Quest for Personal Identity in The Bluest EyeA main theme of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is the quest for individual identity and the influences of family and the community in this quest. This theme is present throughout the novel and evident in many characters. Pecola Breedlove, Cholly Breedlove, and Pauline Breedlove are all embodiments of this search for identity, as well as symbols of the quest of many black people who were moving north in search of greater opportunities. The Breedlove family is a group of people under one roof, a family in name only. Cholly (the father) is a constantly drunk and violent man. His abusive ways are evident towards his wife Pauline physically and towards his daughter Pecola sexually. Pauline is a “mom” to a white family and continues to favor them over her biological family. Pecola is a little black girl with low self-esteem. The world has led her to believe that she is ugly and that the epitome of "beautiful" requires blue eyes. That's why every night she prays to wake up with blue eyes. Raised as a poor, unwanted girl, Pecola Breedlove desires acceptance and love from society. The image of the “beauty of Shirley Temple” surrounds him. In her mind, if she were to be beautiful, people would finally love and accept her. The idea that blue eyes are a necessity for beauty has been engraved in Pecola all her life. "If [I] looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would look different, and so would Mrs. Breedlove. Maybe they would say, 'Why look at Pecola with the pretty eyes. We must not do bad things in front of those pretty [blue] eyes'” (Morrison 46). Many people have contributed to imprinting this ideal of beauty on her. Mr. Yacowbski, as a symbol of the norms of the rest of society, treats her as if she were invisible. "He doesn't see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant trader... see a little black girl?" (Morrison 48). Her classmates also have an influence on her. They seem to think that because she's not beautiful, she's worthless except as a focal point of their mockery. "Black e mo. Black e mo. Yadaddsleepsnekked. Black e mo black e mo ya daddy sleeps naked.