Characterization in The Bluest Eye Essay

Throughout the novel, The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison utilizes the characterization of both Pecola Breedlove, and her father, Cholly, to demonstrate how the scene in which Cholly rapes Pecola acts as a function of their existence together, and individually. Through combining the how of this instance with both the background stories of Pecola and Cholly, Morrison implicitly delivers the why behind it.

Initially, Morrison introduces Pecola Breedlove as a young, submissive girl living with little to no self-esteem. During the Autumn segment of the novel, the reader encounters several instances that illustrate Pecolas submissiveness; for instance, when several boys at Pecolas school surround her and taunt her with racial slurs, Pecola merely drops her notebook and attempts to escape the situation, leaving Claudia and Frieda as her main defense. Subsequently, Pecola uses the same tactic in dealing with a violent, late-night quarrel between her mother and father. Instead of stepping in or ignoring the fight, Pecolas escapist mechanism engages, in which she concentrates on losing herself, body part by body part until she believes she has escaped. Through these two escapes, Morrison establishes a pattern in Pecolas behavior; that is, when conflict arises, Pecola never makes the first action or establishes any sort of obvious defense. However, Morrison creates the character of Cholly Breedlove, Pecolas father, as a confrontational, violent man. Morrison first introduces Chollys violent tendencies through his fight with Pauline, the same fight from which Pecola tries to vanish. Through a sequence of brutal physical acts, Cholly establishes his direct dominance over Pauline, and his indirect dominance over the rest of his family. Additionally, in the segment of the novel narrated by Cholly, Morrison identifies Chollys childhood as the reason behind his views toward violence and sex; moreover, Cholly becomes convinced that the act of sex is the highest gesture of love he can bestow upon another human being. So, when Pecola exhibits behaviors similar to those Pauline exhibited in their initial meeting, Cholly realizes, for the first time, his innate love for Pecola; and, since Cholly equates sex with love, he decides to show his love for Pecola by having sex with her, the only way he knows how to show his love. And, due to Pecolas weakness in defending herself without the aid of others, Pecola subserviently allows her father his act of love. Morrison concludes the novel with the declaration that love is never any better than the lover; this statement rings true for Cholly, as his love for Pecola is directly in his character as a violent, sexual being.