The Bluest Eye: Tough Love at the Heart of Color As humans, we aspire to many things : comfort, success, money, beauty, but among all, our core revolves around love. A child is born and is innocent, and as that child grows through their experiences, love fuels their way of surviving. How can we, as humans, deal with survival? Furthermore, how can a powerless black girl survive in an era that does not consider her important or beautiful? Understanding that survival is a skill set and that love comes in many different forms is evident in the characters of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. We then speak of moments of “tough love,” where emotional survival mixes with the perceptive qualities possessed by the little girls in this book. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Throughout the chapters, there are underlying metaphorical references to the seasons. In “autumn” we first meet the daughters Claudia and Frieda. They are constantly made to feel like they are different from other little girls. Early on, there is a scene where a white neighbor, Rosemary, taunts Frieda and Claudia from their Buick. Morrison makes it very clear in this case that there is an automatic sense of entitlement, this representing the decade and white privilege. The girls recognize this arrogance and imagine in their heads how they would treat Rosemary if she got out of the car. This shows the reader that it can be assumed that Claudia and her family are poor and “different” from the other little girls, so different, that they are made fun of. It's not mentioned yet, but this moment in particular sets the stage for the rest of the novel regarding the standard of white beauty and white privilege. This storyline also tells the reader to read from the perspective of a little black girl and sets the tone for a beautifully tragic story (Morrison 9). The first example of "tough love" in the book is when Claudia becomes ill after collecting coal in the cold. Her mother seems to be angry with her for being sick, although Claudia does not initially understand that she is not angry with her, but with her illness. Claudia feels guilty for being sick, as if it were her fault, and begins to cry. Her mother, despite her faulty nature, takes care of Claudia, and Frieda, Claudia's sister, sings her to put her to sleep. “So when I think of fall, I think of someone with hands who doesn't want me to die (Morrison 12).” These words are true to the meaning of tough love from mother to daughter. Mrs. MacTeer is bothered by Claudia's illness, but her maternal instinct is to care for her immediately by wrapping her in blankets and placing her in bed. This is why Claudia understands that her mother does not want her to die and that her sister is also there in case of need. The strength and importance of family is emphasized throughout the novel (“The LitCharts”). Pecola Breedlove is a little black girl also introduced into the MacTeer household. Forced to leave her home, Pecola is naturally attracted to Claudia and Frieda. One morning, Mrs. MacTeer assumes that the girls are "playing dirty", as Rosemary describes it, and beats Frieda, under the impression that they are exploring their bodies inappropriately. This moment is important. Pecola has started her period and the girls have some idea of ​​what it is, but they are afraid of what Mrs. MacTeer (or anyone else for that matter) will do if they are seen. The moment when Pecola begins her period is a physical and literal metaphor for entering thewoman's life. The idea of ​​something as big as getting your period is pretty impactful, but the fact that Pecola is a young black girl makes the experience even more frightening and intimidating. Morrison clearly highlights this moment by putting the reader in Pecola's shoes. Frightened, Frieda explains her definition of what Pecola is going through as "doing ministry" (menstruation), and offers to help her by taking her to the corner from the street and instructing Claudia to clean Pecola's blood from the steps which flowed under her dress. Once Mrs. MacTeer realizes what is really happening, Morrison writes, “Her eyes were desolate” (Morrison 31). These moments in the fall mean worries that revolve around certain individual reactions. The reader can tell that not only is Frieda trying to help Pecola by removing her from the stoop, but she is trying to protect her from fear of her mother's reaction. Mrs. MacTeer initially assumes that what Rosemary says is true, and once she realizes that her assumption was wrong, she does not apologize, but says with her eyes that she is sorry for the misunderstanding. There is a continuous and subtle sense of empathy throughout the novel that implies that many characters are sorry, but they don't know how to convey that message by simply saying it, and there are also times when "sorry" is not enough. When “winter” appears, the reader discovers a new type of character. Maureen is a light-skinned girl from a wealthy family. After school, Pecola is teased and fights with a group of boys who discriminate against her because of her "blackness." Upon arrival, Claudia and Frieda try to help Pecola, but the boys continue to fight with the girls until Maureen appears. Maureen helps Pecola up and the boys leave the group alone because they don't want to fight around Maureen. This is because boys consider Maureen exotic and beautiful. Because Maureen is light-skinned and comes from money, she is automatically considered accomplished and pretty. Although Claudia hates Maureen mainly because of her skin, the girls have a moment of unity helping Pecola out of the fight before arguing. It is important to note this moment as tough love because it is not a traditional act of love, but the girls recognize that Maureen is human enough to help Pecola up and not give in to continually taunting her like the boys. There is a small moment of pity and reflection on Pecola in this instance, where Maureen recognizes that she is similar in some ways to Pecola, in that she is also a little black girl. Maureen then suggests going to get some ice cream which somehow breaks the silence of the situation (Morrison 68). In previous chapters, the reader has seen Pecola's mother, Mrs. Breedlove (aka Pauline), cold, strict, and turned away from her own daughter. In “Spring,” the reader learns the story of Mrs. Breedlove, where she herself, as a child, was ignored and neglected. She was taught as a teenager that she was ugly because she had a slight limp after impaling her foot on a nail when she was two. Throughout her story, as Pauline advances in life, her family continues to neglect her and she is left to her own devices to maintain her sanity. She fantasizes about a god or a lover to come and fill her gaps in life and ends up finding Cholly. At first they are happy together, but once Pauline becomes pregnant with Pecola (their second child), her relationship with Cholly evolves into an abusive roller coaster. Morrison illustrates Pauline's past so that the reader can understand where she comes from and why she is the way she is. Later, after Pecola's birth, Pauline describes how.