Set in the 1940’s, Toni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eye” is a tale of Pecola, a young Negro girl shunned by society for being ugly due to her skin colour and appearance. Morrison explores life in America during the late 60s and early 70s in which American culture was influenced predominantly by the white race. Using a creative approach, Toni Morrison explores the white ideal that the Negro population strives to attain to shed light on an arguably different kind of racism. Through the use of characterization and symbols, she explores the existence of internal racism within the Negro culture by exposing the reader to multiple white ideals that cause conflict in the novel as a means to represent the white race as superior.
Although not explicitly discussed in the novel, Pecola’s character is used as a representation of the white population as being the superior race in America.
The Bluest Eye provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of Negro girls and women, in particular Pecola. Pecola’s obsession with attaining blue eyes is a representation of the ideals of beauty in America, which …show more content…
Her struggle to incorporate race without being racist is present in her novel Bluest Eye in which she cleverly depicts an entire race without involving the characters in the novel. However, although not directly depicted in the novel, Morrison manipulates her characters to reflect the representation of the white population as superior and classy, above the other races. Through Pecola’s obsession with blue eyes and her Shirley Temple cup, the reader is able to understand that the white race is associated with beauty, which the lower classes strive to attain. The representation of the mixed race characters also depict that association with whiteness automatically elevates
Although not explicitly discussed in the novel, Pecola’s character is used as a representation of the white population as being the superior race in America.
The Bluest Eye provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of Negro girls and women, in particular Pecola. Pecola’s obsession with attaining blue eyes is a representation of the ideals of beauty in America, which …show more content…
Her struggle to incorporate race without being racist is present in her novel Bluest Eye in which she cleverly depicts an entire race without involving the characters in the novel. However, although not directly depicted in the novel, Morrison manipulates her characters to reflect the representation of the white population as superior and classy, above the other races. Through Pecola’s obsession with blue eyes and her Shirley Temple cup, the reader is able to understand that the white race is associated with beauty, which the lower classes strive to attain. The representation of the mixed race characters also depict that association with whiteness automatically elevates