The bluest eyeP

Pauline Breedlove is mother of Sammy and Pecola, wife to Cholly. She has a lame foot and a missing front tooth. She is harsh and abusive to her children. She lavishes her love on the Fishers, her generous white employers, while her own family falls apart. She and Cholly battle constantly. Although once she longed to have nicer things and romantic love, she settles into surviving through her work and being a martyr by staying with Cholly. She is religious in a vindictive and vengeful way, hoping that the Lord will help her in her war against Cholly. This speaks to the disintegration of the black family where blacks viewed as second class and are dominated by white culture.