Racism in Tony Morrison's The Bluest Eye
Through her book, The Bluest Eye, Tony Morrison shows an extreme example, to the black community and to the world, how societies racist and false beliefs on beauty and selfworth can do serious harm if believed and taken to heart. What better character to show these reprocussions than Pecola Breedlove, a passive and impressionable little girlwho lacking self esteem and parental guidance, buys into it all hook line and sinker and believes herself to be one of the blackest ugliest girls ever. Morrison uses Pecola and the characters in pecolas life to explore the dangers involved for the black community and all communities alike to buy into the idea that white, and only white was beautiful. These social standards produced by the media and white peoples views at the time were idiodic and biased, yet where fairly universal in america at that time. These social standards were unneccesarily hurting people, and Morrison wanted to show the suffering that can arise from buying into those beliefs.(Borey) Morrison tells that she got the creative inspiration for the Bluest Eye from a classmate she had in emelentary school. The girl wished for blue eyes, and morrison saw that in wishing for blue eyes she was wishing for a different identity ot
This ideal of beauty was a major factor in Pecola's phycological breakdown, because the only thing pecola saw as beautiful was features she would never have. Church is a light skinned black male, who comes from a family of all light-skinned blacks who "marry up" or only marry equally light skinned people so as their children have more white features and less black. (Borey) In Autunm a horrible thing happens to the Breedlove family when Cholly burns down the house. Morrison shows a scene in whish Pauline is pregnant with child and is waiting to see a doctor. The character of maureen is a very important one as it is with this character that Morrison shows how a whole society can buy into the belief that to be white is to be beautiful, that the more white you looked the prettier and more worthy a person you are. Eddie Borey, a successful literary interpreter sees the interpretation that the land might be barren as a reference to Pecola's life in that the soil reflects Pecola's tradjedy. I am cute!" Afterwards Claudia starts to think about it and she decides that Maureen isnt the enemy after all, that it was the "thing" that made Maureen cute and other girls ugly and that was the real enemy. They wonder why no one else has commented on pecola's beautiful blue eyes and they both conclude that it must be purely out of jelousy. The story is centered around a little girl named Pecola Breedlove, who comes from a poor, troubled home. After that episode They continue to walk until the three girls got into an argument with Maureen, in which Claudia tell Maureen that she is not cute but ugly and attempting to hit her. The prelude to the story tells of how Pecola will be impregnated by her father, and talks of the land being barren that year. Church scams her into thinking that he can and will do this and all she has to do is feed a dog some meat. One day church is approached by Pecola who asks for some magic to make her eyes blue.
Common topics in this essay:
Harlow Morrison,
Shirley Temple,
Afterwards Claudia,
Eddie Borey,
Bluest Eye,
Pecola's Mother,
Morrison Pecola,
Pecola Breedlove,
Maureen Claudia,
Tony Morrison,
blue eyes,
shirley temple,
black ugly,
light skinned,
ideal beauty,
beautiful white,
beautiful blue eyes,
girl named,
skinned black,
land barren,
claudia frieda,
black person looked,
hair blue eyes,
light skinned black,
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Acceptance Essays
