whitcomb, Soaphead Church soon learned the art of self-deception and developed a fascination and revulsion for dirt and decay.
What does Soaphead do to Pecola?from gradesaver.com
Soaphead is asked by Pecola to grant her blue eyes. He tells her he will if she brings meat to the dog; the meat is poisoned and it kills the dog. When she leaves, Soaphead writes and angry letter, in which he is blaming God for making the world so bad. Both in his life and Pecola's, there are unfairnesses, and he believes that God is to blame for those. His letter lambasts God for this. The final thing the letter does is give himself (Soaphead) credit for granting Pecola's wish for blue eyes (even though she is the only one who will see the change.) Overall, it is a cry of anger and pain for the injustice in the world, written by a pretty crazy fellow.
Who is Soaphead married to?from sparknotes.com
Soaphead married a woman named Velma, but she left him two months afterward. Next, he pursued the ministry but soon discovered that the profession was not right for him. He studied psychiatry and other social sciences, took different jobs, and finally came to Lorain. He rents a back room from an elderly lady named Bertha Reese, and his only hardship is her old dog, Bob, which disgusts him with its runny eyes. Soaphead buys poison to kill the dog but is too repulsed to go near it.
What is the story of Soaphead Church?from sparknotes.com
This chapter tells Soaphead Church’s story, whose given name is Elihue Micah Whitcomb. He is a light-skinned West Indian. His family members always try to marry light-skinned people, and they marry each other if they have to. His father was a schoolmaster and his mother was half chinese and died after he was born. He married a woman named Velma who left him two months later. He tried priesthood, the being a caseworker, finally deciding on being a “reader, advisor, and interpreter of dreams.” He studied, took different jobs, and ended up at Lorain, where he rents a back room. the dog there disgusts him, so he buys poison to kill it, but won’t go near it. One day, Pecola comes in to ask him to give her blue eyes. He lies to her and tells her that she will have blue eyes if she gives meat to the dog. The meat had been poisoned, so that the dog would die without Soaphead having to go near it. Pecola runs away when the dog dies. Soaphead writes a letter to god, in which he reveals that he still feels rejected by Velma, and that he is a pedophile. He brags that he granted Pecolas wish, since she will think she has blue eyes and that is just the same as having them. After he writes the letter, he looks at some his favorite trinkets and forgets that he was looking for sealing wax for his letter, and soon after falls asleep.
Who is Soaphead married to?from sparknotes.com
Soaphead married a woman named Velma, but she left him two months afterward. Next, he pursued the ministry but soon discovered that the profession was not right for him. He studied psychiatry and other social sciences, took different jobs, and finally came to Lorain. He rents a back room from an elderly lady named Bertha Reese, and his only hardship is her old dog, Bob, which disgusts him with its runny eyes. Soaphead buys poison to kill the dog but is too repulsed to go near it.
What is Soaphead Church's white strain?
A British Nobleman introduced the "white strain" into Soaphead Church's family in the early 1800's, leaving the child and his mother with a small sum of money before abandoning them.
Who does Soaphead Church marry?
At seventeen, Soaphead Church meets a woman named Velma, and marries. She is drawn to his meticulous habits and lack of humor, as she desires to introduce him to the pleasure and joy of life. After two months of marriage, however, Velma realizes that she will never change him, and leaves.
What is the story of soaphead church?
The narrator tells the history of Soaphead Church, a self-declared “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams” in Lorain’s black community. A light-skinned West Indian, he was raised in a family proud of its mixed blood. His family has always been academically and politically ambitious, and always corrupt. Family members have always tried to marry other light-skinned people, and, if unable to do so, they have married one another. Soaphead Church’s father was a sadistic schoolmaster and his half-Chinese mother died soon after he was born. Born Elihue Micah Whitcomb, Soaphead Church soon learned the art of self-deception and developed a fascination and revulsion for dirt and decay.
What did Soaphead do in Lorain?
Soaphead buys poison to kill the dog but is too repulsed to go near it.
Structure
The Bluest Eye is divided into four sections, each of which is named for a different season. (The novel begins with “Autumn” and ends with “Summer.”) The four sections are further divided into chapters. Most of the chapter titles are taken from the simulated text of a Dick and Jane reader.
Summary
Pecola’s story is told through the eyes of multiple narrators. The main narrator is Claudia MacTeer, a childhood friend with whom Pecola once lived. Claudia narrates from two different perspectives: the adult Claudia, who reflects on the events of 1940–41, and the nine-year-old Claudia, who observes the events as they happen.
Origin and analysis
Questions of race and gender are at the centre of The Bluest Eye. In a 2004 interview Morrison described her motivations to write the novel.
Form and style
The Bluest Eye is a work of tremendous emotional, cultural, and historical depth. Its passages are rich with allusions to Western history, media, literature, and religion. Morrison’s prose was experimental; it is lyrical and evocative and unmistakably typical of the writing style that became the hallmark of her later work.
Publication and reception
After several rejections, The Bluest Eye was published in the U.S. by Holt, Rinehart and Winston (later Holt McDougal) in 1970. Somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 first-edition copies were printed; Morrison had expected only about 400.
Legacy
Since its publication in 1970, there have been numerous attempts to ban The Bluest Eye from schools and libraries because of its depictions of sex, violence, racism, incest, and child molestation; it frequents the American Library Association’s list of banned and challenged books .
