Similarities Between The Bluest Eye And The Color Purple
Kaitlyn Queen
AP English IV
Mrs. Conner
In the two novels, The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye, the authors Alice Walker and Toni Morrison similarly observe the negative life effects caused by physical, sexual, and verbal abuse that can be destructive to the human mind and produce a shame within oneself as well as shaming from others. Both novels are set in the 1900s, presenting a racist and sexist environment that contributes to the dehumanization/ degeneration of a human being. In addition, love is often undefinable and misunderstood to a person who has experienced these detrimental encounters. Both authors write about very similar characters who lead extremely different lives with important stories that need to be shared. The plotline is similar in a few aspects; however the climaxes differentiate in that the protagonist in one novel gains immense amount of confidence and courage, while the protagonist in the other novel loses themselves completely.
The Color …show more content…
Purple introduces the reader to a victimized African–American girl named Celie through a rape scene, setting up a major theme of the book to be that abuse comes in many forms. At this moment, Celie was forced into oppression which became her lifestyle. She quickly learns that “women should only obey, work and be silent” due to her unloving father, Albert, and her husband, Mr._ (Averbach). Oppression of women became her lifestyle and she began to press it on others, such as Harpo and Sofia. Sofia refused to obey Harpo; her independent actions can be seen as disrespectful, especially by those who believe women are inferior to men. Her actions resulted in Harpo requesting Celie’s knowledge on how to correct Sofia’s independent behavior. Due to Celie’s own lifetime experiences, when asked how to change the behavior the only advice she could produce was to beat Sofia.
In Celie’s venture of ridding oppression from her life, she continued to write to God, only to realize that he was the oppression that she had been trying to escape: man, a white man, who never gave her the answers she needed, or any answers or advice for the matter. When Celie became impregnated by her father and her body was changing, she would ask God “to give [her] a sign” that will let her know “what is happening to [her],” only to receive nothing (Walker 1). Long after realizing this, Celie replaced her old God with a new “less oppressive figure,” Shug, one of her equals whom she looked up to, as she did not want to abandon the idea of a having a God (Averbach). Through changing the way she interprets things, Celie “communicate[s] certain things” indirectly even “though she does not realize” that she is portraying them throughout the novel (Averbach). Through these actions, she obtains the characteristics of life that were lost through her dehumanization during her childhood.
Squeak, or Mary Agnes, was also a victim of sexual abuse and racism. When she went to the county jail to try and convince her white uncle to keep Sofia where she was rather than force her to be a maid he raped he violently, using his privilege as a white person that gave him the “institutional power” to “control the terms of kinship,” stating that “if he was my uncle he wouldn’t do it to me” (Selzer) (Walker 96). Due to the superiority of white males at the time, Mary Agnes couldn’t do much to prevent her event of being raped, the most she could do was comply or risk a beating along with being raped.
Celie was introduced to the reader by a description of her rape as a child. As it continuously happened and she became impregnated, she became a mere object used for the enjoyment of others. She quickly lost all value that she once had and was taken out of school, taking away the one last thing she had to love after her two children were taken from her. Celie slaved for her family, making sure everyone was always taken care of and lived in constant fear that the same thing would happen to them that occurred to her. The constant raping and beatings induced upon Celie by Mr._ and Pa took away every last bit of who she was as a person, completely to the point of the concept of love being diminished. Celie no longer felt love as Mr._ used her for his pure enjoyment as she just lay there. She later claims to Shug that “nobody ever love me” and Shug allows her to finally feel and experience love (Walker 112). Celie does not feel any sort of affection towards men due to her past experiences with them and how they dehumanized her and used her rather than including her.
Throughout The Color Purple, Celie develops new morals and becomes a new person due to the immense amount of help from Shug Avery. Though she got beat on the regular whether she “do what he [Mr._] say or not” she stood up for others and made the statement that it is not okay to continuously beat somebody who “love you” and take care of their spouse and children (Walker 63-64). Shug continues to help Celie’s state of mind and independence develops in a positive direction throughout the novel. At the climax of the novel, Celie stands up for herself against Mr._’s opinion. She affirms Shug’s statement that she will be moving to Tennessee while her making it very clear that Mr._ was nothing more than “dead horse’s shit” (Walker 200). Not only does Celie establish dominance through this action, but the shame that was created for Celie all of her life was finally lifted off of her shoulders allowing her to break free away from societies crazed views on how women are ‘supposed’ to act when she stood up for herself. The shame that was created for Celie all of her life was finally lifted off of her shoulders.
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is about a little girl by the name of Pecola Breedlove who lives a low life and becomes more isolated over time.
The racist views of society influence Pecola’s desires in life. The novel presents what is the ideal life in the title of the chapters through segments of the Dick and Jane story, but presents the reality of an African-American family in the text of the chapter. The Dick and Jane story is repeated three times in the opening scene of the novel. The first time it is presented, the grammar and structure is perfect, representing the perfect life of a white family. As the story is repeated, it becomes “’broken up and confused’” with the word run together to create a dysfunctional image in the readers mind (Bouson). By titling the segments of the book with parts of the story, Morrison “signals the increasingly fragmented world of the trauma victim” and allows the reader to predict what the real lifestyle of the family is because it is opposite of the story
(Bouson).
A shame is passed on from Pecola’s parents; Mrs. Breedlove passes the shame she placed on herself of being an African American down to Pecola producing the effect of never being good enough. Her father acts out a shameful act on Pecola as well when he uses his “deep-rooted feelings of humiliation and rage” to act on the raping of his daughter and pushes those feelings onto to her (Bouson). Cholly Breedlove committed the rape due to a mix of emotions, “revulsion, guilt, pity, then love,” he did not know how to make her happy and it angered him. When Pecola did the same thing her mother did years back is when Cholly lost all control and went for it. The shame produced doesn’t stop there, the rest of the community used Pecola as a scapegoat for their shame as well, and they use her as a temporary escape from their humiliation by humiliating her instead. Thus, Pecola suffers from severe shame-anxiety that slowly pushes her life down the drain.
From the beginning of the novel, Pecola Breedlove experiences the hatred of racism and it has a wide variety of effects on her mentally. Everyone in society in the time period of 1940/41 glorified blonde haired, blue-eyed children, and Pecola just so happened to be the exact opposite of that making her feel that she was “[inferior and inadequate] in comparison to others,” due to the fact that she did not fit the ideal image (Bouson). The people of her community often called Pecola “ugly,” giving her reason to feel inferior. She quickly felt “unloved” and drew back from the community “wishing to be invisible,” because people already weren’t looking at her, or “[desired]to have blue eyes” so she will possess the image that people prefer and will therefore love her for it (Bouson). At the end of the novel, Pecola finally achieves her dream of having blue eyes. However only she can see them and she exchanges her sanity for it in the long run. Unfortunately, the only form of love Pecola obtained was self-love and what she considered admiration from her imaginary friend.
Throughout the novels, the n-word is used periodically. Beyond using the word as a description of skin color and a derogatory term, the constant use of it becomes so derogatory that it creates a sense of self-hatred. The protagonists grow up learning that being black means they aren’t as good as other races, and that they never will be. Pecola, in The Bluest Eye, wishes to have blue eyes through her entire childhood. The reader has to look past the idea that she wants blue eyes in order to fit the standard of society, but blue eyes represent a hope of a future for Pecola. Nobody looks at her because she is ugly; therefore she becomes isolated and invisible to society. Not only does Pecola wish for blue eyes for aesthetic reasons, she believes once she receives them she will no longer be abused.
Walker and Morrison make it clear in their novels, The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye; the authors portray the lives of different people who go through different struggles as they mature. They want to express that not only successful women’s stories are important because they give hope to the African-American female’s future, but inferior and neglected women have just an important story that needs to be shared. These stories represent the majority of the women in society (in the 1900s) who suffered from oppression and domestic violence on the daily. The authors tell the stories of these young women to raise awareness of the dehumanization of women.
AP English IV
Mrs. Conner
In the two novels, The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye, the authors Alice Walker and Toni Morrison similarly observe the negative life effects caused by physical, sexual, and verbal abuse that can be destructive to the human mind and produce a shame within oneself as well as shaming from others. Both novels are set in the 1900s, presenting a racist and sexist environment that contributes to the dehumanization/ degeneration of a human being. In addition, love is often undefinable and misunderstood to a person who has experienced these detrimental encounters. Both authors write about very similar characters who lead extremely different lives with important stories that need to be shared. The plotline is similar in a few aspects; however the climaxes differentiate in that the protagonist in one novel gains immense amount of confidence and courage, while the protagonist in the other novel loses themselves completely.
The Color …show more content…
Purple introduces the reader to a victimized African–American girl named Celie through a rape scene, setting up a major theme of the book to be that abuse comes in many forms. At this moment, Celie was forced into oppression which became her lifestyle. She quickly learns that “women should only obey, work and be silent” due to her unloving father, Albert, and her husband, Mr._ (Averbach). Oppression of women became her lifestyle and she began to press it on others, such as Harpo and Sofia. Sofia refused to obey Harpo; her independent actions can be seen as disrespectful, especially by those who believe women are inferior to men. Her actions resulted in Harpo requesting Celie’s knowledge on how to correct Sofia’s independent behavior. Due to Celie’s own lifetime experiences, when asked how to change the behavior the only advice she could produce was to beat Sofia.
In Celie’s venture of ridding oppression from her life, she continued to write to God, only to realize that he was the oppression that she had been trying to escape: man, a white man, who never gave her the answers she needed, or any answers or advice for the matter. When Celie became impregnated by her father and her body was changing, she would ask God “to give [her] a sign” that will let her know “what is happening to [her],” only to receive nothing (Walker 1). Long after realizing this, Celie replaced her old God with a new “less oppressive figure,” Shug, one of her equals whom she looked up to, as she did not want to abandon the idea of a having a God (Averbach). Through changing the way she interprets things, Celie “communicate[s] certain things” indirectly even “though she does not realize” that she is portraying them throughout the novel (Averbach). Through these actions, she obtains the characteristics of life that were lost through her dehumanization during her childhood.
Squeak, or Mary Agnes, was also a victim of sexual abuse and racism. When she went to the county jail to try and convince her white uncle to keep Sofia where she was rather than force her to be a maid he raped he violently, using his privilege as a white person that gave him the “institutional power” to “control the terms of kinship,” stating that “if he was my uncle he wouldn’t do it to me” (Selzer) (Walker 96). Due to the superiority of white males at the time, Mary Agnes couldn’t do much to prevent her event of being raped, the most she could do was comply or risk a beating along with being raped.
Celie was introduced to the reader by a description of her rape as a child. As it continuously happened and she became impregnated, she became a mere object used for the enjoyment of others. She quickly lost all value that she once had and was taken out of school, taking away the one last thing she had to love after her two children were taken from her. Celie slaved for her family, making sure everyone was always taken care of and lived in constant fear that the same thing would happen to them that occurred to her. The constant raping and beatings induced upon Celie by Mr._ and Pa took away every last bit of who she was as a person, completely to the point of the concept of love being diminished. Celie no longer felt love as Mr._ used her for his pure enjoyment as she just lay there. She later claims to Shug that “nobody ever love me” and Shug allows her to finally feel and experience love (Walker 112). Celie does not feel any sort of affection towards men due to her past experiences with them and how they dehumanized her and used her rather than including her.
Throughout The Color Purple, Celie develops new morals and becomes a new person due to the immense amount of help from Shug Avery. Though she got beat on the regular whether she “do what he [Mr._] say or not” she stood up for others and made the statement that it is not okay to continuously beat somebody who “love you” and take care of their spouse and children (Walker 63-64). Shug continues to help Celie’s state of mind and independence develops in a positive direction throughout the novel. At the climax of the novel, Celie stands up for herself against Mr._’s opinion. She affirms Shug’s statement that she will be moving to Tennessee while her making it very clear that Mr._ was nothing more than “dead horse’s shit” (Walker 200). Not only does Celie establish dominance through this action, but the shame that was created for Celie all of her life was finally lifted off of her shoulders allowing her to break free away from societies crazed views on how women are ‘supposed’ to act when she stood up for herself. The shame that was created for Celie all of her life was finally lifted off of her shoulders.
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is about a little girl by the name of Pecola Breedlove who lives a low life and becomes more isolated over time.
The racist views of society influence Pecola’s desires in life. The novel presents what is the ideal life in the title of the chapters through segments of the Dick and Jane story, but presents the reality of an African-American family in the text of the chapter. The Dick and Jane story is repeated three times in the opening scene of the novel. The first time it is presented, the grammar and structure is perfect, representing the perfect life of a white family. As the story is repeated, it becomes “’broken up and confused’” with the word run together to create a dysfunctional image in the readers mind (Bouson). By titling the segments of the book with parts of the story, Morrison “signals the increasingly fragmented world of the trauma victim” and allows the reader to predict what the real lifestyle of the family is because it is opposite of the story
(Bouson).
A shame is passed on from Pecola’s parents; Mrs. Breedlove passes the shame she placed on herself of being an African American down to Pecola producing the effect of never being good enough. Her father acts out a shameful act on Pecola as well when he uses his “deep-rooted feelings of humiliation and rage” to act on the raping of his daughter and pushes those feelings onto to her (Bouson). Cholly Breedlove committed the rape due to a mix of emotions, “revulsion, guilt, pity, then love,” he did not know how to make her happy and it angered him. When Pecola did the same thing her mother did years back is when Cholly lost all control and went for it. The shame produced doesn’t stop there, the rest of the community used Pecola as a scapegoat for their shame as well, and they use her as a temporary escape from their humiliation by humiliating her instead. Thus, Pecola suffers from severe shame-anxiety that slowly pushes her life down the drain.
From the beginning of the novel, Pecola Breedlove experiences the hatred of racism and it has a wide variety of effects on her mentally. Everyone in society in the time period of 1940/41 glorified blonde haired, blue-eyed children, and Pecola just so happened to be the exact opposite of that making her feel that she was “[inferior and inadequate] in comparison to others,” due to the fact that she did not fit the ideal image (Bouson). The people of her community often called Pecola “ugly,” giving her reason to feel inferior. She quickly felt “unloved” and drew back from the community “wishing to be invisible,” because people already weren’t looking at her, or “[desired]to have blue eyes” so she will possess the image that people prefer and will therefore love her for it (Bouson). At the end of the novel, Pecola finally achieves her dream of having blue eyes. However only she can see them and she exchanges her sanity for it in the long run. Unfortunately, the only form of love Pecola obtained was self-love and what she considered admiration from her imaginary friend.
Throughout the novels, the n-word is used periodically. Beyond using the word as a description of skin color and a derogatory term, the constant use of it becomes so derogatory that it creates a sense of self-hatred. The protagonists grow up learning that being black means they aren’t as good as other races, and that they never will be. Pecola, in The Bluest Eye, wishes to have blue eyes through her entire childhood. The reader has to look past the idea that she wants blue eyes in order to fit the standard of society, but blue eyes represent a hope of a future for Pecola. Nobody looks at her because she is ugly; therefore she becomes isolated and invisible to society. Not only does Pecola wish for blue eyes for aesthetic reasons, she believes once she receives them she will no longer be abused.
Walker and Morrison make it clear in their novels, The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye; the authors portray the lives of different people who go through different struggles as they mature. They want to express that not only successful women’s stories are important because they give hope to the African-American female’s future, but inferior and neglected women have just an important story that needs to be shared. These stories represent the majority of the women in society (in the 1900s) who suffered from oppression and domestic violence on the daily. The authors tell the stories of these young women to raise awareness of the dehumanization of women.