Seasonal Symbolism in The Bluest Eye

Upon entering the house, Pecola is stunned by the beauty of everything. However, before she has a chance to look around, Junior urges her on to another room and throws a cat at her face. After seeing how kindly Pecola treats the cat, Junior throws it again, this time at a radiator. Just then, Geraldine opens the door: "She looked at Pecola. Saw the dirty torn dress, the plaits sticking out on her head, hair matted where the plaits had come undone, the muddy shoes with the wad of gum peeping out from between the cheap soles." (91-92).
             Through the season of winter, Morrison argues how Geraldine's perfectness is an illusion of reality. Before meeting Geraldine, Pecola had walked through the house and was fascinated by its beauty. However, once she met Geraldine, she saw that the prettiness of the house was just a cover. During the winter, society tends to think of the Earth as 'white', thus implying that the snow is the ground. Morrison uses Geraldine's 'mask of perfection' to break society's status quo. Thus she implies that the snow is actually a layer that covers the 'true face' of the Earth. This is because when snow falls, it covers the natural brown 'ugliness' of the Earth. We tend to think that a snow-covered world is pretty, but in reality, it is just a mask. If you dig hard enough, underneath the snow you will find that the dead grass and leaves are still there. .
             When we think of spring, we usually think of awakenings and new beginnings. After all, spring is when flowers begin to bloom and everything starts to grow again. We think that because of this, spring is supposed to be a joyful time of year. Morrison contradicts this idea by having a character be sexually assaulted. Contrary to the light, innocent happiness of spring, sexual assault has dark, ominous tone. The incident happens when a character named Mr. Henry sexually touches a girl named Frieda. Afterwards Frieda runs to her parents and tells them what happened.