In Two or Three Things I know for Sure, Dorothy Allison compares violence to sexuality, similarly to The Bluest Eye,by Toni Morrison. Dorothy compares the relief of releasing anger to the relief of an orgasm. She states that “his fear was sexual and marvelous-hateful and scary but wonderful, like orgasm, like waiting a whole lifetime and finally coming (Allison 47)”. Meaning that violence is similar to sex in that it has a build, a plateau and then a climax, similar to sex.Toni Morrison also compares the two in a similar fashion when Cholly rapes Pecola. She demonstrates a connection between the hatred he felt mixed with tenderness while he was committing the violent act. After Cholly rapes Pecola and stands back up, Morrison mentions that”the hatred would not let him pick her up, the tenderness forced him to cover her (Morrison 163)”. He was conflicted with the hatred and anger he felt towards Pecola(and women) for loving him, his desire and his need to be “tender” and protective.
Dorothy Allison and Toni Morrison both speak of sex as a very empty, painful, and violent experience. Their use of molestation and the rape of Dorothy as a child and teen and the rape of Pecola are both similar.Both novels talk about the ruining of childhood because of the rape and relates it to sexuality by how it altered the characters perspective about sex, and especially love;how it’s suppose to feel and what it is really like.
