Pauline is Pecola’s mom , and her character allows us to see how cultural conceptions of beauty can play themselves out in a more benign, though still unfortunate, form than in Pecola’s case. Pauline’s lame foot is a constant source of humiliation for her.
Who is Maureen in The Bluest Eye?
Maureen is a snobby, uppity light-skinned girl with money who is new to the neighborhood. Maureen comes to symbolize a different kind of black family – the upwardly mobile, light-skinned African-American family that disdains darker-skinned black people.
What nickname do the Fishers give Pauline?
Nevertheless, she is able to have “beauty, order, cleanliness and praise” at the Fishers’ home, which is something that her own family has apparently never given her. The Fishers appreciate her and their little daughter calls her “Polly” ; this familiarity and respect is what Pauline has always wanted.
What does pecola think will happen if she has blue eyes?
She believes that if she had blue eyes, their beauty would inspire beautiful and kindly behavior on the part of others . Pecola’s desire has its own logic even if it is naïve.
What does Mr Henry do in The Bluest Eye?
Mr. Henry is a boarder who rents a room in the MacTeer family household . He has a reputation for being soft-spoken and hard-working, although he has a secret, promiscuous side and a desire for young girls. He easily befriends Claudia and Frieda and earns their trust.
What happened to Pauline in The Bluest Eye?
Pauline then takes on her identity as martyr. She joins the church and becomes the family breadwinner , securing a job with the Fishers, a wealthy family who appreciate her good work. She loves her work because it allows her to make things beautiful and orderly. She begins to neglect her own house and family.
Why does Darlene hate Cholly?
We learn that Cholly hated Darlene only because his subconscious knew that directing his hatred towards the white men would have consumed him , and while having an explanation does not make the action any less inexcusable, we are told the emotions and thoughts that lead him to rape his own daugther.
How old is Pecola?
Pecola is the eleven-year-old black girl around whom the story revolves. She is abused by almost everyone in the novel and eventually suffers two traumatic rapes.
Who loves Pecola?
Cholly loves Pecola. Pecola creates an imaginary friend in order to have someone to love her.
Does Pecola actually 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 do blue eyes symbolize in The Bluest Eye?
Bluest Eye(s)
To Pecola, blue eyes symbolize the beauty and happiness that she associates with the white, middle-class world . They also come to symbolize her own blindness, for she gains blue eyes only at the cost of her sanity.
Who did Mr Henry touch in The Bluest Eye?
It turns out that Henry touched Frieda’s breasts. Frieda ran from the house to find her parents, who were in the garden, and told them what had happened. She returned with her parents to the house, but Henry was gone.
How does Mr Yacobowski see Pecola?
Yacobowski looks at Pecola, his eyes draw back , as if he sees right through her. Pecola notices a complete lack of human recognition in his eyes and recognizes it as a trait that exists in the eyes of all white people she’s encountered. She assumes Mr.
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.
Why was the book The Bluest Eye banned?
Reasons cited have included, “ sexually explicit material ,” “lots of graphic descriptions and lots of disturbing language,” and “an underlying socialist-communist agenda.” One complaint simply called it a “bad book.”
What does The Bluest Eye say about love?
Love is never any better than the lover . Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love.
