The Bluest Eye Summer: I have only to break...

I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer...

Claudia remembers summer days and what happened during the summer of 1941. She and her sister, Frieda were going to sell the seeds of marigolds and save the money to buy a bicycle. However, from going house to house, the girls overheard gossip going around the town. It was there that they learned that their best friend, Pecola was raped by her father, Cholly, and that she was pregnant. Claudia and Frieda are overwhelmed with pity and grief for Pecola and want to do something to ensure the health of both Pecola and her baby. Claudia especially wants the baby to be healthy because she needs this baby to counteract the opinion that black people are ugly.

"I thought about the baby that everyone wanted dead, and saw it very clearly. It was in a dark, wet place, its head covered with O's of wool, the black face holding, like nickels, two clean black eyes, the flared nose, kissing-thick lips, and the living, breathing silk of black skin. No synthetic yellow bangs suspended over marble-blue eyes, no pinched nose and bowline mouth. More strongly than my fondness for Pecola, I felt a need for someone to want the black baby to live - just to counteract the universal love of white baby dolls, Shirley Temples, and Maureen Peals." pg. 190

Topic Tracking: Beauty 9
Topic Tracking: Culture 9

Claudia and Frieda decided that they would bury the money they had earned so far from the sale of the seeds, and also bury the remainder of the seeds. They prayed and promised they would be good for a month. And finally, they said that if the seeds came up and bloomed, then that was a sign that everything would be all right for Pecola and her baby.