Topic > The front tooth and my foot

Pauline Breedlove would be quite the sight. This minor character in Tony Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye has a missing front tooth and a severe limp that seem to mirror his empty and distorted home life. When looking at the novel from a Freudian perspective, Pauline's repressions and obsessions stand out. The reader learns a lot about this mother of two halfway through the book, when the narrative is interrupted and Tony Morrison takes a look at Pauline's life and story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Morrison sums up Pauline's feelings toward her physical imperfections by writing, "The end of her lovely beginning was probably the cavity in one of her front" teeth. However, he always preferred to think about the foot” (110). It seems that Pauline constantly repressed the difficult fact that her face, her smile, her presented identity were distorted. The logic behind this choice was most likely her husband Cholly's different reaction to the two physical defects. The first time Cholly sees Pauline, “…she felt something tickling her foot…[Cholly] was bending down and tickling her broken foot and kissing her leg” (Morrison 115). Clearly, he could at least overlook the anomaly. But later, also regarding his lame foot, Morrison writes: “Instead of ignoring his infirmity, pretending it wasn't there, [Cholly] made it seem like something special and endearing. For the first time Pauline felt that her bad foot was an asset” (116). It is clear in these and other passages that Cholly never showed Pauline that he thought less of her because she had a lame foot. In fact, he even went to the other extreme and made her feel attractive. While Cholly is undoubtedly the villain of The Bluest Eye story, his loving treatment of this deformity demonstrates that Pauline, at least for a time, knew the understanding love of a husband. lame foot, Cholly is mean and teases Pauline about her missing front tooth. After this happens, Pauline still seems in shock over the loss and thinks, “I could have cried… I wanted my tooth back. Cholly teased me and we started arguing again” (Morrison 123). This unpleasant and aggressive reaction is more suited to Cholly's character. He is neither supportive of Pauline's pain nor sympathetic to her current situation. It is no wonder, when Cholly's reactions are taken into consideration, why Pauline chose to “always think about her foot” (110). Cholly's meanness leads Pauline rightfully to resent him. However, it seems that, although they frequently argue both verbally and physically, she is still unable to vent all her anger towards him. Unfortunately, as she represses the urge to express her bitterness towards Cholly, the fury seems to transfer to her children. “I loved them and all, but…sometimes I caught myself yelling at them and hitting them…[and] I couldn't stop” (Morrison 124). Sigmund Freud comments on the anger an older brother feels when a new child is born, but a similar principle could be applied to Pauline's life, where she may see her children as intruders into her marriage. Freud writes, “[this intrusion] activates a feeling of aversion towards these newcomers and an unhesitating desire to get rid of them again” (Adams 755). Although Pauline's true hatred is for Cholly, she cannot direct it against him satisfactorily. Pauline's mental substitution of Pecola and Sammy for her husband helps lead the family down an incredibly destructive path. Morrison tells the.