In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison narrates a story where its characters, such as Pecola, face hardships from their community and their own families. By recounting the individual experiences of characters such as Cholly, it becomes clearer where this shame stems from. Specifically, Cholly’s shame was internalized when he was discovered making love to Darlene by the white hunters, which transformed his feelings of love to shame and hatred, which he inflicted on Darlene. This shame was directed onto other women in his life, such as Pecola, which serves as a driving force for the story.
“Sullen, irritable, he cultivated his hatred of Darlene. Never did he once consider directing his hatred toward the hunters. Such an emotion would have destroyed him. They were big, white, armed men. He was small, black, helpless. His subconscious knew what his conscious mind did not guess—that hating them would have consumed him, burned him up like a piece of soft coal, leaving only flakes of ash and a question mark of smoke.” (Morrison 150)
