Racism And Prejudice

Racism and prejudice are a big problem all over the world. Through Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes, readers can vividly see the differences between the Whites and the people of color. Morrison shows how the people of color are prejudiced and discriminated. Whites think that the Africans are not equal to humans. This work by Toni Morrison has been examined on many levels ranging from colonialism, imperialism, and racism. On discrimination, many critics see Morrison’s novel as a colonialist tool towards Africans by the Whites. This book has many incidences, which relates it to racism. This paper will show the many instances whereby Toni Morrison has portrayed racism in this book. Racism by both blacks and whites will be shown and how it affects
The Bluest Eyes provides a depiction of the ways in which the lives of black women and girls are deformed through the internalized white beauty standards. There are implicit messages that show whiteness is superior to blacks in the book. For example, the white baby doll given to Claudia, the consensus that light-skinned Maureen is more beautiful than all other black girls and women in this society, the idealization of Shirley Temple, the idealization of white girls in movies and the preference for white girls in by black men in the society. Adult girls and women are shown to hate their black bodies, they hate their black children for their skin color. For instance, Pecola is seen as being ugly by Mrs Breedlove. "The Pecola family lived in Ohio because they were poor and blacks. They stayed here because they believed they were ugly." (Morrison,
She connects love, affection and respect and beauty with blue eyes. Pecola believes that if she possesses blue eyes, she will receive more affection and love from the society she lives in. Toni Morrison writes, “It had never occurred to Pecola that if her eyes, those that held these pictures, and these sights- if those eyes were different, beautiful, she would be different.”(Morrison, 1.2.2) Pecola runs mad as a result of this white obsession which partially fulfills her wish of being white. This whiteness obsession turns more tragic for her than the impulse itself. She believes that her life’s cruelty is connected to her skin color. Pecola is teased by boys but when Maureen comes into sight, all the interest shifts automatically from Pecola to Maureen who is a light-skinned black girl. Through her wishes of turning white, Pecola is portrayed as indicative of new things happening to her life. Her wishes can only be fulfilled through blinding herself. The connection between which Pecola sees the world has a unique tragic outcome on her