As Frye explains, “oppression can be hard to see and recognize” when it is easy to miss “seeing the structure as a whole” (39). In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, the main character Pecola Breedlove evidently lives with-and suffers through-the consequences of her oppressive society. However, like caged birds, Frieda and Claudia MacTeer also fall victim to oppression as a result of the hostile and broken environments they are bred into, restricting them from ‘flying’ and blooming into pristine, young women.
In the chapter signifying the beginning of Spring, Morrison demonstrates how both of the MacTeer sisters are subconsciously subjected to oppression, in each of the sisters’ respective ways. At the start of the chapter, Claudia remembers …show more content…
After finding her sister crying in bed, she instinctively asks, “Did you get a whipping?” ( Morrison 98). When Frieda informs her that she hasn’t, Claudia immediately retorts, “Then why are you crying?” This moment with her sister shows the oblivion Claudia faces to the oppressive upbringing she has come to condone. To Claudia, she has come to believe that crying can only be the result of a beating while all other emotions aren’t-and shouldn’t be- capable of having crying result. This also in tum shows her parents’ emotional and, to an extent, physical, negligance towards her, because she is incapable of understanding that sorrow not only comes from the physical pain of a lashing, bu tas well as other mental and emotional pains that couldn’t be understood from her (oppresssed) mindset. This naive and distorted mindset is further shown when Frieda finally admits to being touched by Mr. Henry, embarrassed and “put-out” (Morrison 99) with her sister’s indifferent attitude. Instead of understanding Frieda’s distress-“I [Claudia] wasn’t asking the right questions” (Morrison 99)- Claudia persisted, asking “But wasn’t it supposed to? Feel good, I mean?” (Morrison 99). Claudia's assumption that sexual interaction always feels good suggests an innocence that Frieda no longer has Frieda’s broken state of mind further illustrates her own