Pecola's Family Life

    Pecola already deals with many problems in society and has to deal with the discrimination against her looks, but her family doesn’t provide any support or solace for her either. Her father, Cholly is an alcoholic who clearly does not care very much about his family, and he even raped Pecola. He is not the supportive father that values his connections with his children and wife that is much more common in today’s society, and it is apparent from the fights he gets into with Pauline and his family’s attitude towards him. His son was yelling for Pauline to kill Cholly when they were engaged in one of their fights. Cholly doesn’t seem to help out around the house or provide any support for his children. He goes out looking for work but always comes back drunk. When he returns, he refuses to retrieve coal for the fire which puts his family at risk of getting sick and freezing. It seems like Pecola finds more comfort with the prostitutes that live close to her than she does with her family. She doesn’t quite understand what they do for a living, but they tolerate her, and this is all that matters to her. They are people that she can talk to that aren’t completely uninterested in her because of her appearance. Eventually, Pecola moves in with Frieda and Claudia because of the instability within her family. This is good for her because she finally gets to experience what it is like to live with a normal functioning family. Frieda and Claudia form a genuine connection with her as sisters would and their mother provides a steady supply of food and a safe house to live in. Pecola’s family life is difficult, but Frieda and Claudia provide a nice temporary alternative.