Pecola Breedlove's 'The Bluest Eye'
Common Core Research Paper
Analysis on The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is a story that describes the life of a young African American girl named Pecola Breedlove whom was wrapped up in a life of poverty and hardship growing up and made to believe that she was ugly by the early 1940’s American society. Pecola Breedlove was a young girl growing up black and very poor in the early 1940s. During her life she was tormented and teased ugly by almost everyone that was a part of her life or whom she encountered. All of the verbal and physical abuse she endured caused her to live in a world of imagination where she day dreamed and fantasized about being a beautiful white girl with blue eye. She felt that beauty and being white would alleviate her …show more content…
pain and improve her life drastically immediately. This however was not the case in the real world; it however caused more chaos and destruction to her life which eventually led to her sanity. While Pecola obsessed herself with Shirley Temple, the other characters of the story always tried to identify themselves and imitate their looks with celebrities that they love.
Claudia MacTeer another character of the story whom was the narrator of the book was from a loving family. She however was the quite opposite of Pecola because she refused to be a fan or obsessed herself with beauty icons. She was more in tuned with Jewish women and less popular childhood stars. She can be described as a rebel where if she received a white doll for Christmas she would break it apart. Claudia was fairly kind to Pecola and was more like that of a peer sister to Pecola and wanted the best for her. Her older sister on the other hand Frieda MacTeer was protective of Pecola but quite the opposite of Claudia in that she was obsessed with beauty icons just as Pecola. Cholly Breedlove, was a perplex character and the father of Pecola whom he raped and caused her much pain by being ridiculed by a society that felt she endured some of the pain and shame of her father raping her and resulting in a pregnancy. He too endured a rough life and humiliating experiences he endured when growing up can be blamed for the person that he turned out to be and some of the main reasons for his anger towards women, particularly black women. Then there was Pauline Breedlove whom was the mother of Pecola. Her character was one that allowed cultural conceptions of beauty to seem normal and kind and hid her insecurities and humiliation behind this concept. Also her character proved that it was not only little girls that were influenced by white celebrity but also the older generation of black women. As her daughter Pecola, she fantasizes and consumes herself in a fantasy world that allows her to look and feel different in her own mind. The other characters, Maureen Peal was new to the neighborhood but a high class light skinned girl whom felt that she was better than black people or darker skinned black people whom she resented. Miss Marie was quite the contrary where she did not allow herself to be consumed or allowed society to influence her with the beauty of women. She just lived and lived a normal life that was her character and not one of what society thinks of her. Finally there was Soap head Church whom was a nasty old man that allowed his wrong doings and obsession with young girls to be compared to whiteness and purity of children.
In researching Native Americans, my analysis shows that social discrimination has always been evident within the Native American population and because of whom they were; they were completely devalued and denied of their rights. Native Americans faced much unequal segregation. Just as in Lorain Ohio and how the characters of The Bluest Eyes were viewed and treated as the “other”, so were Native Americans. Most often Native women were treated the same as men but they were scarcely mentioned historically because the first traders and missionaries to come in contact with Native communities did not see them as important. Native American communities were oppressed and cast down by white men. History in the 1800’s describes the invasion of Native American land and how they were forced off their land. Due to their roots, the Native American Wars and other events describes the hardship and torture that Indians were put through and how they were killed by the white men without any kind of sympathy or mercy. In the 1830 's, Native Americans still lived in their native lands for the most part. However, white men considered them a threat to peace. So, in 1838, the Federal government had what they called the "Five Civilized Tribes" removed. These tribes were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. They were moved at a forced march up to 800 miles from their homelands to the "Indian Territory", which is modern-day Oklahoma. Under cruel conditions, the army forced the peaceful tribes through the cold, winter weather to their new homes. During this ordeal, known as the "Trail of Tears", over 4,000 Cherokees died from disease, exposure, and starvation.
Racism and race has been an issue that greatly impacted the history of both the Native Americans and African Americans in the United States.
Native Americans were the original Americans inhabiting North America whereas African Americans were uprooted and kidnapped and brought in chains from their home land as slaves. Native Americans were stereotyped as savages and their lands were seized by the English colonizers through warfare. With that being said, it is easy to connect the experiences of this group to those of the characters in The Bluest Eye as racism comes in different form. Most of the characters in The Bluest Eye allowed or were forced by society to believe and accept things and how they looked in the mirror as just a pigment of their imagination due to color of their skin and their roots origin. The same can be said but only in a different format that the Native Americans were being treated unequal and forced to migrate off their own land because of being considered inferior. The Bluest Eye explores the lingering effects of racism by exploring and commenting on black self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye whom were African American were 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 terrible tendency to subconsciously act out their feelings of self-loathing on other members of the black community. In presenting the various modes of escape and retreat into empty notions of whiteness, the author demonstrates how this is a damaging way to work through so many years of being hopeless and objectified. In the narrator’s description of how the Breedlove family was ugly, it is stated in one of the important quotes from “The Bluest Eye”, “You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that is 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”. More importantly, the narrator suggests that they accept this imposed feeling of ugliness and lack of self-worth without questioning its source and it is this accepting of self-hatred, a hatred that comes from outside the family is one of the biggest problem faced by the family.
In highlighting the views of the eight characters in The Bluest Eye, three can be said to resist the feeling inferior or the other. Ms. Marie challenged the concepts of beauty by refusing to idolize celebrities and idolizing the face and color of white people. Claudia was rebellious and always felt that people should be treated equal, hence the reason she always tried to nurture and shelter Pecola from others especially those that tormented and teased her. Then there was Maureen whom was just a snob and really just looked down on those that she believed was inferior to her especially darker skin people. The other characters all allowed their bad experience in life, humiliation, insecurities, mistreatment and low self-esteem groom them into a fantasy world of living a life of disbelief of feeling that they looked like or was someone else. They became wrapped up in idolizing individuals that they considered beautiful and of a different culture and skin color mainly white people with blue eyes. Pecola felt the need to achieve a white kind of beauty and was one in her mind that was only linked to America 's beauty that she became obsessed with it. She felt that if she was prettier it would alleviate some of the issues she faced home with her parents always fighting with each other. As for Soap head Church and Cholly Breedlove, they accepted and internalize the prejudice in a different format whereby; Cholly Breedlove allowed his experience from being humiliated by white men to hate upon women of black color as he felt that by doing that it would be him feel powerful because black women were considered inferior to white men. Soap head Church on the other hand, compared his evil obsession with purity as the color white because of his own belief of the prejudice.
The Native Americans resisted feelings of inferiority and retained its cultural identity for standing up for what they believed in. They resisted the U.S. government 's policy of forced removal in the 19th century. There were several great Native resistance leaders who fought to hold onto their ancestral homes and their cultures during the European American land grab of the 18th and 19th centuries. However, they were outnumbered and outgunned with little chance against the white population but the stood tall and were prepared to lose their lives in the battle. Sadly, the US government seized two billion acres of the Native American territories. However, in the late 1800s, a small band of American Indians, determined to keep their homeland, brought their case to the federal courts. Their legal victory was the first to recognize Native rights to personal freedom and legal protection under the U.S. Constitution. The case would pave the way for other legal challenges to U.S. Indian policy in the decades that followed.
Native Americans have long had a direct affiliation with their physical environments. Most of them lived in relatively small units close to the earth, cognizant of its rhythms and resources. They defined themselves by the land, by the sacred places that bounded and shaped their world. By the early twentieth century, the little land Native Americans controlled was mostly in the trans-Mississippi West. They maintained a land base and a cultural identity, things that continue to set them apart, economically as well as socially and politically from other ethnic groups or classes in the United States.
Citations
Tom Morrison. ‘”The Bluest Eye”.pdf http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-cultures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States
Analysis on The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is a story that describes the life of a young African American girl named Pecola Breedlove whom was wrapped up in a life of poverty and hardship growing up and made to believe that she was ugly by the early 1940’s American society. Pecola Breedlove was a young girl growing up black and very poor in the early 1940s. During her life she was tormented and teased ugly by almost everyone that was a part of her life or whom she encountered. All of the verbal and physical abuse she endured caused her to live in a world of imagination where she day dreamed and fantasized about being a beautiful white girl with blue eye. She felt that beauty and being white would alleviate her …show more content…
pain and improve her life drastically immediately. This however was not the case in the real world; it however caused more chaos and destruction to her life which eventually led to her sanity. While Pecola obsessed herself with Shirley Temple, the other characters of the story always tried to identify themselves and imitate their looks with celebrities that they love.
Claudia MacTeer another character of the story whom was the narrator of the book was from a loving family. She however was the quite opposite of Pecola because she refused to be a fan or obsessed herself with beauty icons. She was more in tuned with Jewish women and less popular childhood stars. She can be described as a rebel where if she received a white doll for Christmas she would break it apart. Claudia was fairly kind to Pecola and was more like that of a peer sister to Pecola and wanted the best for her. Her older sister on the other hand Frieda MacTeer was protective of Pecola but quite the opposite of Claudia in that she was obsessed with beauty icons just as Pecola. Cholly Breedlove, was a perplex character and the father of Pecola whom he raped and caused her much pain by being ridiculed by a society that felt she endured some of the pain and shame of her father raping her and resulting in a pregnancy. He too endured a rough life and humiliating experiences he endured when growing up can be blamed for the person that he turned out to be and some of the main reasons for his anger towards women, particularly black women. Then there was Pauline Breedlove whom was the mother of Pecola. Her character was one that allowed cultural conceptions of beauty to seem normal and kind and hid her insecurities and humiliation behind this concept. Also her character proved that it was not only little girls that were influenced by white celebrity but also the older generation of black women. As her daughter Pecola, she fantasizes and consumes herself in a fantasy world that allows her to look and feel different in her own mind. The other characters, Maureen Peal was new to the neighborhood but a high class light skinned girl whom felt that she was better than black people or darker skinned black people whom she resented. Miss Marie was quite the contrary where she did not allow herself to be consumed or allowed society to influence her with the beauty of women. She just lived and lived a normal life that was her character and not one of what society thinks of her. Finally there was Soap head Church whom was a nasty old man that allowed his wrong doings and obsession with young girls to be compared to whiteness and purity of children.
In researching Native Americans, my analysis shows that social discrimination has always been evident within the Native American population and because of whom they were; they were completely devalued and denied of their rights. Native Americans faced much unequal segregation. Just as in Lorain Ohio and how the characters of The Bluest Eyes were viewed and treated as the “other”, so were Native Americans. Most often Native women were treated the same as men but they were scarcely mentioned historically because the first traders and missionaries to come in contact with Native communities did not see them as important. Native American communities were oppressed and cast down by white men. History in the 1800’s describes the invasion of Native American land and how they were forced off their land. Due to their roots, the Native American Wars and other events describes the hardship and torture that Indians were put through and how they were killed by the white men without any kind of sympathy or mercy. In the 1830 's, Native Americans still lived in their native lands for the most part. However, white men considered them a threat to peace. So, in 1838, the Federal government had what they called the "Five Civilized Tribes" removed. These tribes were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. They were moved at a forced march up to 800 miles from their homelands to the "Indian Territory", which is modern-day Oklahoma. Under cruel conditions, the army forced the peaceful tribes through the cold, winter weather to their new homes. During this ordeal, known as the "Trail of Tears", over 4,000 Cherokees died from disease, exposure, and starvation.
Racism and race has been an issue that greatly impacted the history of both the Native Americans and African Americans in the United States.
Native Americans were the original Americans inhabiting North America whereas African Americans were uprooted and kidnapped and brought in chains from their home land as slaves. Native Americans were stereotyped as savages and their lands were seized by the English colonizers through warfare. With that being said, it is easy to connect the experiences of this group to those of the characters in The Bluest Eye as racism comes in different form. Most of the characters in The Bluest Eye allowed or were forced by society to believe and accept things and how they looked in the mirror as just a pigment of their imagination due to color of their skin and their roots origin. The same can be said but only in a different format that the Native Americans were being treated unequal and forced to migrate off their own land because of being considered inferior. The Bluest Eye explores the lingering effects of racism by exploring and commenting on black self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye whom were African American were 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 terrible tendency to subconsciously act out their feelings of self-loathing on other members of the black community. In presenting the various modes of escape and retreat into empty notions of whiteness, the author demonstrates how this is a damaging way to work through so many years of being hopeless and objectified. In the narrator’s description of how the Breedlove family was ugly, it is stated in one of the important quotes from “The Bluest Eye”, “You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that is 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”. More importantly, the narrator suggests that they accept this imposed feeling of ugliness and lack of self-worth without questioning its source and it is this accepting of self-hatred, a hatred that comes from outside the family is one of the biggest problem faced by the family.
In highlighting the views of the eight characters in The Bluest Eye, three can be said to resist the feeling inferior or the other. Ms. Marie challenged the concepts of beauty by refusing to idolize celebrities and idolizing the face and color of white people. Claudia was rebellious and always felt that people should be treated equal, hence the reason she always tried to nurture and shelter Pecola from others especially those that tormented and teased her. Then there was Maureen whom was just a snob and really just looked down on those that she believed was inferior to her especially darker skin people. The other characters all allowed their bad experience in life, humiliation, insecurities, mistreatment and low self-esteem groom them into a fantasy world of living a life of disbelief of feeling that they looked like or was someone else. They became wrapped up in idolizing individuals that they considered beautiful and of a different culture and skin color mainly white people with blue eyes. Pecola felt the need to achieve a white kind of beauty and was one in her mind that was only linked to America 's beauty that she became obsessed with it. She felt that if she was prettier it would alleviate some of the issues she faced home with her parents always fighting with each other. As for Soap head Church and Cholly Breedlove, they accepted and internalize the prejudice in a different format whereby; Cholly Breedlove allowed his experience from being humiliated by white men to hate upon women of black color as he felt that by doing that it would be him feel powerful because black women were considered inferior to white men. Soap head Church on the other hand, compared his evil obsession with purity as the color white because of his own belief of the prejudice.
The Native Americans resisted feelings of inferiority and retained its cultural identity for standing up for what they believed in. They resisted the U.S. government 's policy of forced removal in the 19th century. There were several great Native resistance leaders who fought to hold onto their ancestral homes and their cultures during the European American land grab of the 18th and 19th centuries. However, they were outnumbered and outgunned with little chance against the white population but the stood tall and were prepared to lose their lives in the battle. Sadly, the US government seized two billion acres of the Native American territories. However, in the late 1800s, a small band of American Indians, determined to keep their homeland, brought their case to the federal courts. Their legal victory was the first to recognize Native rights to personal freedom and legal protection under the U.S. Constitution. The case would pave the way for other legal challenges to U.S. Indian policy in the decades that followed.
Native Americans have long had a direct affiliation with their physical environments. Most of them lived in relatively small units close to the earth, cognizant of its rhythms and resources. They defined themselves by the land, by the sacred places that bounded and shaped their world. By the early twentieth century, the little land Native Americans controlled was mostly in the trans-Mississippi West. They maintained a land base and a cultural identity, things that continue to set them apart, economically as well as socially and politically from other ethnic groups or classes in the United States.
Citations
Tom Morrison. ‘”The Bluest Eye”.pdf http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-cultures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States