This document summarizes key events and themes in Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye, Part 3. It outlines plot details from chapters 9-11, including Pecola asking Soaphead Church for blue eyes, Frieda and Claudia learning of Pecola's pregnancy, and Pecola's descent into madness believing she has blue eyes. The summary also lists themes of the novel like whiteness as the standard of beauty and how race and class impact one's social position. Discussion questions are presented about Soaphead Church's role, the neighborhood's reaction to Pecola's pregnancy, and how Pecola's belief in her blue eyes relates to themes.

1. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye Part 3
A presentation by
SungHyeog Park, Jackie Scher, and
Dylan Fowler

2. Plot Summary
Spring: Chapter 9
•This chapter tells the story of Soaphead Church, a “Reader,
Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams” in Lorain
•He is a master in the art of deception and a pedophile
•Pecola comes to ask him for blue eyes
•He is touched by the request but knows he cannot help her but
tells her to give secretly poisoned meat to the dog, and if he
reacts, her wish will come true
•He writes an incoherent letter to God bragging that although he
did not literally give Pecola blue eyes she will believe she has
them

3. Plot Summary
Summer: Chapter 10
•Frieda and Claudia are selling marigolds to earn money for a
new bicycle
•When they go into homes for a cold drink, they overhear adults
talking about Pecola and start to piece together her story
•Pecola is pregnant with her father’s child and Cholly has run
away
•None of the adults seem to feel sorry for Pecola and some even
blame her and think it might be best for the unborn baby to die
•Claudia wants Pecola’s baby to live
•Claudia and Frieda decide to help Pecola by sacrificing their
seed money and planting the rest of the marigolds

4. Plot Summary
Summer: Chapter 11
•The chapter starts out with a discussion between Pecola and
her imaginary friend talking about her blue eyes
•She loves her new blue eyes and believes everyone is jealous of
them
•They also talk about Cholly, and Pecola denies that he raped her
and gets angry talking about it
•Claudia and Pecola feel like failures because their flowers never
grew and Pecola’s baby dies
•Pecola’s ugliness allowed all the other to believe they were
beautiful
•And they avoid Pecola because they feel they have failed her

5. Key Words
• West Indian: A term used in reference to the
Caribbean
• Misanthrope: A person who has a general hatred
towards the human species
• Imbibe: 1.To consume alcohol 2. to assimilate

6. Themes
• Whiteness as the Standard of Beauty
• The Ways Race and Class affect positions in
Society
• Sex and Love
• Perception vs. How One is Perceived

7. Discussion Questions
• Why does Morrison choose to include the story
of Soaphead Church in this novel?
• How does the neighborhood, as a whole, react
when they hear that Cholly impregnated Pecola?
Why do they respond that way?
• At the end of the novel, Pecola believes that she
finally has blue eyes. How does her response to
her perceived blue eyes further the already
established themes in the novel?