Cholly’s Dysfunctional Childhood and Gender Relations in The Bluest Eye
Cholly being neglected, ignored and abandoned by his parents among other things resulted in his dysfunctional childhood; in other words, he had no sense of home and family. He had no older man with authority, power or strength (father figure) with whom he can identify with on a deeply psychological level and he could model after; he also had no person he could look up to or an example to imitate like a role model. All these made it clearer on his incompetence on fatherhood.
Cholly’s mother abandoned Cholly on a trash heap when he was four days old, but his Great Aunt Jimmy came to his aid. Thereafter, Cholly’s mum ran away. Aunt Jimmy took great pleasure in taking care…show more content… Jake gave Cholly a rolled cigarette but when Cholly is unable to light it, he tossed it to the ground. He felt a need to prove himself and impress Jake, Cholly took Jake to where girls are; “Even from a young age, Cholly understands that women are a means to gain power and prove his masculinity” (Florman and Kestler). Gender relations are presented in this novel as men and women’s relationships are generally portrayed negative. The girls argue about petty and trivial matters as they react to the boys’ presence; the way the girls' conversation changes in the presence of the boys demonstrates the power of male presence over women (Florman and Kestler). Jake coerces a girl named, Suky to take a walk with him which she agreed. Then, Cholly persuaded another girl, Darlene, “Come on ’long. We just going down to the gully.” (Morrison). The coercing and persuasion from Jake and Cholly, instead of asking them politely, shows the power males have over females. Eventually, Cholly and Darlene had sex. After a while, “It had occurred to him that Darlene might be pregnant. It was a wildly irrational, completely uninformed idea, but the fear it produced was complete enough” (Morrison). He came to a resolution to run away even though he knew “it was wrong to run out on a pregnant girl, and recalled, with sympathy, that his father had done just that. Now he understood. He knew then what he must do—find his father”…show more content… His excitement showed his attraction to that lifestyle. “Samson's lack of compassion and complete lack of recognition for his son, and likewise, Cholly's inability to remember his mother's name, shows the deep absence of family in these men's' lives. Samson's final comment depicts the way he imagines the women in his life—as freeloaders attempting to take his money” (Florman and Kestler). Cholly was in shock after his interaction with his father, “in attempting to retain his masculinity by not bursting into tears, Cholly defecates in his pants” (Florman and Kestler). After this experience, he sleeps in doorways, sleeps with women, beat them and take care of them when he