Rape is inaccurately associated with sex when it essentially is about power. Feminist theorists assert that rape is only one symptom of the larger problem of a male dominated society (Cahill, 2001). Rape is an obnoxious fact of life due to its common occurrence and is commonly misinterpreted as a sexual act rather than a violent one. The act of rape does not occur because the rapist can’t “get sex elsewhere, but because they feel entitled to rape women in order to satisfy their needs. In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, sex is about power, violence and oppression. Sexual occurrences in the book are particularly forceful and humiliating, leaving a lasting effect of devastation on the novel’s characters sense of self. These effects can be observed from Freida thinking she is ruined after Mr. Henry assaults her to Pecola becoming insane after her own father rapes her through the novel. Rape can be associated with one’s need to …show more content…
Their anger and shame along with their past sexual failures lead them to doing horrendous acts. For instance Cholly’s first sexual intercourse with Darlene, which he is forced to continue having sex with her under the order of men with guns, leaves him humiliated and enraged which later turns into hatred towards the opposite sex. Cholly’s hatred and shame later results in raping and impregnating his own daughter Pecola. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey in 2012 for %80 of juvenile victims, the perpetrator was a parent. Every child thinks their father is invincible, so what happens when this invincible god-like figure of a child sexually assaults them one day to feel empowered? Most of them never recover from the horrible incident just like Pecola being driven insane after her father Cholly rapes him for the second time. Cholly’s trauma causes him to destroy Pecola mentally and transfers his curse to her as a result of his