Pauline's "Blue Eyes"

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          Morrison's style includes many soft words that make the passages flow more smoothly and quietly. This lets even the most shocking portions seem less appalling and more like a dream. A single passage that illustrates Morrison's use of repetition, metaphors, and the logic to her character's actions is when Mrs. Breedlove starts to push away from her family. As Morrison puts it, "more and more she neglected her house, her children, her man--they were like the afterthoughts one has just before sleep, the early-morning and late-evening edges of her day, the dark edges that made the daily life with the Fishers lighter, more delicate, more lovely" (Morrison 127). The simple repetition of the word "my" shows that the house, kids, and Cholly belong to Mrs. Breedlove; she is deserting her life to serve the Fishers. The metaphor that Mrs. Breedlove's life at home is just the beginning and the very end of a day where nothing is happening determines that, to her, that time doesn't matter . The most important part of the day is the middle and all of that is spent at the Fishers; in including this the thoughts and feeling of Mrs. Breedlove towards her family situation is captured. To Pauline, working at the Fisher's home gives her everything she could want and it is equivalent to what Pecola believes that she will get if she has blue eyes. The diction in this sentence such as "lighter" and "lovely" leads to a fragile, soft feeling of the passage. However, the message of distaste towards her own possessions in the section reveals a unsettling situation.