Check the value of character variable
Since you are using C strings (array of characters) instead of the C++ String class, you cannot use the == operator.

Instead, you can use the C style strcmp function, which is also part of the C++ library:

    #include &lt;string.h&gt;
       .
       .
       .

    if (!strcmp(frontOrBack,"front")) {
        digitalWrite(frontEyes, LOW);}//end if   
    else if (!strcmp(frontOrBack,"back")) {
        digitalWrite(backEyes, LOW);}//end else*/
    }