Bias In The Bluest Eye

Do children absorb bias? In recent years, children from Russia and Ukraine, in light of the recent wars between their countries, have been taught that the opponent is evil, although both are of the same blood and ancestry. Other children around the world are being placed in studies which explore this effect of society on their minds. In America, some children participated in the doll experiment, in which two toys were placed in front of them; one black and one white. When asked which doll was more beautiful, most of the kindergarteners pointed to the white one. Through this study, it was evident how a society that glorifies whiteness and puts down color manifests itself into the minds of youth. Similarly, Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye …show more content…
Why, she wonders, do people call them weeds? She thought they were pretty”... Throughout her life, Pecola experiences much trauma from children and adults alike due to society’s standards, but she also realizes that there is something wrong happening in the world around her. There are many examples of Ms. Breedlove being attacked by those directly influenced by these standards, with one being on page 62 of The Bluest Eye, which describes the role of socioeconomic status in children's lives: “She was rich, at least by our standards, as rich as the richest of the white girls, swaddled in comfort and care. The quality of her clothes threatened to derange Frieda and me”. This excerpt is about the situation in the novel where a new light skinned girl was introduced into the neighborhood. Her name was Maureen Peal, and she was adored by absolutely everyone in Lorain, Ohio. Because the girl was rich and had white mixed into her bloodline, she was automatically accepted and regarded as higher on the social ladder than Pecola’s type of impoverished, simple black folk. Although genetically and roots-wise Pecola and Maureen Peal have no major difference, they were programmed to perceive each other as rivals just because of the difference in their clothes, their homes, and their popularity; all factors of socioeconomic status. Such a situation can also be paralleled to that of the society of the 21st century, where children examine and judge each other based off of wealth. However besides wealth and socioeconomic status there is a larger reason for why the youth grows up to be a certain way; parental influence, and it is visible both in the 21st century and Pecola’s lifetime in The Bluest