Rise Above Themselves In The Bluest Eye

The concept of rising above your self is not a difficult one, though so many people fail to do so. To rise above yourself means to overcome the problems you are facing and become a better person for yourself, which in turn will reward you with a truly fulfilling life. Morrison, the author of The Bluest Eye and McCarthy, the author of All the Pretty Horses, created stories about characters that try to rise above themselves, yet are unable to do so. Through Cholly trying to escape the events of his childhood, Pecola trying to change her physical features, and John trying to prevent the dying Western culture, these characters will be unable to do so and rise above themselves. In The Bluest Eye, Cholly Breedlove is a character whose childhood was filled with many
tribulations.
As a baby, Cholly was abandoned by both of his parents, which put him in a position to be raised by his great aunt Jimmy. In Great Aunt Jimmy’s care, Cholly was raised in an essentially stable environment where he was taken care of as best as one could expect under the circumstances. Unfortunately, Cholly’s main provider died after eating peach cobbler when he was only sixteen. After the funeral, Cholly lost his virginity in the woods with a girl he was interested in that was in attendance at the party. During their sexual encounter, two white men confronted them in the woods that ridiculed them and forced them to continue having sex as they shined flashlights on them. The issues Cholly has later in life might stem from this encounter alone, but coupled with the abandonment from his parents can explain other actions Cholly took later on. After his great aunt’s funeral, Cholly sets out on a trip to meet his father. Upon meeting him, he was met with drunken hatred that scared him to the point of urinating on himself. Spending the last
bit of money he had on this trip, and being left without a guardian, Cholly takes to the road again. While travelling, Cholly meets his future wife and through this marriage there was a son and a daughter born to them. Cholly raped his daughter, Pecola Breedlove while she was a young child. Though Cholly struggled with the embarrassment and hatred of being ridiculed sexually and feeling the abandonment of a parent, he was not able to rise above himself and treat his daughter in a way in which he would have liked to be treated when he was younger. The problems Cholly faces stem from his childhood, but they are ones he cannot escape, and therefore makes him into the father he is. Pecola Breedlove, Cholly’s daughter, suffers from the same inability to rise above her self. Pecola’s childhood, like Cholly’s, was also filled with tribulations that she did not quite overcome. Being raped as a child and receiving beatings from her mother because of this atrocious act left Pecola feeling unloved by her own family. Furthermore, she was bullied at school because of her looks and this ultimately took a toll on her self-esteem. Pecola felt that the only way she could feel loved is if she acquired physical traits that would make her beautiful. This want for attractive features took over her mental state. Every year she wished for blue eyes and yet it was something she could not attain. She thought that if only she had blue eyes, everything would get better for her. After meeting a man who promised he could give her blue eyes if she was to do a simple tasks, her mental state began to deplete. Pecola began to believe that she actually had blue eyes and she began to talk to herself about how she had the prettiest eyes anyone had ever seen. Not getting the love and attention she then thought she would receive, Pecola withdrew from society and was branded as an outcast. She was left living in a home on the outside corner of the community where she would no longer receive visitors again. Pecola failed to rise above herself because she believed she needed the blue eyes to see her own worth and to get love from others. Pecola could have made a difference by changing societies standards and reassuring other people that their worth was not based on what they came from or their physical features. Pecola accepted defeat at the hands of societies’ norms and it caused her to live an unfulfilling life. In the novel, All the Pretty Horses, John Grady is a character that is also unable to rise above him self and live a fulfilling life. John’s love for horses and the cowboy way of life send him on a journey to Mexico. He felt that the cowboy way of life was no longer wanted in Texas because of the rise of urbanism, and he believed that if he went further south, he would find others that shared his love for all things coupled with being a cowboy. Unfortunately, after arriving in Mexico, he saw this was not the case, and that there was not much that could be done about the decline in the cowboy culture. Through the romanticism he felt about this lifestyle, and the ability to see it was dying, he lost the love of his life and killed a man. John could have rose above him self and accept the changing of a culture. He could have kept his love, avoid killing a man, and not lose friends along the way on this journey that was doomed to fail in the beginning. John could have lived a carefree life and enjoy the things that went along with it, but as is so often seen, he could not rise above him self. Most are destined to not be able to rise above themselves. This was the case for Cholly, Pecola, and John. To rise above our selves, willpower and a bigger view of the world are needed. One must look past their circumstances and think about the greater good. For instance, those that are suffering from drug abuse may never be able to land the job of their dreams for fear that they could not attain the occupation anyways, so instead they continue to do drugs which would keep them from passing an initial drug test. In another situation, someone who is suffering from self-esteem issues may never try to start certain friendships because of the fear of not fitting in. One of the biggest things hindering us from rising above our selves is the inability to get past societies’ social norms and the fear of making a change. When one is able to do this, they can find a truly rewarding life, for instance those that rise out of the slums and choose to have a better education can in turn give back to the people who also need help. These people rise above their childhood and most often give back to their communities to give others the same opportunity, which is the ultimate way to rise above oneself. If people such as these would come together and create a program to encourage change in those that need it, then the world could begin to see people overcoming themselves.