Cholly's Family In The Novel, The Breedlove Family
Akeem Wynn
September 23, 2010
English 1A
In the novel, The Bluest Eye, the Breedlove family were the most frowned upon and talked about family due in part to Cholly, the patriarch’s, violence toward his family. He quarreled and physically fought his wife habitually, successfully burned down their house and even fathered a stillborn with his own daughter. Some characters in the novel say that Cholly is just a crazy old drunk who doesn’t care about anyone and, since he is the only one causing all of the drama in his family, should be the one to blame for the chaos. Yet, Cholly had a very rough childhood filled with fear, hatred, and abandonment. Also, his wife Polly’s behavior toward him may also play a huge part into his violent nature. The novel goes back into Cholly and Polly’s past to give readers a closer look at their backgrounds and to let the readers decide who or what is really to blame for the …show more content…
Both his mother and father abandoned him as an infant so his great Aunt Jimmy took care of him until she died when Cholly was only fourteen. It was at this age when Cholly faced some humiliating encounters. “When he was still very young, Cholly had been surprised in some bushes by two white men while he was newly but earnestly engaged in eliciting sexual pleasure from a little country girl.”(pg. 42) They not only surprised him, they shone a flashlight on him and stood there to watch him make love to the young girl. This experience must have been very traumatizing for Cholly because in order for him to let out his frustrations, he lashed out on his wife; “He poured out on her the sum of all his inarticulate fury and aborted desires.”(pg.42) Since the novel describes Cholly’s anger as “inarticulate’, it is revealing that Cholly has been harboring in his emotions for quite some time and never knew how to express his anger nonviolently. Therefore, blame can be put on this memory and Cholly
September 23, 2010
English 1A
In the novel, The Bluest Eye, the Breedlove family were the most frowned upon and talked about family due in part to Cholly, the patriarch’s, violence toward his family. He quarreled and physically fought his wife habitually, successfully burned down their house and even fathered a stillborn with his own daughter. Some characters in the novel say that Cholly is just a crazy old drunk who doesn’t care about anyone and, since he is the only one causing all of the drama in his family, should be the one to blame for the chaos. Yet, Cholly had a very rough childhood filled with fear, hatred, and abandonment. Also, his wife Polly’s behavior toward him may also play a huge part into his violent nature. The novel goes back into Cholly and Polly’s past to give readers a closer look at their backgrounds and to let the readers decide who or what is really to blame for the …show more content…
Both his mother and father abandoned him as an infant so his great Aunt Jimmy took care of him until she died when Cholly was only fourteen. It was at this age when Cholly faced some humiliating encounters. “When he was still very young, Cholly had been surprised in some bushes by two white men while he was newly but earnestly engaged in eliciting sexual pleasure from a little country girl.”(pg. 42) They not only surprised him, they shone a flashlight on him and stood there to watch him make love to the young girl. This experience must have been very traumatizing for Cholly because in order for him to let out his frustrations, he lashed out on his wife; “He poured out on her the sum of all his inarticulate fury and aborted desires.”(pg.42) Since the novel describes Cholly’s anger as “inarticulate’, it is revealing that Cholly has been harboring in his emotions for quite some time and never knew how to express his anger nonviolently. Therefore, blame can be put on this memory and Cholly