How Does Cholly Breedlove Cause Psychological Damage

Imagine being born into a world where you are destined to fail. In this world, you are neglected by both your parents and harassed by people who are socially more powerful than you. This can arguably cause psychological damage on those who experience these events.The idea of psychological damage is explored in Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye. Cholly Breedlove is a father and husband that experiences events that cause psychological damage. Furthermore, Morrison develops Cholly Breedlove as a psychologically damaged character. Cholly Breedlove’s psychological damage is exposed through his treatment of women. S Growing up he did not have the best experience with women and this affected him psychologically. For example, “When Cholly was four days old, his mother wrapped him in two blankets and one newspaper and placed him by a junk heap on a railroad.” This shows that Cholly was abandoned by his mother at an early age. Mothers tend to love their children unconditionally, but he grew up without knowing what it was like be loved unconditionally by the most important women in a young man’s life. He also grew up without a role model and not knowing how to express his feelings of love. Therefore,

When he was losing virginity to Darlene, two white men interrupted the event and humiliated Cholly, “Cholly, moving faster, looked at Darlene. He hated her. He almost wished he could do it—hard, long, and painfully, he hated her so much.” This is damaging because Cholly’s first chance to experience love is crushed. The first time a person engages in sexual intercourse should be special, but Cholly has his first time shattered. Instead of hating the white men who humiliated him, he revolves his hatred towards Darlene because she is socially less powerful than him. This reveals that Cholly has no one but women to blame for the humiliation he has endured. Thus, Cholly is psychologically