Allegory And Symbolism In The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison

Admittedly author Toni Morrison is not one of my favorite writers. Morrison’s novels are often dense with symbolism and allegories that are often complex to understand or can be easily misunderstood by a reader. Surprisingly The Bluest Eye quickly became one of my favorites. Like many who read for enjoyment I wanted to see the happy ending. Essentially I wanted Pecola to win, longed for her to receive her happy ending, felt it would only be fitting if in the end she learned to love herself unconditionally and accept the beauty she was born with. Unfortunately Morrison is a realist who reminds us all that life does not always come with a happy ending, the good guy does not always win and no matter how hard you pray life does not always give us the desires of our hearts.
Toni Morrison was born February 18, 1931 and is still alive and well today. She was born under the name Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio. Like many blacks during this time frame Morrison’s parents migrated from the South to the North in order to find better opportunities and to escape the harsh, tense racism that was prominent in the South. Morrison’s parents were proud people who worked hard and were very religious
She has had a flourishing career and has won numerous awards and honors which include earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Pulitzer Prized for Fiction and being the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Some of Morrison’s most famous novels are Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby and The Bluest Eye. The Bluest Eye was published in 1970 and was Morrison’s first novel. At the time the book was written Morrison was an unknown writer and the book did not sell well. The Bluest Eye was a selection chosen for Oprah’s Book Club in 2000, thirty years after it was originally written, it was not until then that The Bluest Eye began to sell but also started to receive the recognition it