Pecola Dehumanization

In The Bluest Eye, Morrison writes about how black individuals in a color-prejudiced society are negatively influenced by the inferiority imposed on them by white individuals, especially focusing on how this inferiority affects a young black girl named Pecola. Upon analyzing the novel, it is evident that the prejudiced social dynamics within the society result in the worthlessness of black individuals being determined by white individuals who claim to be superior due to their white skin color. In this way, the racial identity of the black individuals becomes problematic because their black skin color – a biological aspect of identity they have no control over – has a social connotation of inferiority that sets them apart from white individuals and ultimately deems them more like worthless objects than human beings. …show more content…
Pecola’s dehumanization and objectification is obvious when the man she attempts to purchase candy from has a “total absence of human recognition” and “does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see” (Morrison 42). One can deduce that this man’s inhumane treatment of Pecola is due to the socially accepted belief that black individuals are more like inferior objects than worthy human beings. One can infer, then, that Morrison believes this objectification is unjust because it is solely based on social meanings associated with racial identity and the prejudiced ideology that blacks are biologically inferior to whites due to their inherent skin