Theme Of Prejudice In The Bluest Eye

In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, inter-racial prejudice is shown within the African American community through the societal privilege that is given to those with the cookie-cutter form of a perfect life. The definition of beauty and success in The Bluest Eye, is having lighter skin, money, and portraying yourself in a well-behaved manner. This form of beauty is out of reach for many of the characters in The Bluest Eye, but for those who are able to hold the privilege of having this beauty, they are treated better by not only black people, but white people as well. This beauty is envied by those who are not able to reach it, and some try desperately to find out how to achieve this advantage. In the beginning of The Bluest Eye, it seems …show more content…
Throughout the book, Claudia tries to figure out what makes one person better than another, and why one person is seen with as more valuable. Nearly everyone around her tells her that this type of person is better than the other, but no one tells her why, because no one actually knows why. Claudia says, “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. ‘Here,’ they said, ‘this is beautiful, and if you are on this day ‘worthy’ you may have it’”(21). Believing that one race is better than another leads to the same thinking within a race. The majority of the people within the community have been taught that people who are defined as ‘beautiful’, are automatically seen as better. While many have accepted this unfair fate, the majority are still angry that they can not, and will never be able to be on the same level as the privilege. This anger at the world leads them to try and make themselves feel better by searching for anyway to have some superiority over someone else. When three boys insult and terrorize Pecola they “seemed to have taken all of their smoothly cultivated ignorance, their exquisitely learned …show more content…
Through Maureen Peal, The Bluest Eye shows the benefit of having privilege in society. Through Geraldine, the book reveals how much of a toll it is to be the cookie-cutter wife, and how even though someone’s life seems perfect, they could actually be suffering. The people in the community have a big impact on what is acceptable and not acceptable in the book. By being told that one person is better than another constantly in their lives, they slowly begin to believe it, and then the cycle does not stop. In The Bluest Eye, the prominent inter-racial prejudice, negatively affects the lives or not only the disadvantaged, but the privileged as well, and how there is no definitive answer to how to live a perfect life in this