Pauline Breedlove from the story “The Bluest Eyes” is a problematic character that suffers from a severe lack of self-esteem. Pauline’s problems stem from her time growing up isolated from her family. Pauline later develops a white supremacist ideology as she is susceptible to its influence. However, her pleasure of adjoining too white supremacist ideas would end up causing pain for her daughter Pecola Breedlove.
Pauline’s first instance of isolation is caused by her limp from her family. “Her general feeling of separateness and unworthiness she blamed on her foot. Restricted, as a child, to this cocoon of her family’s spinning, she cultivated quiet and private pleasures” (111). Pauline begins to blame her foot for her loneliness. However, she develops a passion for cleanliness and order. Her passion would soon progress into a cycle of misery in hopes of happiness. We see this through Pauline’s neglectful attitude towards her own family.
Pauline would grow up to be a maid for her a white family that she adores. She loved the respect that the family gave her for being a maid, yet refused to bring this attribute to her own family.“Pauline kept this order, this beauty, for herself, a private world, and never introduced it into her storefront, or to her children” (128). We can understand Pauline is absorbed by this idea of white supremacy and wishfulness to being included in the white family she works with. Her obsession with whiteness would be permeated on to her daughter. The difference between how she takes care of both households alone develops a twisted psychology for Pecola.
Another moment of pleasure for Pauline would be when she tried to look like Jean Harlow. Pauline even said, “White men taking such good care of they women, and they all dressed up in big clean houses with the bathtubs right in the same room with the toilet. Them pictures gave me a lot of pleasure, but it made coming home hard, and looking at Cholly hard” (123). We see Pauline’s family suffer from her white ideology even though it gives her momentary pleasure. Especially, when Pauline hits rock bottom when she loses her tooth. Her resentment towards her black family magnifies and grows. I believe this is one of the reasons she finds black people to be “ugly”. Pauline goes on to say, “But I knowed she was ugly. Head full of pretty hair, but Lord she was ugly” (126). Pauline’s white ideology affects her view of her newborn baby Pecola. In Pauline’s point of view witness and people who look like Jean Harlow is considered beautiful, while people that look like her are not. Which creates a hostile living environment for Pecola.
Pauline Breedlove grows up isolated and self-loathing which coincides with the racist ideology of the country at the time. Pauline’s behavior resembles a dysfunctional character that suffers from a severe lack of self-esteem. Pauline’s development into a white supremacist only exemplifies the problem between her family as she is susceptible to its influence. Which ends up causing pain for her daughter Pecola Breedlove.
