Family in The Blues Eye

1554 Words7 Pages
One may claim that Toni Morrison espoused a paradoxical view of the family in The Bluest Eye, yet this incredible novel perpetuates the effect of self-loathing caused by an anguish-laden family to a child. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Morrison elaborates an extensive plot in which Pecola, the main character, is attributed with vast tragedies. She is beaten, abused, harassed, and is the victim of incest. This is clearly the result of an unfortunate, vagabond family, which is unable to provide her with essential family values. Moreover, Pecola’s misery is forced upon her through the corruption of her family. The corruption of the Breedloves ultimately proves to be damaging to Pecola. Throughout the novel, Pecola is abused and violated. The most profound reason for this is her family. Initially, Morrison describes how the family is marred with corruption. Firstly, Morrison picks apart the Breedlove’s economic condition, stating that they lived in “an abandoned store on the southeast corner of Broadway and Thirty-Fifth Street in Lorain, Ohio…it foists itself on the eye of the passerby in a manner that is both irritating and melancholy.” (Morrison 33).The fact that the Breedlove lived in an abandoned store, which is an eyesore, demonstrates that the Breedlove are very poor. Moreover, Morrison continues by stating how a sofa ruined the atmosphere at the Breedlove’s home. “And the joylessness stank, pervading everything. The stink of it kept you from painting the beaverboard walls; from getting a matching piece of material for the chair; even from sewing up the split, which became a gash which became a gaping chasm…” (Morrison 36) .She also states that the only living thing in the apartment was the stove and that the Breedlove’s were essentially dead and had no hope or future. “The only living thing in the Breedlove’s house was the coal stove, which lived
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