How+does+the+collective+voice+of+society+impact+Pecola’s+relationship+with+the+black+community,+her+family+life,+her+friendships,+her+sexuality,+and+her+sanity?

In the context of __The Bluest Eye__, society's collective belief that "white is beauty" seems to dictate the community's treatment of Pecola. Pauline's actions reflect those of the white community at large. Similar to Pecola, Pauline is lonely and escapes this solitude through her imagination. Pauline establishes a desire to become a member of the "white" community and achieves this by placing her energy on work in the Fisher's house and taking care of the Fisher's daughter. It seems that Pauline's preoccupation with her new "white" life and her values of "whiteness" and beauty have caused her to express a certain level of ironic racism towards Pecola since Pecola is black. While it is widely believed, from the famous Martin Luther King Jr's example of historical success, that he black community is a united front, Toni Morrison's insight and Cholly's actions reveal otherwise. Cholly is shown to be incapable of expressing fatherly love due to his dark past. As an adult, Cholly seems to take out his anger on his family, and eventually transfers his abuse to Pecola. Here the abuse that exists within a common community is exemplified. Such abuse extends towards the broader society where Pecola is shunned and looked down upon for her ugliness, gender, and the abuse she has faced. Eventually, as the level of abuse becomes too much to bear, Pecola is forced to "escape" further than her dreams for blue eyes, into insanity. It seems that each community requires a Pecola-like figure in order to make its members feel superior. Already at the bottom of the social pyramid, there is no one that the black community can claim power over except for an ugly black girl like Pecola, who has all the qualities of an inferior character.