The Bluest Eyes By Toni Morrison

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.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison takes place in Ohio in the 1940s. The novel is written from the perspective of African Americans and how they view themselves. Focusing on identity, Morrison uses rhetorical devices such as imagery, dictation, and symbolism to help stress her point of view on identity. In the novel the author argues that society influences an individual's perception on beauty, which she supports through characters like Pecola and Mrs. Breedlove. Furthermore, the novel explains how society shapes an individual's character by instilling beauty expectations. Morrison is effective in relaying her message about the various impacts that society has on an individual's character through imagery, diction, and symbolism by showing that

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.

In the 1960s a second wave of feminism rushed through America; focused on dismantling barriers in the workplace and changing the image of the ‘ideal woman.’ However, many women of color were not included in the feminist movement. Toni Morrison recognizes the feminist issues concerning black women and “interrogates and deconstructs the long-held stereotypical images of black women” through characters in her book (Chick). Her portraits are complex and revealing in the way they go beyond the simple patriarchy. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison uses historical context to represent the ideals of beauty and the psychological effect it has on the adolescent mind. Growing up

The Bluest Eye is her first book which talks about a victimized adolescent Black girl who is obsessed by the White standards of beauty. In this novel, Morrison deals with Black women’s experience in America, their struggle for finding their personal as well as their cultural identities.

In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison brings to light the often unrecognized struggle that many people in the black community face. She exposes the “whitewashing” that has been prevalent in society for decades and the societal imposition of impossible beauty standards. Morrison uses the book to show us the psychological tolls on children and adults that stem from these unattainable goals. Children, like Pecola Breedlove, are so indoctrinated by society and the quest for superficial “perfection” that they lose sight of what truly matters. Those desires for superficial superiority even carry over into adulthood, as seen by Mrs. Breedlove’s “skin deep values.” The Bluest Eye even shows that anyone and everyone is affected by the desire to become perfect; even the Maurine Peals of the world have their own insecurities.

“To GO BACK to the original hunger was impossible. Luckily for Denver, looking was food enough to last…it was breaking through her own skin to a place where hunger hadn’t been discovered. It didn’t have to happen often, because beloved seldom looked right at her…Beloved rested cheek on knuckles and looked at Denver with attention. It was lovely…being pulled into view by the interested, uncritical eyes of the other…Denver’s skin… become soft and bright like the lisle dress.” (139). The hunger that Morrison presents is not the literal hunger that humans feel but the hunger for love and attention that Denver lacked all those years living in 124 with her mother Sethe. Denver has always felt lonely because no one would come to their house because

The Bluest Eye provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of black girls and women. Implicit messages that whiteness is superior are everywhere, including the white baby doll, the idealization of Shirley Temple, given to Claudia. The consensus that light skinned Maureen is cuter than the other black girls. The idealization of white beauty in the movies, and Pauline Breedlove’s preference for the little while girl she works for over her own daughter. Adult women, having learned to hate the blackness of their own bodies, take this hatred out on their children—Mrs. Breedlove shares the conviction that

During the 1940’s, Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye examines the life changing effects of imposing white, American ideals of beauty. The Bluest Eye was inspired by the conversation Morrison once had with an elementary school classmate who wished for the same blue eyes a light skinned girl had. This shows the psychological damage of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who searches for the same love and acceptance in a world that denies and undervalues people of her own race. As her mental state slowly unties, Pecola hopelessly longs to have the conventional American standards of feminine beauty. American ideal beauty standards include the usual white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes which were presented to her by the traditions of a “normal” white culture and that of the American icon, Shirley Temple.

In the novel The Bluest Eye, authored by Toni Morrison, Morrison brings up many social conflicts that occur throughout the novel. One of the biggest conflicts she brings up within the novel is racism. There are many offsets of racism that occur to many of the characters within the novel. One of the most significant issues or conflicts that branch off from racism is how racism affects and limits the opportunities that minorities have. In Morrison’s novel this type of racism that affects opportunity is directed towards African Americans. Even Tonya Cornileus stated in an article she wrote in the year 2013 that, “Today, African American men are the least likely hired or promoted” (Cornileus 136). This racial discrimination towards African Americans has a major impact on the opportunity they have in the world, just as Morrison portrayed in her novel The Bluest Eye.

One of the significant themes that Morrison 's, The Bluest Eye scrutinizes is the relationship between race and beauty. The novel examines how white society 's view of beauty serves to degrade, ignore, and criticize African Americans. The Bluest Eye depicts the story of an eleven-year-old black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who desires have blue eyes on the grounds that she sees herself and is viewed by most of the characters in the novel as “ugly.” The standard of “beauty” that her peers aspire to is personified by the young white child actress, Shirley Temple, who has desirable blue eyes. White standards of beauty, an affection of the “blue-eyed, blonde haired" look, are forced upon the black individuals who personalize such social standards, tolerating rejection as real and undeniable, and being not able to meet such standards. They are degraded in their own eyes, producing self-hatred and internalized racial disgust. This perception of their own inadequacy and the mediocrity of their race, when all is said, is strengthened every day through their connections with white individuals and the admired white culture in their general surroundings. Morrison reveals insight into the shielded and implicit truth that everybody to some degree is racist. In The Bluest Eye, by utilizing direct portrayals, symbolic imagery, and racial tension in a black society, Morrison exhibits the darkness of undeniable racism in American society.

Racism was a huge controversy back in the 1900s.People who were whites were either classified as colored or black,and The Bluest Eye portrays racism.Racism was discussed worldwide but specifically in the United States since many ethnicities are widespread among this country.This injustice is a huge topic that was very big in the 1900s.Many people were treated unfairly because they looked different than others causing a mass fight between them.This novel was written by Toni Morrison,and has mostly black characters in it,however they like to believe that they themselves are white too or have a “white attitude” in their nature.Whites are considered the gods of race being clean,wealthy,and smart.While black people are considered

In 1940s America, superiority was deemed on the scale of black/whiteness. Specifically, white people were positioned at the upper part of the hierarchy, whereas, African Americans were inferior. Consequently, white people were able to control and dictate to the standards of beauty. In her novel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, Toni Morrison draws upon symbolism, narrative voice, setting and ideals of the time to expose the effects these standards had on the different characters. With the juxtaposition of Claudia MacTeer and Pecola Breedlove, who naively conforms to the barrier of social classes, we are able to understand how African American’s in 1940’s America, specifically Ohio, had to adapt to the white ideals/standards of beauty, which subsequently caused self-hatred. Morrison’s novel explores an array of African American characters, who encounter these barriers in several different ways. Through these characters, Morrison’s distortion of the popular ‘Dick and Jane’ books and other texts including ‘Playing in the Dark’, also by Toni Morrison, I will verify the large degree of beauty ideals implicated throughout the novel.

In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison shows that one’s family determines a character’s feeling of self-worth. According to Morrison, the world is teaching little black girls that they are not beautiful and unworthy of love. The world teaches this by depicting white people and objects that resemble them, as symbols of beauty. In this world, to be worthy of love you must be beautiful. Morrison shows that if a little black girl believes what the world is telling her, her self-esteem can develop low self-esteem and they may yearn to be white. Even in the absence of economic and racial privilege, Morrison suggests that a little black girl can look to her family to build up her self-esteem. For Morrison, having a family is

One of the significant themes that Morrison 's, The Bluest Eye scrutinizes is the relationship between race and beauty. Rather how the predominant racial society’s point of view about beauty serves to degrade, ignore, and criticize different races by that compelling the affection of the domineering group by attaining the constancy of its eminence over less popular groups viewed by society. The Bluest Eye depicts the story of an eleven-year-old black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who desires have blue eyes on the grounds that she sees herself and is viewed by most of the characters in this novel as “ugly.” The standard of “beauty” that her peers aspire is personified by the young white child actress, Shirley Temple, who has desirable blue eyes. White standards of beauty, an affection of the “blue-eyed, blonde haired" look, are forced upon black individuals from society, who personalize such social standards, tolerating rejection as real, and undeniable, and, being not able to meet such standards, are degraded in their own eyes, producing self-hatred, and internalized racial disgust. This perception of their own inadequacy and the mediocrity of their race, when all is said, is strengthened every day through their connections with white individuals and admired culture in their general surroundings. Morrison reveals insight into the shielded and implicit truth that everybody to some degree is racist. In The Bluest Eye, by utilizing