Cholly Breedlove

Rape: noun

1. the unlawful compelling of a woman through physical force or duress to have sexual
intercourse.
2. any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.

“This most masculine act of aggression becomes feminized in my language, “passive,”

and , I think more accurately repellent when deprived of the male “glamour of shame”
rape is (or once was) routinely given.”

Toni Morrison

Task 1
Re read the episode where Cholly is humiliated by the white men (page 115 – 118).

Discuss the following points in your group

 How does Morrison convey the horror of what is happening to Cholly/Darlene?
 What satisfaction do the white men get from this episode?
 Try to account for Cholly’s response to Darlene after the event.
 To what extent might this contribute to our understanding of the man he later
becomes?
 What event/events does this foreshadow?
 Discuss issues of power in this episode.
 Look particularly closely at Cholly’s response to the white men on page 118. Why
might hating the white men have “destroyed” him?
 To what extent does this chapter represent Cholly’s “rape”?

Finally how do you as a reader view Cholly after this episode? Why do you think that
Morrison includes this before the rape of Pecola? Your ideas should be firmly
grounded in evidence from the text.

Task 2
Annotate in detail the rape of Pecola (page 127 – 129). Highlight for any striking
language features you find.

With Morrison’s quote above, consider to what extent Morrison brings out the horror of
the event through “feminized” language. How do you as a reader respond? What
techniques/lexical choices does Morrison employ to gain her effects?
Consider this as commentary. What would you talk about?

Guiding Question –

1.Discuss Cholly’s character and his view of himself at this point in the
story

2.What ways does Morrison picture Pecola’s vulnerability and

innocence?

Opening of commentary

1.Start – name/candidate number.

2. Locate it in the text

This is towards the end of novel when …….

3. Also consider what has just happened in the text and/or what is about to occur. You
could consider parallel scenes within your text too. Link this perhaps to the writer’s
intention/purpose.

Morrison has structured this section of the text in a certain way to make the reader see the
link between this scene and Cholly’s …..

Her intention is to…..

The scenes are used as a parallel……

The reader is aware of Pecola’s role as a victim……

4. Consider how the piece has moved between the first and last line and why this is
significant to the text/extract as a whole.

The beginning and end focuses on Pecola – ‘Her small back’ and ‘the pain between her
legs’ . The reader is drawn

Section 2 of your commentary

5. If you have not already done so address one of the guiding questions . You could
explain your approach e.g.

My commentary will initially focus on how Morrison presents Cholly within this extract
through her use of language.

Feel free to signpost at intervals during the extract.

6. For today – locate 6 points where you make a comment on the gq and use of language
e.g.

Point 1 –

the use of the term ‘reeling drunk’ is instantly ominous as the reader knows that Cholly is
violent and unpredictable when intoxicated( shows candidate has knowledge of the text
and their use of language is sophisticated) . Morrison chooses to use the possessive
pronoun ( use of literary terms/technical terms) ‘his’ in ‘his daughter’ to emphasise the
link between him and Pecola ( explains usage of language). This adds to the horror of
what is about to happen to this child of 11( links to rest of text).