Essay on The Bluest Eye

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Blue eyes, blonde hair, white skin.

This being what most African American girls desired in the 1940s. This was considered

“beautiful” to African American girls in the 1940s. In Toni Morrison’s first novel and national bestseller

The Bluest Eye, eleven year old Pecola Breedlove grows up as an abused and unloved daughter. One of

the first events that happen in the story is when Pecola begins to menstruate and is told that she can

now have babies and that she is starting to grow as a woman. Then later in the story, she is raped and

impregnated by her father, resulting in a traumatic, sexual coming-of-age. She is labeled as an outcast,

someone who does not belong with the rest because of the color of her skin. She wants to escape

the world that she has been brought into; a world of hate, racism, and ignorance. She then desires to

become beautiful, so she prays for blue eyes. After a year of hoping and praying, she does not receive

her wish. She goes to a spiritualist asking for blue eyes, and when she believes that her wish will come

true, she convinces herself that her eyes have become blue and that she is no longer ugly, but beautiful.

Being a minority in a time of absolute prejudice, Pecola grows in the face of adversity, strife, and

tragedy. She is scorned by other children because of her brown eyes, dark skin, and curly hair that set

her apart from them. Because of these issues, she believes that whiteness is beautiful, and she is ugly.

She is wrongly blamed for things because of the color of her skin and the period of time that she lives

in, such as killing a boy’s cat, resulting in being called a “nasty little black…” by his mother. Then she is

raped by her own father, whom at that time was filled with mixed feelings of anger, hatred, and guilt.

When her

The Bluest Eye Violence

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison display a tremendous amount of violence throughout the book. Both of the novels deal with issues of race and culture and have different characters that struggle with their identities. However, without the use of violence in the novels, the readers would not get deeply involved and would not understand the characters as much as they would with the use of violence. Although Half of a Yellow Sun and The Bluest Eye have similar themes involving…

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The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Claudia Macteer, an independent and strong-minded nine year old girl is one of the voices in the novel that depicts her life at home and a portion of the huge occasions of the fall of 1939. It is a those limit of the incredible depression, and the girls’ guardian are more concerned with making a decent living over with lavishing consideration upon their daughters, yet there may be a undercurrent for affection. Henry Washington lived with them as a boarder together…

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The Bluest Eye Banned

The ban on “The Bluest Eye” in middle schools could be a beneficial thing to do. As a result of the book containing sexual scenes such as “Rape” and “Sex,” middle schooler’s minds aren’t fully developed enough to be able to go through a book like that. Knowing people in middle school books about sexuality can make kids curious about, what would the scene look like? Were they having fun with it? Can lead kids to be puzzled, which will make them go into pornography. Seeking out websites such as “porn”…

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bluest eyes Essay

rather unusual, considering that she did incorporate some of these ideas into her work. It sounds as though in this quote that by using such characteristics in a work, it somehow loads it down with extraneous details. However, in Morrison's The Bluest Eye, it only enhances the reading and furthers the reader's understanding of the timherself In accordance with the understanding…

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Beauty In The Bluest Eye

Especially in a time where because of her skin color she’s defined as “ugly”. Pecola lives in a world that inflicts black on black racism like a second language. Pecola lives a life filled with disappointment, abuse, poverty, and self-hatred. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison demonstrates the devastating effects that the media has on African American dark skinned females. The media gratifies being light skinned over dark skin through Mrs. Breedlove, and Pecola Breedlove The power of the media has a…

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The Bluest Eye Banned

The ban on “The Bluest Eye” in middle schools could be a beneficial thing to do. As a result of the book containing sexual scenes such as “Rape” and “Sex,” middle schooler’s minds aren’t fully developed enough to be able to go through a book like that. Knowing people in middle school books about sexuality can make kids curious about, what would the scene look like? Were they having fun with it? Can lead kids to be puzzled, which will make them go into pornography. Seeking out websites such as “porn”…

Words 556 - Pages 3

the bluest eye Essay

Actions and Reactions Toni Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye, writes about a young girl, Pocola, who goes through a rough childhood experiencing abuse, being ignored, racism, and early and unwanted motherhood. InThe Bluest Eye, Morrison discusses different family societal ideals in relation to their children's depiction of self worth. In the beginning of the novel reader is introduced to the main family the Breedloves. With a father, mother, and two children the Breedloves have a very hostile environment in their home…

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Essay on The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is a brilliant novel that shows the struggling life of a young black girl named Pecola Breedlove. It takes place during the 1940s in Lorain, Ohio. This book is seen through the eyes of Claudia MacTeer describing the interaction between society and Pecola. This novel shows how people believed that only one skin color was considered beautiful, white. Toni Morrison depicts how the beauty of white girls is overpowering the images of black girls and women through subliminal…

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The Bluest Eye Essay

Eyes Full of Color KalanitKnackstedt The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison is a novel that contrasts an ideal white family, with black families from the mid-1940s, Lorain Ohio. Pecola Breedlove is a young black girl from a very troubled family who is on a mission to find love; in her search she inevitably stumbles on her society’s dangerous concept of physical beauty. Morrison uses the seven literary elements to convey horrible truths about love and the harm of accepting racism. The central idea is…

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The Bluest Eye Quotes

Amiya Prema Sikidar Ms. Masick English 12 14 November, 2017 The Bluest Eye – by Tori Morrison In the novel, entitled The Bluest Eye, the author named Tori Morrison portrays the character of a black girl named Pecola, who was mistreated by her racist society, where whiteness was featured as superior to the social beauty standards with appearance, cleanliness, and value and blacks were viewed as worthless and dirty members of their community. A significant quote that expresses the darkness…

Words 212 - Pages 1