Why does Pauline beat Pecola?
Pauline constructs her identity based on the movies she watches, her devotion to Christianity, and her role as breadwinner of the family. She beats Pecola when she learns of Cholly's rape of her.
How is Pauline a martyr The Bluest Eye?
Throughout the novel, Pauline feels humiliated by her broken tooth and lame leg and seems to consider these losses to be in service to something else. She enjoys seeing herself as a martyr, giving up her own happiness and beauty for her family and then resenting them for such a loss.
Why does Pauline stay with Cholly?
Of the few constant things in this world, Pauline knows that Cholly will behave today as he had before, she knows that she will hate him for it, and she will never leave him because he still makes her feel whole.
Who are the characters in The Bluest Eye?
Pecola BreedloveClaudia MacTeerSam BreedloveCholly BreedlovePauline BreedloveThe Bluest Eye/Characters
How does Pauline treat Pecola?
Pauline abuses Pecola when she accidentally spills the cobbler all over the floor of the Fishers' kitchen, Junior tricks her into his house for the sole purpose of tormenting her, Geraldine hurts Pecola's feelings when she throws Pecola out of her house and calls her "black," as if to insult her, and Mr.
Who is the villain in The Bluest Eye?
Cholly BreedloveCholly Breedlove Cholly is cowardly and abusive. His actions all point to him as the novel's antagonist: he begins seeking an escape from his family as soon as Pauline gives birth to Sammy; he hits Pauline; he tries to set the house on fire; and he rapes his young daughter.
What does Pauline become at the end of her last narrated chapter?
By the end of the book Pauline has changed her name to Sister Leopolda and has left to teach in a Catholic school.
Why did Pecola go crazy?
Pecola, a little black girl who thirsts for a pair of blue eyes, finally goes mad because of her never achieved wish. She can only live in her fantasy, persuading herself that she has a pair of beautiful blue eyes. She believes that only when she has a pair of blue eyes can she be loved.
What is Pauline's physical deformity?
We learn that when Pauline (a.k.a. Mrs. Breedlove) was 2 years old and living in Alabama, she stepped on a nail, leaving her foot limp and crooked. Pauline had 10 brothers and sisters, and she always felt that her physical deformity left her anonymous in the family.
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.
Does 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.
Why was the book The Bluest Eye banned?
Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
What happens when Pauline tries to help Fleur give birth?
She goes into labor, Bernadette coaching her through, but Pauline realizes that she doesn't want to let the child go because she'll be lonelier without her.
Who dies for Pecola blue eyes?
She has an old dog with runny eyes that Soaphead hates. He buys poison to kill the dog but can't get up the courage to do it. One day, Pecola visits and asks Soaphead to give her blue eyes.
Who gets pregnant in The Bluest Eye?
PecolaClaudia recounts some of the things she associates with one particular summer: strawberries, sudden thunderstorms, and gossip about her friend Pecola. Through fragments of gossip, Claudia and Frieda learn that Pecola is pregnant and that the baby's father is Pecola's own father.
Who burned down the house in The Bluest Eye?
MacTeer and her daughters, Frieda and Claudia — stretches to include two new people: Mr. Henry, who moves in after his landlady, Della Jones, becomes incapacitated from a stroke, and Pecola Breedlove, whom the county places in their home after Pecola's father, Cholly, burns down the family house.
What is the character's name in the bluest eye?
Pauline Breedlove Character Timeline in The Bluest Eye. The timeline below shows where the character Pauline Breedlove appears in The Bluest Eye. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. On a Saturday morning in October, Mrs. Breedlove awakes to a cold house.
What does Pauline become dependent on?
In her loneliness, Pauline becomes more dependent on Cholly. He begins to resent her for clinging to him, and... (full context)
Why does Pauline see herself as a martyr?
She views herself as a martyr because she stays with Cholly, who is verbally and physically abusive. Pauline constructs her identity based on the movies she watches, her devotion to Christianity, and her role as breadwinner of the family.
What happens to Pauline when she turns fifteen?
When she turns fifteen, Pauline loses her passion she once felt for her duties around the house. She becomes restless... (full context)
Who did Pauline give birth to?
Pauline gives birth to a baby boy, Samuel, but discovering the first baby did not fill... (full context) When Pecola is born, Pauline is surprised because she doesn't look the way she had imagined her during the pregnancy... (full context) Pauline finds a new sense of purpose in becoming a mother.
Who comes back to the bedroom and attempts to wake Cholly?
Eventually, Mrs. Breedlove comes back into the bedroom and attempts to wake Cholly. She tells him the stove... (full context)
Who is Pecola's mother?
Pauline Breedlove. Pecola's mother, also known as Polly and Mrs. Breedlove. Pauline has a disabled foot. She believes she is ugly, and has always blamed her foot for her ugliness and the neglect she experiences as a child. When she later loses a front tooth, her self-perceived ugliness intensifies.
Why is Frieda more vulnerable to her community’s equation of whiteness with beauty?
Because she is closer to adolescence, Frieda is more vulnerable to her community’s equation of whiteness with beauty. Frieda is more knowledgeable about the adult world and sometimes braver than Claudia.
What does Pecola's mother believe about her?
Pecola’s mother, who believes that she is ugly; this belief has made her lonely and cold. She has a deformed foot and sees herself as the martyr of a terrible marriage. She finds meaning not in her own family but in romantic movies and in her work caring for a well-to-do white family.
How old is Claudia MacTeer?
An independent and strong-minded nine-year-old, Claudia is a fighter and rebels against adults’ tyranny over children and against the black community’s idealization of white beauty standards. She has not yet learned the self-hatred that plagues her peers. Read an in-depth analysis of Claudia MacTeer.
How old is Pecola Breedlove?
Pecola Breedlove. The protagonist of the novel, an eleven-year-old black girl who believes that she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful. Sensitive and delicate, she passively suffers the abuse of her mother, father, and classmates. She is lonely and imaginative.
Who is Geraldine from the South?
A light skinned black woman from the south, Geraldine considers herself and her family superior to other black families. She keeps her house immaculately clean and is obsessed with the physical appearance of her home… read analysis of Geraldine
What is Maureen Peal's dream child?
A "high yellow dream child", as Claudia calls her, Maureen is a mulatto girl from a wealthy family. She moves to Loraine in the winter, interrupting the tedium of the long winter months. She wears… read analysis of Maureen Peal.
How old is Claudia MacTeer?
Claudia MacTeer. The narrator of parts of the novel, Claudia is a strong-willed and passionate nine-year-old black girl. Still young, Claudia has not experienced overt racism and violence to the extent many of the novel's other characters… read analysis of Claudia MacTeer.
What is Geraldine's son's name?
He feels ownership of the school playground across the street from his house, and forces other children to play with him. He… read analysis of Louis Junior
Who is Rosemary Villanucci?
Rosemary Villanucci. Claudia and Frieda's next-door neighbor, Rosemary is white and comes from a family with more wealth than the MacTeers. Rosemary antagonizes the MacTeer girls, and tries to get them in trouble, sometimes provoking them to beat her up in the process. Aunt Jimmy.
Who does Frieda MacTeer love?
Frieda loves Shirley Temple and other white actresses , sharing the community's belief that whiteness is the paragon of beauty and… read analysis of Frieda MacTeer.
Who is Pecola's mother?
Pecola's mother, also known as Polly and Mrs. Breedlove. Pauline has a disabled foot. She believes she is ugly, and has always blamed her foot for her ugliness and the neglect she experiences as a… read analysis of Pauline Breedlove
Who is Cholly's aunt?
Aunt Jimmy A kind, generous, earthy woman, she rescues and raises Cholly Breedlove. Oftentimes in the South, an aunt is referred to by her husband's name — for example, Aunt Ed or Aunt Earl; it's possible that Cholly's great aunt was once married to a man named Jimmy.
Why is Maureen Peal so hated?
Maureen Peal Claudia and Frieda refer to her as "Meringue Pie"; she is both hated and admired because of her beautiful clothes, light skin, long hair, and green eyes. Chicken and Pie Pauline Breedlove's twin siblings, who were under her care before she married Cholly Breedlove.
How old is Claudia MacTeer?
Claudia MacTeer One of the novel's narrators; Claudia's childhood memories begin each of the chapters titled Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Claudia is about nine years old when the events of the novel take place. Frieda MacTeer Claudia's older sister, about ten years old.
Why is Hattie Della's sister the object of gossip?
Hattie Della's sister and the object of gossip because of her absentminded grinning.
Who raised Cholly Breedlove?
Cholly was raised by his great aunt, called Aunt Jimmy. As an adult, Cholly is frequently drunk, and he is abusive to his wife and children. Sammy Breedlove Sammy is the son of Pauline and Cholly Breedlove and the brother of Pecola.
Who is Frieda MacTeer's sister?
Frieda MacTeer Claudia's older sister, about ten years old. Frieda and Claudia share a childhood friendship with Pecola Breedlove. Mrs. MacTeer Claudia and Frieda's mother. Pauline Breedlove When she was two years old, she stepped on a rusty nail and afterward walked with a characteristic limp. She is a diligent housekeeper for a wealthy white ...
What is M'Dear known for?
M'Dear A respected midwife, she is known for her knowledge of herbal medicine.
