How the History of Slavery Influenced the Characters of The Bluest Eye
Unlike so many pieces of American literature that involve and examine the history of slavery and the years of intensely-entrenched racism that ensued, the overall plot of the novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, does not necessarily involve slavery directly, but rather examines the aftermath by delving into African-American self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye who are African American are dominated by the endless culturally-imposed concepts of white beauty and cleanness to an extent where the characters have a destructive way of latently acting out their own feelings of self-hatred on others, especially other African-Americans.
Toni Morrison’s novel focuses more on the complex and ultimately profound depiction of the effects of racism by emphasizing how self-loathing destroys the African-American characters, instead of making the storyline about specific events that center around racism and the grave history of slavery alone. One example from the novel is how the narrator describes the Breedlove family as ugly, “You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious and all-knowing master had given each one of them a cloak of ugliness to wear and they had each accepted it without question” (Morrison 39). This excerpt from
Food and appetite is a relatable experience for everyone. Many believe food is strictly just for enjoying while you eat, however within Toni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eyes” she makes many distinct references to food. Through these means, she creates each individual personality of the characters. She goes on to use this association for most food references within her novel. The result enables the reader to have a more relatable experience with each of her characters regardless of color. Overall, these food and appetites references allow the reader to have a more hands-on approach and bring about a greater understanding of her character 's mentality while helping to disregard racial associations.
Toni Morrison, the author of The Bluest Eye, centers her novel around two things: beauty and wealth in their relation to race and a brutal rape of a young girl by her father. Morrison explores and exposes these themes in relation to the underlying factors of black society: racism and sexism. Every character has a problem to deal with and it involves racism and/or sexism. Whether the characters are the victim or the aggressor, they can do nothing about their problem or condition, especially when concerning gender and race. Morrison's characters are clearly at the mercy of preconceived notions maintained by society. Because of these preconceived notions, the racism found in The Bluest Eye is not whites against blacks. Morrison writes about
Toni Morrison is a nobel prize winning novelist, professor, and editor. Her work is centralized and known for its themes. Her storylines are recognized for surrounding various obstacles african americans had to deal with in the early 1900s. One of her most popular novels is The Bluest Eye. Throughout this novel, Toni Morrison introduces characters whom suffered with various problems. Some of these which include feelings of being inferior, ugly, dirty, etc due to white standards. In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, she portrays how African Americans suffered with self hatred. Alongside questioning their beauty this caused a disturbance in their childhood which lead to: alcoholism, domestic violence, incest, and finally insanity.
In the novel, “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison the unorthodox structure and undermining content inspired and continues to inspire controversy. Morrison’s creative narrative approach addresses many issues of racism and identity. Through the course of the novel some vulgar subjects are also introduced, such as incest and pedophilia. In the book the point of view founded by the characters following their upsetting lives helps portray the theme of battling internal conflicts formed through extended metaphors and horrible societal circumstances.
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, is a story about the life of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who is growing up during post World War I. She prays for the bluest eyes, which will “make her beautiful” and in turn make her accepted by her family and peers. The major issue in the book, the idea of ugliness, was the belief that “blackness” was not valuable or beautiful. This view, handed down to them at birth, was a cultural hindrance to the black race.
In the novel The Bluest Eye, author Toni Morrison uses the internalization of beauty standards and its effect on characters’ social interactions with the community to reveal society’s assumption that appearance is the decisive factor in determining one’s status and critique its detrimental effect on one’s personal identity.
A standard of beauty is established by the society in which a person lives and then supported by its members in the community. In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, we are given an extensive understanding of how whiteness is the standard of beauty through messages throughout the novel that whiteness is superior. Morrison emphasizes how this ideality distorts the minds and lives of African-American women and children. He emphasizes that in order for African-American women to survive in a white racist society, they must love their own race. The theme of race and that white skin is more beautiful is portrayed through the lives and stories told by the characters in the novel, especially the three girls Claudia, Pecola and Frieda. Through the struggles these characters have endured, Morrison shows us the destructive effect of this internalized idea of white beauty on the individual and on society.
In the novel The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison confirms the existence of racism within the African American community. Unbelievably, many African Americans suffer from what is termed internalized racism. Internalized racism produces the same effect as racial racism: feelings of worthlessness, inferiority, and unattractiveness. In addition, the effect can produce the opposite feelings: superiority, hatred, and feelings of self-worth. Pecola, an 11-year-old black girl, desires to have the physical characteristics of a white person, namely blue eyes. Polly, Pecola’s mother, prefers the white culture living rather than her own. The feelings that the black race experience stem from the programming of a racist society to think that the white race is better. As a result, African Americans long to be white or look white. This consumption of whiteness represents internalized racism.
Social class is a major theme in the book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison is saying that there are dysfunctional families in every social class, though people only think of it in the lower class. Toni Morrison was also stating that people also use social class to separate themselves from others and apart from race; social class is one thing Pauline and Geraldine admire.Claudia, Pecola, and Frieda are affected by not only their own social status, but others social status too - for example Geraldine and Maureen Peal. Characters in the book use their social class as another reason for being ugly. Readers are reminded of the theme every time a new character enters into the book.
When people are growing up they are considered as being the most vulnerable. This is the part of life where they absorb negativity like sponges, if exposed to it, and the seeds of how they will react to it are planted. The Bluest Eye is a book by Toni Morrison, which attacks what and who is considered beautiful and “good”. Therefore, it is a book that opens a conversation about the effects white people have had on the United States on black Americans. Through examining the relationships black characters have with white ones, the audience is exposed to how much of an effect the white population has had on black Americans.
One of the most prominent themes found in Toni Morrison’s acutely tragic novel The Bluest Eye is the transferal or redirection of emotions in an effort on the part of the characters to make pain bearable. The most obvious manifestation of that is the existence of race hatred for one’s own race that pervades the story; nearly every character that the narrator spends time with feels at some point a self-loathing as a result of the racism present in 1941 American society. The characters, particularly the adults, have become bitter and hate themselves because of the powerlessness they feel in the situation. They transfer the anger and hatred onto themselves, or at times the others around them, because they
Unlike so many works in the American literature that deal directly with the legacy of slavery and the years of deeply-embedded racism that followed, the general storyline of Toni Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye”, does not engage directly with such events but rather explores the lingering effects by exploring and commenting on black self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in ”The Bluest Eye”, by Toni Morrison who are African American are consumed with the constant culturally-imposed notions of white beauty, cleanliness, and sanitation to the point where they have disengaged with themselves and have a disastrous tendency to subconsciously act out their feelings of self-loathing on other members of the black community. This is accomplished by offering readers multiple examples of this through the viewpoint-shifting narration of events and revelations that led to tremendous character complexity, as suggested in this literary analysis of “The Bluest Eye”, Toni Morrison is ultimately engaging her readers in a dialogue about how these characters (not to mention readers themselves) can overcome these hindrances to having a healthy relationship with self-images and interpersonal relationships. In presenting the various modes of escape and retreat into hollow notions of whiteness, Morrison demonstrates how this is a damaging way to work through so many years of being abject and objectified. However, as suggested in this
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison starts with a pessimistic beginning. The reader is introduced to Pecola and her condition. Pecola’s family is dysfunctional, with her parents constantly verbally and physically assaulting each other. During one of those altercations, Pecola whispers into the palm of her hand, “Please, God”, “please make me disappear” (Morrison 45). Trying to disappear and failing because of her eyes, “she could never get her eyes to disappear. So, what was the point? They were everything.” (Morrison 45). For Pecola eyes were everything, because everything she saw was in them, the pictures the faces. She believed that because of her ugliness there was no point in running away because she will remain looking as herself. She has
Toni Morrison is known for her use of poetic language. In many of her writings Morrison captures the pursuit of African Americans identities(Parnell). Considering Morrison never experienced the horrific tragedies she writes about, she is a witness to many identities that were destroyed by society depiction of them. The themes that Toni Morrison illustrates in her works Beloved and The Bluest Eye demonstrates how Toni Morrison works show individuals struggling with self-shattered identities that stem from society 's distorted expectations of them.
Do you know what she came for? Blue eyes. New, blue eyes, She said. Like she was buying shoes. "I'd like a pair of new blue eyes." (Morrison) What would you expect from a girl trying to fit it in a society that has inconsiderable beauty standards most of which she does not poses? Toni Morrison tells a tragic tale of a black girl Pecola Breedlove living in a white-dominated society in the period after the great depression. Pecola innocently longs to be accepted in this world. However, she is subject to scrutiny on every possible instance even from her own family. The poor girl has to cope with verbal and physical abuse both at home and in school. Often, she was the center of rude jokes concerning her dark skin among her peers. Worse still, her father molested her severally and impregnated her. Despite the intense rejection, Pecola believed that a pair of blue eyes would change her destiny. This paper will draw a literary analysis to examine how the Toni Morrison uses themes, motif, and symbols to enhance the plot and build on the perception of race and beauty in the book "The Bluest Eyes."