In The Bluest Eye, the sections are organized according to season rather than chapters. In Spring we get a glimpse into Pecola's mother and father's history and relationship together and how their childhood experiences helped shaped who they presently were. We also begin to see Frieda forcibly coming into to her sexuality, it being started by Henry touching her chest. The way the family handles it is good and they place full accountability on Henry rather than victim blame Freida, but the motif of purity shows up again when they are suggested to take her to the doctor to see if she is "ruined". The fact that Freida and Cluadia misunderstand and comprehend these actions at the same time further solidifies the child perspective that Morrison writes this in, the fact that Freida knows it's wrong but doesn't exactly know why. Polly's backstory deals with her need to be wanted/accepted by others especially in the passage when her and Cholly move North and she is ostracized by the other women. She claims that if she had "new clothes" she would be more accepted, this and the chipping of her tooth further portray the ongoing fight the female characters have to line up with the beauty standards of that time, though unlike Pecola she doesn't damn her blackness. Cholly's abandonment and rejection of his father permanently damage his character to the point of where he has some redeeming qualities,but he is capable of a complete 180 in his morals, for example loving his wife to beating her and raping Pecola. We are also introduced to Soaphead Church, he was briefly mentioned at the beginning of spring, another pedophile.
1.Are the women/girls in the chapter seen as 'other' or hypersexualized, give evidence.
2. Why do you think Cholly gets angry at darlene instead of the white hunters? Do you think this event affects how he treats other women/girls.
3. Polly calls says she knew the baby was 'ugly' when Pecola is born, do you think it comes from anti blackness or something else?
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