Comparing The Bluest Eye And All The Pretty Horses

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, though vastly different in setting, characterization and individual motifs and themes presented throughout the literature, both successfully portrayed a broader overarching subject examining the implications of the internalization of both stereotype and legend, respectfully. Both authors, with their characters illustrate that through the course of experiences, teachings and other exposures; external attitudes and expectations of social groups become cemented into the individual’s persona and morality, becoming internal beliefs, inextricably combined with the individual’s self-concept. The assimilation of attitudes and expectations results in an imperfect idea of self,
In The Bluest Eye, Protagoras’ argument would have been more accurately phrased as “White man is the measure of all things.” The most prevalent and reoccurring theme in The Bluest Eye is the equation of whiteness as the standard of greatness, beauty, or otherwise “normalcy” and “desirability” in the novel. Whiteness being upheld as the paragon of beauty and societal norm is best seen as Frieda and Pecola “…had a loving conversation about how cu-ute Shirley Temple was,” (Morrison 19) which culminates into the inference that Pecola eventually drinks three quarts of milk as an excuse to admire the Shirley Temple cup. The most obvious example of characters assuming whiteness as the beauty standard is Pecola Breedlove, the main character. So disillusioned is Pecola with the trials of her life, and so severely has Pecola assimilated her opinion to match that of the surrounding society, Pecola believes that if she were to abandon her black appearance and assume more European features, such as blonde hair and blue eyes, she would be removed for her tragic circumstances. Pecola’s belief that her blackness is the root cause of her social discontent is consistent with social climate and the overall perception of
Unlike John Grady, who persists in the search of romantic realization of internalized cowboy lifestyle through the devastation of violence and poverty, Rawlins elects to return to Texas following his ordeal with John Grady in the Saltillo Prison. Though not a deviant in the drastic sense that embodied Claudia, Rawlins acts as a foil to John Grady, abandoning the search for the perfect mythological life following the trials of the search. As far as the beliefs in the novel run, as one that elects to return to civilian life rather than to further internalize more mythology, Rawlins is