For generations, "don't judge a book by its cover" has been a common phrase in teaching children not to use appearance as a factor of identifying other people. The phrase is extremely necessary. How humans perceive each other at first depends entirely on appearance; it is impossible to ignore when making a first impression. Because of this, elements of people like their attractiveness, gender, and race create factors of one's identity, separating them from other humans who fit different characteristics. But who gets to decide what these different groups are? The answer lies in society, more specifically the members of society who are given power. In Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye, the society of mid 20th century America featured in the
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For Christmas, Claudia receives a “blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink skinned” baby doll, since that was what “all the world had agreed...was what every girl treasured” (20). Instead, Claudia felt the opposite of the “joy and pleasure” (20) she was expected to derive from the doll. The doll felt lifeless and artificial; much like the reality she was forced to accept, the doll had been constructed to fit an image of beauty. However, Morrison demonstrates the prevalence of this idea by turning the whole world against Claudia. “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs” -all enforce the beauty of the doll (20) despite her disdain for it. They correct her and tell her “‘this is beautiful, and if you are on this day ‘worthy’ you may have it’” (21). Words and phrases like “worthy” and “may have it” imply that Claudia is not worthy of possessing something so beautiful since she is not appreciative of it. The message Claudia receives from the world around her also degrades her while glorifying an inanimate toy. Even from a young age, Claudia is the recipient of a large amount of social pressure to conform to acknowledging society’s idea of beauty. This pressure is everywhere and exists in every form of media or influence in her life; it is in inescapable. Such a large influence on a population, especially a younger population, imprints its
For Christmas, Claudia receives a “blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink skinned” baby doll, since that was what “all the world had agreed...was what every girl treasured” (20). Instead, Claudia felt the opposite of the “joy and pleasure” (20) she was expected to derive from the doll. The doll felt lifeless and artificial; much like the reality she was forced to accept, the doll had been constructed to fit an image of beauty. However, Morrison demonstrates the prevalence of this idea by turning the whole world against Claudia. “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs” -all enforce the beauty of the doll (20) despite her disdain for it. They correct her and tell her “‘this is beautiful, and if you are on this day ‘worthy’ you may have it’” (21). Words and phrases like “worthy” and “may have it” imply that Claudia is not worthy of possessing something so beautiful since she is not appreciative of it. The message Claudia receives from the world around her also degrades her while glorifying an inanimate toy. Even from a young age, Claudia is the recipient of a large amount of social pressure to conform to acknowledging society’s idea of beauty. This pressure is everywhere and exists in every form of media or influence in her life; it is in inescapable. Such a large influence on a population, especially a younger population, imprints its