The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye is a novel by Toni Morrison which details a summer in the life of a young black girl in Lorain, Ohio named Pecola. The story is told from four perspectives, Pecola's, her friend's, Soaphead Church, and her parents'. Because of the controversial nature of the book, dealing with racism and child molestation, there have been numerous attempts to ban it.

Characters

• Pecola Breedlove- She is a poor black girl who believes she is ugly because she and her community base their ideals of beauty on "whiteness". She is the main character in the novel. The title of the novel "The Bluest Eye" is based on Pecola's fervent wishes for beautiful blue eyes.
• Cholly Breedlove- Pecola's abusive father; an alcoholic man who rapes his daughter. Rejected by his father and discarded by his mother at a young age, Cholly was raised by a surrogate mother "Aunt Jimmy". After she dies, Cholly runs away and pursues the life of a "free man", yet he is never able to escape his painful past, nor can he live with the mistakes of his present.
• Pauline Breedlove- Pecola's mother. Mrs. Breedlove is married to Cholly and lives the self-righteous life of a martyr - enduring her drunkard husband and raising her two awkward children as best she can. Mrs. Breedlove herself is a bit of an outcast with her broken limp leg and her Southern background. Mrs. Breedlove lives the life of a lonely and isolated character always escaping into a world of dreams, hopes and fantasy.
• Sam Breedlove- Pecola's younger brother. Sammy is Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove's one son. Sam's part in the novel is relatively low key. Like his sister Pecola, he is affected by the disharmony in their home and deals with his anger by running away and escaping into the world.
• Claudia MacTeer- Much of the novel is told from the perspective of Claudia and in this sense, she is the primary narrator in the book. Claudia is Pecola's friend and the younger sister of Frieda MacTeer. The MacTeer family serves as a foil for the Breedloves, and although both families are poor, Mr. and Mrs. MacTeer are strict but loving parents towards their children - a sharp contrast to the disfunctional home of the Breedloves.
• Frieda MacTeer- Claudia's older sister and close companion. The two MacTeer girls are often seen together and whilst the story is told through Claudia's eyes, her sister Frieda plays a large role in the novel.
• Henry Washington-