CR #3 The Bluest Eye

“  ‘Did she tell you not to drop your drawers?.’  China asked. ‘Didn’t have none,’ said Marie. ‘Never saw a pair of drawers till I was fifteen, when I left Jackson and was doing day work in Cincinnati. My white lady gave me some old ones of hers. I thought they was some kind of stocking cap. I put in on my head when I dusted. When she saw me. She liked to fell out.’ Pg 54

The pathos expressed in this passage is extremely endearing and well placed. We learn more about these characters in these few sentences than in many other parts of the novel. We learn of Marie’s extreme poverty as a child and how she had to work in the homes of white people. Her mother was not even able to afford underwear for them which is an ironic allusion to her life as a prostitute. Marie goes through her entire adolescence without even knowing what a basic undergarment is, and only find outs when she is graced with the charity of a white woman’s hand me downs.