The Bluest Eye

Racism in The Bluest Eye The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison presents ideas of racism, and how that affects those of color in the society at the time. The idea of anger from the set ideals is expressed in different ways is clear and comes up many times within the novel, as well as the idea of ugliness, and what that’s perceived to be. On page 174 in the novel, one of the main characters in the novel, Pecola, goes to Soaphead, a psychic of sorts in the community, to try and get blue eyes. The…

Throughout The Bluest Eye, “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” (page 20). The characters live in an the mid-1900s where only girls with blonde-hair, blue-eyes, and white skin are considered beautiful. Throughout The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison explains that beauty is on the inside. In the novel, the influence of popular media is unveiled through the effect…

appearance. They don 't feel that they are as beautiful as the women on TV and magazines. The media is mentally brainwashing American females that they are not thin enough, or have blonde hair and blue eyes. This causes women to have hatred against the perfect ideal females. In Toni Morrison 's novel The Bluest Eye two of her fundamental characters, Claudia and Pecola show hate toward others, and themselves since they are not as beautiful as the superior females. “It had begun with Christmas and…

In the novel The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison the theme is appearance, the black characters in the novel have been taught their whole lives to trust that whiteness is the perfection of attractiveness. The characters in the story are constantly subjected to images of Caucasian people through books, candy, toys, and movies. In the beginning of the book we see the characters Pecola and Frieda rave over Shirley temple’s beauty, and later in the story we find out Mrs. Breedlove goes to the movies and…

of beauty, which is white. In this society minorities are taught to believe that whiteness is the paragon of beauty, that being white will assure a better qualified life and define better values in society and the community. Characters in “The Bluest Eyes” by Toni Morrison establish their sense of self-worth based on these ideas of beauty. The protagonist of the novel, Pecola Breedlove, an eleven year old black girl who believes that she is ugly and that having not…

Different from many other writings of American literature that discuss the periods of deep racism that took place, The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison, does not become involved directly with those events, instead, it focuses on exploring the remaining effects of race through self-hatred. Many characters from the novel who are African American are devastated with the cultural and already imposed notions of white perfection to the limit that they hate themselves for not being up to society`s…

conversation of Morrison with one of her black school friend who desired to have blue eyes—“she said she wanted blue eyes. I looked around to picture her with them and was violently repelled by what I imagined she would look like if she had her wish. The sorrow in her voice seemed to call for sympathy, and I faked it for her, but, astonished by the desecration she proposed, I “got mad” at her instead” (The Bluest Eye, Foreword).Morrison’s novel is an attempt to project the psychological…

Change is inevitable, and it is a wave in a stormy ocean that can either bring a person down or lift them up. In Toni Morrison 's The Bluest Eye, the Breedlove family is dragged down by the constant reminder that they are not a beautiful family, and how they never will be. The standards of beauty corrupt the Breedlove family, causing Pauline to become insecure and take her insecurities out on her family; and Pecola 's friendships suffer, as well as her sanity from her many hardships.…

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye: Racism and Self Worth Ever since the beginning of American history, race has played a role on how people view themselves, whites being the higher value versus blacks. In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, Morrison unveils the values of the social community and how white standards affect how African-Americans value themselves. The life of Pecola Breedlove depicts how the social pedestal can make a 12 year old black girl feel unloved, and ultimately corrupt her…

Knowing certain societal constructs and expectations can be a major burden on every individual within that society. In Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” we see a young girl named Pecola Breedlove struggling with her community’s beauty standards, causing her to consistently beg for blue eyes. While the poem “Much Madness is divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson shows that while the majority who follow all of the “rules” may be the truly be the ones that are mad, the ones who go against the grain are…