In Toni Morrison's graphic depiction of racism and psychological distress, The Bluest Eye, young Pecola Breedlove faces challenges far too great for someone her age to cope with. raise them. His constant internal battles with racism and personal hatred take a toll on his fragile childhood. Contrary to what one might initially believe, Pecola's parents seem to perpetuate these feelings instead of alleviating them. Morrison, through chapters solely devoted to the past lives of Pauline and Cholly Breedlove, allows the reader to gain in-depth insight into the situations and difficulties Pecola's parents faced growing up; In this way, it is clear that the domestic violence and social problems plaguing the Breedloves are completely cyclical. Because of these problems, it is inevitable that Pecola must in turn deal with not only her own societal problems, but also her parents' constant problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To fully understand the problems that relentlessly plague Pecola, one must first look at the life and times of her parents. His mother, Pauline, also had a less than perfect childhood. When she was a child, Pauline impaled her foot on a nail, causing her great physical and psychological suffering. The incident “saved her [Pauline] from total anonymity.” It is said that “the injury left her with a twisted, archless foot that collapsed when she walked…” (Morrison 110). Through her obstacles, Pauline learned interesting ways to stay busy and somewhat isolated from the outside world; one could potentially view these actions as a sort of coping mechanism. One of these methods included impeccable organization of objects by color, size, shape, and an array of other attributes. In doing so, Pauline unknowingly conveys a message to the reader about her life: she longs for order and structure to remedy the unusual circumstances she must face. The unfortunate event she faced as a child also motivates her as an adult. Interestingly, his adult career involves cleaning and keeping things tidy. As a housekeeper, her job is to maintain families' homes. When working in the homes of white families, Pauline is actually at her most comfortable. She ensures that everything in the house is as perfect as possible: "Mrs. Breedlove's skin shone like taffeta in the reflection of the white china, white woodwork, polished cabinets, and gleaming brass" (107). The incident involving the shoemaker is an excellent example of the abuse and neglect that Pecola must fight against daily: "In a gallop, she (Pauline) was on Pecola and with the back of her hand threw her to the ground" (109 ). It's clear that on Pecola's mother's side of the parenting equation, problems will surely arise in her life. The father part of this equation is just as troubling as the mother part, if not more so. The story of Cholly Breedlove's youth is one of abandonment, unhappiness, humiliation, and utter emotional chaos. When he was a baby, “his mother would wrap him in two blankets and a newspaper and place him in a trash heap near the railroad tracks” (132). After this incident, Cholly was raised by his Aunt Jimmy, whom he both loved and hated. Cholly was very affected by Aunt Jimmy's death. Like Pauline, her sense of organization and structure deteriorated after this.