Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye Essay #4
by: Jason Berry
EWRT 1B
Instructor: C. Keen
June 16th 2010
Toni Morrison the author of The Bluest Eye, portrays the character Pecola, an
eleven year old black girl who believes she is ugly and that having blue eyes
would make her beautiful, in such a way as to expose and attack “racial self-
loathing” in the black community.
Toni Morrison the author of The Bluest Eye, portrays the character Pecola, an eleven year old black girl who believes she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful, in such a way as to expose and attack “racial self-loathing” in the black community. Written in the 1970’s, Morrison’s first novel explores how blacks felt about themselves after the great depression and how others viewed them as ugly. Morrison digs deep and finds the most innocent of children, the protagonist of the novel, an eleven-year-old black girl who believes that she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful. She is sensitive and delicate, passively suffering the abuse of her mother, father, and classmates. She becomes very lonely, imaginative and even crazy after everything she has endured. Pecola Breedlove is the protagonist of The Bluest Eye, but despite her central role she remains passive and mysterious throughout the story. The story is told from other people’s points of view to further enhance Pecola’s mysterious character. In the beginning of the story Pecola is a fragile and delicate child a victim of menstruation seems puberty hit her unexpectedly, like so many other events in Pecola’s life that she has no control over. Without the help and support of her parents Pecola has to deal with her problems alone causing a tremendous burden on such a young and helpless little girl. Two of Pecola’s strongest desires, first the desire to disappear, “Please, God...Please make me disappear,” (p.45) and the second she wants to know how to get people to love her.
by: Jason Berry
EWRT 1B
Instructor: C. Keen
June 16th 2010
Toni Morrison the author of The Bluest Eye, portrays the character Pecola, an
eleven year old black girl who believes she is ugly and that having blue eyes
would make her beautiful, in such a way as to expose and attack “racial self-
loathing” in the black community.
Toni Morrison the author of The Bluest Eye, portrays the character Pecola, an eleven year old black girl who believes she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful, in such a way as to expose and attack “racial self-loathing” in the black community. Written in the 1970’s, Morrison’s first novel explores how blacks felt about themselves after the great depression and how others viewed them as ugly. Morrison digs deep and finds the most innocent of children, the protagonist of the novel, an eleven-year-old black girl who believes that she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful. She is sensitive and delicate, passively suffering the abuse of her mother, father, and classmates. She becomes very lonely, imaginative and even crazy after everything she has endured. Pecola Breedlove is the protagonist of The Bluest Eye, but despite her central role she remains passive and mysterious throughout the story. The story is told from other people’s points of view to further enhance Pecola’s mysterious character. In the beginning of the story Pecola is a fragile and delicate child a victim of menstruation seems puberty hit her unexpectedly, like so many other events in Pecola’s life that she has no control over. Without the help and support of her parents Pecola has to deal with her problems alone causing a tremendous burden on such a young and helpless little girl. Two of Pecola’s strongest desires, first the desire to disappear, “Please, God...Please make me disappear,” (p.45) and the second she wants to know how to get people to love her.
Cited: Morrison, Toni. Afterword. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume, 1994, 209-226. --- .The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume, 1994.