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Soaphead Church, born Elihue Whitcomb, is a sinister resident of Pecola’s neighborhood. He’s a light-skinned Caribbean man who markets himself as a dream interpreter and miracle worker. Along with Geraldine and Maureen Peal, he is one of several light-skinned Black characters in the novel who cling to cleanliness because they think it will separate them from their Blackness, ultimately demonstrating the damage that arises from denying the inherent messiness of being alive. His very nickname implies purity: soap for physical cleanliness and church for spiritual purity. However, he is one of the most twisted characters in the novel, a pedophile who lies to Pecola and tricks her into murdering Bob the dog. The novel dwells on his backstory to further illustrate how his obsession with cleanliness only leads to perversion. He’s from a mixed-race Caribbean family that is so obsessed with maintaining their lighter complexions that they allow for incestuous marriage between cousins. He drives away his wife, Velma, because he is repulsed by her sexual desires. Instead, he prefers to prey on children who, of course, do not desire him.
Metaphorically, Soaphead goes to extreme lengths to keep his hands clean of his evil doings. In his letter to God, we see how he twists the truth to uphold an appearance of innocence. He lies to himself about the cleanliness of his molestation of young girls because he bribes them with ice cream, making it an exchange. By preying on girls, not women, he expresses a desire for innocent girlhood over womanhood, which might have agency or appetite of its own. In addition, by tricking Pecola into killing Bob, he finds a way to rid himself of the dog he hates without having to dirty his hands with the actual deed. Finally, he twists the act of lying to and frightening Pecola into an act of charity that rivals the works of God. Because of his belief in the superiority of whiteness, which he associates with cleanliness and beauty, he believes that making Pecola believe her eyes are blue helps her feel closer to that cleanliness and goodness. In reality, he worsens her mental state, leaving her with an insatiable hunger to possess the bluest eyes.
