The Bluest Eye 2/3

One of the things that stood out to me the most in the beginning of this section (and sent a chill up my spine) was the description of how some "particular brown girls" grew up and lived life -- how they learned "how to behave" (Morrison 82, 83). The idea of a kind of person being created by this society, a kind of person that thinks they have "to get rid of the funkiness" of "passion," "nature,"the funkiness of the wide range of human emotions" (83). The idea is a little terrifying and very sad to me, because in my opinion feelings emotions is one of the best things about being alive.

The innocence (however misplaced or misguided) that Claudia maintains even while being confronted with the news of Frieda's sexual assault is at such odds with the rest of the characters. She's "jealous of everything" in the childish way of not wanting to be left out, even saying, "I always miss stuff," when hearing about the commotion afterwards (100). The gravity of the situation doesn't truly hit her, but she still does her best to try to help Frieda; she tries suggesting ways for Frieda to maintain her state of being 'not ruined.' The way that she remains relatively untouched by the fear and horror surrounding her is touching in a way, when everybody (especially Pecola) is worn down by the world they live in. Pauline taught her children the fears of "being clumsy," "being like their father," "not being loved by God," and so on, and that sort of family environment for children growing up is possibly one of the worst that I can think of (and indeed, what Morrison was attempting to convey, going by her foreword) (128).