ironment. This metaphor calls attention to the importance of nurture and environment for these young children, especially during these formative years of childhood. Like flowers, we depend on our environment for sustenance, so in turn, Pecola Breedlove, Soaphead Church, and Louis, Jr., inherit the legacy of self-loathing and Claudia and Frieda MacTeer inherit the legacy of self-worth.The mother/daughter relationship between Mrs. MacTeer and her two daughters, Claudia and Frieda, is loving and strong. They are taught their own self-worth through their mothers strength and example, although this love isnt fully appreciated by the girls until they are older. During Claudias illness, she is treated with a mixture of concern and anger. Although Claudia is scolded and her mother complains of cleaning her vomit, at the same time her mother is nursing her, giving her medicine, and checking on her throughout the night. Claudia discovers later that her mothers anger is not directed at her, but at the world, as she must raise her black family in a world ruled by white culture. She protects her children and equips them for survival in a hostile environment. The Dick and Jane primer in The Bluest Eye reminds us of the persuasiveness of the happy, middle-America myth of the perfect family, which, of course, did not exist in black culture. Although they are good parents, the MacTeers whip their children, complain about burdens and barely make ends meet, exploding the Dick and Jane myth. They dont measure self-worth by symbols of domestic white culture and accept their difference as a given, not a deprivation. Mrs. MacTeer takes in Pecola, put out on the streets when her father burns down her house, even though its a strain on their finances. As a temporary mother figure in Pecola Breedloves life, Mrs. MacTeer bestows on Pecola the care and intimacy that she has never before and never again will receive. She is loved and accepted for the f...
