Toni Morrison's book, "The Bluest Eye," is not a book for the lighthearted. The book contains the emotions of sadness, depression, yearning, anger, and hatred of one's own body. These feelings manifest themselves in the characters of this book, forcing many of these characters to the brink of their own sanity. The father, mother, and daughter of the Breedlove family unknowingly suffer from many different psychological disorders, which would have easily been treated today. Psychological or mental disorders can be can be defined as having abnormal behavior, thoughts, or patterns of thoughts and behavior. For the family known as the Breedlove, the mental abnormalities they possessed drove the family members to their unfortunate demise.
Cholly, the father of the Breedlove family, is known for his drinking and starting fights with his wife, Pauline. Cholly's mother tried to abandon him when he was still an infant, but was taken in by his Great Aunt Jimmy, who rescued him and beat his mother for trying to leave him. When trying to gather information about his mother, Cholly's Aunt Jimmy let slip, "that his mother wasn't right in the head," (pg. 132), foreshadowing the possibility Cholly may have inherited his mother's mental instability. Later, in Cholly's adolescent years, Cholly experienced a type of sexual abuse, which then led to his unpleasant adulthood. While becoming sexually intimate with a girl named Darlene, two white men came upon them and forced Cholly to continue having sex with Darlene while they watched. Instead of turning his hatred towards the two men, Cholly felt anger towards Darlene, even though she was a victim. When the men left, Cholly's thoughts turned violent towards Darlene, "Cholly raised himself and in silence buttoned his trousers. Darlene did not move. Cholly wanted to strangle her, but instead he touched her leg with his foot," (pg. 149). .
It is evident the sexual abuse Cholly experienced in his younger years left an unbearable feeling of anger which causes Cholly to lash out at his wife.
