Bluest Eye
At the end of chapter 8 in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the reader is reminded of a graphic scene that was mentioned on the first page of the book between a father and his daughter. In this chapter, Cholly comes home very drunk and rapes his daughter, Pecola. While almost all of Morrison’s readers cannot understand, at the beginning of the book, how a man could impregnate his own daughter, they later start to grasp at why Cholly could do such a thing because of his past. Tragically, Cholly is capable of raping his own daughter because of the madness and affection that is built up inside of him.
Cholly’s extremely abnormal childhood gives the reader some explanation for why he raped his own daughter. As a child, Cholly grew up without parents. Cholly lived with his Great Aunt Jimmy as a young boy until she died. After she died, Cholly runs away and lives freely but cannot escape his painful past. In the novel, Morrison writes, “He was free to live his fantasies, and free even to die, the how and the when of which held no interest for him. In those days, Cholly was truly free. Abandoned in a junk heap by his mother, rejected for a crap game by his father, there was nothing more to lose. He was alone with his own perceptions and appetites, and they alone interested him” (Morrison 160). Cholly impregnated his own daughter because of the anger inside of him but also because of his lack of morals. Cholly grew up to be an alcoholic and an abusive man because of the anger directed at his parents. More importantly, Cholly is capable of raping his own daughter because of his lack of morals. Because Cholly grew up without parents, he was never taught the difference between right and wrong and therefore had to create his own perceptions of what is accepted. However, while anger and lack of morals are very important explanations to Cholly’s decision making, they are not the only ones. Cholly is also capable of having intercourse with his own daughter because of the
Cholly’s extremely abnormal childhood gives the reader some explanation for why he raped his own daughter. As a child, Cholly grew up without parents. Cholly lived with his Great Aunt Jimmy as a young boy until she died. After she died, Cholly runs away and lives freely but cannot escape his painful past. In the novel, Morrison writes, “He was free to live his fantasies, and free even to die, the how and the when of which held no interest for him. In those days, Cholly was truly free. Abandoned in a junk heap by his mother, rejected for a crap game by his father, there was nothing more to lose. He was alone with his own perceptions and appetites, and they alone interested him” (Morrison 160). Cholly impregnated his own daughter because of the anger inside of him but also because of his lack of morals. Cholly grew up to be an alcoholic and an abusive man because of the anger directed at his parents. More importantly, Cholly is capable of raping his own daughter because of his lack of morals. Because Cholly grew up without parents, he was never taught the difference between right and wrong and therefore had to create his own perceptions of what is accepted. However, while anger and lack of morals are very important explanations to Cholly’s decision making, they are not the only ones. Cholly is also capable of having intercourse with his own daughter because of the