Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye Part 3

A presentation by

SungHyeog Park, Jackie Scher, and Dylan Fowler

Plot SummarySpring: Chapter 9•This chapter tells the story of Soaphead Church, a “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams” in Lorain•He is a master in the art of deception and a pedophile•Pecola comes to ask him for blue eyes•He is touched by the request but knows he cannot help her but tells her to give secretly poisoned meat to the dog, and if he reacts, her wish will come true•He writes an incoherent letter to God bragging that although he did not literally give Pecola blue eyes she will believe she has them

Plot Summary

Summer: Chapter 10•Frieda and Claudia are selling marigolds to earn money for a new bicycle•When they go into homes for a cold drink, they overhear adults talking about Pecola and start to piece together her story•Pecola is pregnant with her father’s child and Cholly has run away•None of the adults seem to feel sorry for Pecola and some even blame her and think it might be best for the unborn baby to die•Claudia wants Pecola’s baby to live•Claudia and Frieda decide to help Pecola by sacrificing their seed money and planting the rest of the marigolds

Plot SummarySummer: Chapter 11•The chapter starts out with a discussion between Pecola and her imaginary friend talking about her blue eyes•She loves her new blue eyes and believes everyone is jealous of them•They also talk about Cholly, and Pecola denies that he raped her and gets angry talking about it•Claudia and Pecola feel like failures because their flowers never grew and Pecola’s baby dies•Pecola’s ugliness allowed all the other to believe they were beautiful•And they avoid Pecola because they feel they have failed her

Key Words

• West Indian: A term used in reference to the Caribbean

• Misanthrope: A person who has a general hatred towards the human species

• Imbibe: 1.To consume alcohol 2. to assimilate

Themes

• Whiteness as the Standard of Beauty• The Ways Race and Class affect positions in

Society• Sex and Love• Perception vs. How One is Perceived

Discussion Questions• Why does Morrison choose to include the story

of Soaphead Church in this novel?

• How does the neighborhood, as a whole, react when they hear that Cholly impregnated Pecola? Why do they respond that way?

• At the end of the novel, Pecola believes that she finally has blue eyes. How does her response to her perceived blue eyes further the already established themes in the novel?