Theme Of Empathy In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

In life, judgment is quick and easy while empathy takes time and effort. In Toni Morrison 's book, The Bluest Eye, we learn the value of investing the time and effort necessary to understanding the complex history behind Cholly Breedlove 's reprehensible actions. Although this understanding cannot lead us to forgiveness of such cruelty, it can perhaps lead us to empathy. Empathy has the transformative power to remove bitterness from rage and to help us understand horrific crimes like rape and murder. When we develop empathic understanding, we open ourselves up to a world in which nobody is unreachable. We acquire the ability to see ourselves and all of humanity within the complex, intergenerational dynamics that inform all of our goodness …show more content…
While we are rightly horrified by Cholly’s actions in The Bluest Eye, particularly by his victimization of his daughter and the trauma she suffers as a result, empathy allows us to identify with Cholly and to imagine what his life must have been like and the desperation he must have experienced to drive him to commit such horrendous acts. As we explore Cholly’s history and what it all means, we both condemn his behavior and understand how he arrived a place where he could commit such acts. This is the depth of …show more content…
This abandonment exemplifies four of the five categories of psychological abuse identified by Hart et al. and would have lifelong consequences for Cholly Breedlove. Childhood psychological abuse is predictive of depression, anxiety (Brier and Runtz 338), low self-esteem (Gross and Keller 175), post-traumatic stress symptoms (Spertus et al. 1251), and difficulties with interpersonal relationships in adults (Varia and Abidin 1049), all of which we witness in the life of