Halloween and Pauline

This year I continued my tradition of carving an intricate pumpkin for Halloween. It takes a while and is usually pretty labor intensive. This year it took about two hours and I really only got to enjoy it for the 10 minutes before we took it outside. (I couldn't enjoy it outside because it was too cold.) Though the comparison is arguable, the situation is similar to that of Pauline in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. She must endure a substantial amount of adversity with few moments of satisfaction to remain with Cholly: "He sure ain't give me much of a life...Only thing I miss sometimes is that rainbow"(Morrison 129-131). Her "rainbow," as much of a sexual innuendo as it is, gives her satisfaction. To me, the look of the pumpkin and knowledge that I made it are worth the effort. To Pauline, the small satisfaction she gets and her self-declaration as a martyr convince her that the relationship she has with Cholly is worthwhile. Though it may seem unthinkable that those motives could be worth all of the fighting, poverty, and emotional pain, the use of Pauline's viewpoint reveals her reasoning. Her past of isolation and the fantasies she had as a teen make her current life with Cholly preferable to the inconsistencies of the rest of the world. Despite the taxing nature of her relationship, Pauline remains with Cholly because of her unique mindset.

No, this is not from the Internet.