Cholly Breedlove

The section on Cholly gives us a ton of insight into his background and how it framed his mindset. He was left on a trash heap at 4 days old and rescued by his Aunt Jimmy. He only knew love through his aunt and knew a father figure from his later coworker, Blue. He never realized the love he had until it was gone and he tried searching for his father. Having sex with Darlene and only receiving racism and hate from the white men that came along and watched them he learned to hate black women since he knew hating the white men would destroy him. He didn’t understand responsibility for the way he ran away from Darlene and his uncle after he thought he go her pregnant. He never understood how a baby was made at that young age so he panicked. He only knew loss after his father turned him away and he soiled himself. He didn’t understand the duties of a husband, father, and man. Once his father turned him away, he became a womanizer, woman beater, and murderer, throwing his life’s caution to the wind. He didn’t think he did anything wrong with the way he treated women until he met Pauline and he at first was a loving husband but soon felt trapped. He felt pride after she became pregnant but that didn’t last long. He did not know what to do with children or understand how to take care of anyone but his self so he took to drinking and beating Polly. Cholly did not understand what it meant to be a husband or father. By the end of the chapter, he ends up raping his own daughter in a drunken yet confused rage. He didn’t know how to approach her or talk to her normally and only understood sex. In his mind, he was wanting to be tender and loving but he treated her like his wife when they first met.