The Bluest Eye Essay

The Bluest Eye: A Great American Novel A Great American novel is one that helps the reader understand the values, issues, and beliefs most central to a culture and helps the reader know what it means to be an American. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison deserves to be recognized as a great American novel because of the universal themes portrayed throughout, the memorable characters, and the impactful storyline and language that moves the reader. On the first page of the novel, three sentences down, it states that “Pecola was having her father’s baby” (8). In one sentence, the whole plot line was revealed as well as the horrifying theme of incest. Morrison’s style of not sugar coating the bad and letting the reader feel the raw hurt of each
characters circumstance was a style of writing rarely seen previously. This kind of writing that is so vivid in details allows the reader to empathize with the characters’ problems therefore allowing the reader to further understand the issues that revolve around the characters. However, Morrison’s lack of following the master narrative and standard plot line might cause readers to lose interest after the first page since the reader is already aware of how the story will end. A great novel almost always has memorable characters that you remember long after you put the book down.
Characters such as Cholly and Pauline Breedlove, who all have intensely detailed background stories that offer insight into the experiences that shaped who they would later become as adults. Cholly Breedlove was a violent, cruel man who experienced a horrific incident in which three white men interrupted his first intimate experience with a girl. During this incident Cholly began transferring the hatred that he felt towards the white men towards “the [woman] who bore witness to his failure, his impotence”, which directly correlates to the hatred and violence Cholly submits his wife and daughter to later on (151). Pauline Breedlove can be viewed as a broken women destroyed by white society so much so that she cannot even love her own children. Although Pauline does not conform to the white standards of beauty by straightening her hair or wearing makeup she finds herself engulfed in the picture shows and the beautiful white women she sees displayed on the silver screen. So as a result “[Pauline] was never able…to look at a face and not assign it some category in the scale of absolute beauty”, which explains why as soon as Pecola was born Pauline “knowed she was ugly” (122 -126). Despite their being lots of characters that evoke emotion and empathy from the readers it can also be said that the large amount of characters throughout the novel can become overwhelming as well as confusing and cause the reader to question who the main characters
are. Pauline’s infatuation with the women she sees on the silver screen play into the major theme of appearances that is a motif that can be seen within almost every character throughout the novel. For example, Claudia understands the internalized racism that exists within her community and that “the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured”, and because she understands this concept she finds herself transferring the resentment that she feels towards all white people towards the dolls that she is given as gifts (20). Toni Morrison’s memorable characters, universal themes, and impactful language as well as her abandonment of the master narrative all make this book unique, one that is remembered throughout the years, and a great American novel.