The Bluest Eye: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

An unnamed narrator introduces Soaphead Church, a self proclaimed "misanthrope", who hates people and find's the human body ugly and filthy. The closest he gets to human relationships is by collecting the items they have touched, used, and thrown away. In the community, Soaphead Church is a failed preacher turned caseworker, declaring himself a "reader, adviser, and interpreter of dreams." He enjoys the job because it allows him to witness human stupidity and build a sense of his own meticulous self-righteousness by witnessing human decay. His life is strictly regimented, balanced, and tightly structured, but his stability is thrown off by his sexual desire. Because he hates the human body with such passion, he directs his sexual desires toward children, as he finds their bodies the less offensive than those of adults.

Soaphead Church is a cinnamon-eyed West Indian man with light brown skin. His family is proud of their academic accomplishments and white heritage. A British Nobleman introduced the "white strain" into Soaphead Church's family in the early 1800's, leaving the child and his mother with a small sum of money before abandoning them. The child becomes a man who is obsessed with his white heritage and instills this obsession in his progeny. With the feeling of superiority that stems from their white ancestry, the family members do well in school. They go into medicine, law, and theology, gaining prestigious positions, but abusing their power to exploit "the less gifted" in the process. Members of the family are encouraged to marry others with light skin, and those who cannot find a light skinned partner marry within the family.

Soaphead Church was born as Elihue Micah Whitcomb, the son of a schoolmaster and a half-Chinese mother who died shortly after childbirth. As a child, Soaphead Church reads voraciously, immersing himself in the works of writers who considered themselves misanthropes, but instead of expanding intellectually and morally through literature, he interprets the texts in ways that suit his own views. His father's violence and strict discipline force him to develop rigid habits and a hatred of disorder and decay.

At seventeen, Soaphead Church meets a woman named Velma, and marries. She is drawn to his meticulous habits and lack of humor, as she desires to introduce him to the pleasure and joy of life. After two months of marriage, however, Velma realizes that she will never change him, and leaves. Soaphead returns to his father and focuses on his studies to avoid the pain of being abandoned by his wife. He decides to join the ministry, but after he is told that he has no calling, he leaves for the United States. He studies psychology, sociology, and physical therapy, until his father eventually refuses to support anymore him until he "finds himself". Eventually, Soaphead Church moves to Lorain, Ohio, and claims that he is a preacher. The community is impressed by the way he speaks English and the women believe he is a supernatural figure because of his celibacy. They give him the name Soaphead Church, and he assumes the identity they provide for him.

Soaphead Church moves in with a woman named Bertha Reese. He doesn't mind living with her because she is clean, quiet, and orderly, but he hates her dog, Bob. Because of the dog's uncleanliness, Soaphead Church wishes Bob would hurry up and die. He considers his wish humane because the dog is old, but he never considers that his own comfort may be the source of the wish. He buys poison to kill the dog, but is unable to go through with killing it because he can't bear the thought of going near the dirty animal.

Soaphead Church begins counseling community members who come to him for advice. They bring their maladies, concerns, and wishes to him, asking for help. Because of the sad nature of those who came to him for help, Soaphead Church becomes aware that something is wrong with the world and blames it on God for designing an imperfect universe. He believes he could have done a better job than God.

One day Pecola knocks on Soaphead's door. She comes into his house, holding her hands over her pregnant stomach. When he asks Pecola what he can do for her, she asks if he can give her blue eyes. He tells Pecola that she must make an offering to nature. He goes into his icebox and pulls out some meat, and then he poisons it and tells Pecola to give it to the dog, Bob, sleeping on the front porch. He says that if the dog behaves strangely, God has heard her prayer. Pecola gives the poisoned meat to the dog, which promptly kills the animal. Terrified by the sight of the dying dog, Pecola runs home.

After Pecola runs away, Soaphead Church sits down at his night table and writes a letter to God. In his letter he expresses his feelings in his own words. He writes about how Velma left him just as one leaves a hotel room. He writes that no one cares about a hotel room, and leaves easily once it is no longer needed. He writes about his desire for young girls, and blames God for allowing his desire to stray from God toward little girls. He blames God for not answering the prayers of little girls, and forcing them to come to him for help. He finishes the letter by telling God that he has given Pecola blue eyes because God had refused to do it himself, although nobody would be able to see them but her.