She believes that if they were to lock eyes with her, they would realize something unpleasant: that she is no different from the white patients. With regard to invisibility, the early scene with Pecola in the candy shop also seems to be particularly telling. In speaking of Mr. Yacobowski, it says, “…he senses that he need not waste the effort of a glance. He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant store-keeper… see a little black girl? (48). What can be gathered from this is that the man, to some degree, has made a conscious choice not to look at her, not because he is physically incapable of doing so, but because he considers someone of her skin color insignificant, and not worth the energy necessary for acknowledgment. This theme underscores the difference between how one sees and how one is seen, also differentiates between superficial sight and real insight. Pecola’s desire for blue eyes is undoubtedly essential to examine when considering the power and impact of vision in the novel. Pecola is consumed with the thought of having blue eyes because she believes that they would be the simple panacea for everything that is unpleasant in her life. She is convinced that they will alter the way she is seen by others, and therefore the way that she sees the world around her. To Pecola, blue eyes and happiness, are inextricably linked. In a way, too, they represent her own
She believes that if they were to lock eyes with her, they would realize something unpleasant: that she is no different from the white patients. With regard to invisibility, the early scene with Pecola in the candy shop also seems to be particularly telling. In speaking of Mr. Yacobowski, it says, “…he senses that he need not waste the effort of a glance. He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant store-keeper… see a little black girl? (48). What can be gathered from this is that the man, to some degree, has made a conscious choice not to look at her, not because he is physically incapable of doing so, but because he considers someone of her skin color insignificant, and not worth the energy necessary for acknowledgment. This theme underscores the difference between how one sees and how one is seen, also differentiates between superficial sight and real insight. Pecola’s desire for blue eyes is undoubtedly essential to examine when considering the power and impact of vision in the novel. Pecola is consumed with the thought of having blue eyes because she believes that they would be the simple panacea for everything that is unpleasant in her life. She is convinced that they will alter the way she is seen by others, and therefore the way that she sees the world around her. To Pecola, blue eyes and happiness, are inextricably linked. In a way, too, they represent her own