The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison
In Toni Morrison’s work, The Bluest Eye (1970) a young black girl is depicted in search for her true identity and the experiences of frustration she encounters due to her blackness and desire of wanting to be white because of the constant fear of being rejected in her environment. This novel presents insight into the complexity of the black community through the character of Pecola Breedlove. Through Pecola’s character, Morrison effectively portrays the dehumanisation of slavery and racism and how these injustices had a harmful impact on the identity of African Americans. The relationship between black and white communities is also explored within the novel. Sugiharti (n.d., p. 2-3) states that “the issues of ethnic inequality, black community
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Blue eyes is the fundamental sign of beauty according to white society. This is illustrated in the line “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs - all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured” (Morrison, p. 20). Here, it is apparent that Pecola has been convinced by society that she will never be beautiful. Her life only involves chaos and ugliness. In order to cope with her turmoil life, Pecola adopts the coping strategy of placing herself in another persons shoes. In this case, Jane’s show - an imaginary character from a children’s reading book. Towards the end of the novel, Pecola convinces herself that she is Jane, this can be seen in the line “Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play” (Morrison, p. 152). At this point in the novel, Pecola believes that she now has blue eyes. As she stares into the mirror, she does not see who she truely is but instead sees a friend as her reflection. This changes the perspective of the reader as they now perceive Pecola as being insane. There were many factors that contributed to Pecola’s insanity including the death of father and baby, the constant neglect of care from her mother and the departure of her brother. These factors allowed Pecola to realise that the blue eyes she once desired for did not bring her happiness but instead
Blue eyes is the fundamental sign of beauty according to white society. This is illustrated in the line “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs - all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured” (Morrison, p. 20). Here, it is apparent that Pecola has been convinced by society that she will never be beautiful. Her life only involves chaos and ugliness. In order to cope with her turmoil life, Pecola adopts the coping strategy of placing herself in another persons shoes. In this case, Jane’s show - an imaginary character from a children’s reading book. Towards the end of the novel, Pecola convinces herself that she is Jane, this can be seen in the line “Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play” (Morrison, p. 152). At this point in the novel, Pecola believes that she now has blue eyes. As she stares into the mirror, she does not see who she truely is but instead sees a friend as her reflection. This changes the perspective of the reader as they now perceive Pecola as being insane. There were many factors that contributed to Pecola’s insanity including the death of father and baby, the constant neglect of care from her mother and the departure of her brother. These factors allowed Pecola to realise that the blue eyes she once desired for did not bring her happiness but instead