Analysis Of She, By Toni Morrison

Superior Essays
In the 40’s, it was a time for change a time to share the differences between people, a time where everyone was accepted, except anyone who was colored. During this time the KKK was prominent, segregation kept spreading, and colored people kept getting treated like animals. There was harmony between the whites but never between the colored and the whites. For these reasons, and many more, a colored child born in this era felt neglected not only by society but by their own families. Being colored meant being hated, so in hopes of being white colored people started to be white. They hated who they were so much that they would rather dye their hair blonde, wear clothes that white actresses wore in shows, and try to change their eyes. In Toni Morrison’s …show more content…
As Morrison was growing in an integrated neighborhood, she did not become fully aware of racial divisions until she was in her teens, “When I was in first grade, nobody thought I was inferior. I was the only black in the class and the only child who could read" (Ghansah 8). Morrison wasn’t exposed to racial divisions until she was growing and realizing that she was black and that no matter how hard she tried to change herself or seem remotely normal her skin color would never change. In the novel Morrison tells the story of an eleven-year old girl named, Pecola, who is described as poor, black, and ugly. Pecola’s entire life has revolved around racism and has been affected by racism, Pecola only sees beauty as being white or having the aspects of a white person. She has forced herself to be seen as ugly and useless. Morrison highlights, “how something as sick as the demonization of an entire race could take root inside the most delicate member of a society: a child; the most vulnerable member: a female.” Throughout the years Morrison has had to encounter moments where she was discriminated against and she has grown a firm understanding of what racism means to her and what effect it has on society. Today Morrison describes racism

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