Beauty and Race - All in The Bluest Eye? Analysis
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. Specifically it will discuss beauty and race, two very prominent themes in the novel, and how the author portrays them. As many people know, beauty is not how a person looks on the outside, but it is what they are on the inside. The girls in Morrison's novel are too young to comprehend that, but as they grow, they learn about real beauty and the very "ugly" truth of race and race relations in the rural South of the 1940s. White people may be "beautiful" on the outside as Pecola believes, but many of them are ugly and hateful on the inside as Morrison clearly illustrates, and that is one of most important lessons this novel has to offer. Anyone can be beautiful on the outside, but it is the interior of a person - their soul and heart - that really matter as Morrison shows in "The Bluest Eye.".This paper will look at race relations in the South in the 1940s, and Pecola's idea that if she were white, she would somehow be "better" or "beautiful." At the heart of this novel is Pecola's self-esteem and how race relations erase self-esteem and empowerment, and how the blacks of the story allow white ideas to color their ve
Toward the opening of the novel, Morrison writes of the Breedlove's "home," a miserable storefront, "They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they were ugly" (Morrison 38). The Breedlove's feel they are unsightly according to white principles, and so they live lives that bear out these principles. Because Pecola is an unattractive little black child, humanity always tells her she is "ugly. Later, Morrison writes, "Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike. She faces the worst kind of prejudice - that of her own family, and it colors her entire life. Pecola, Frieda, Pauline, and Maureen all establish their thoughts about beauty on the white film stars they admire, and they all sport blonde hair and blue eyes. An important aspect of the research will be into Morrison's own background, which she used in writing this novel, and how the novel has gained in popularity since its publication in 1970. Morrison writes, "Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike. She is a poignant and pitiable character, and the author uses her to show how blacks have allowed whites to shade their vision and their prospects throughout history. The point is, they are ugly inside, where it really matters, and this broadcasts loudly to everyone around them - they cannot ignore the ugliness inside Pecola's family, any more than they can ignore it themselves. Yacobowski absent her from existence" (Walther 777). It is real and alive, and it shows how hatred and bigotry affect everyone, both white and black, which is a good reason to stop bigotry from continuing in this country. Eventually, the girls become more "comfortable in their skins," but Pecola continues to yearn for blue eyes, the symbol of perfection and beauty to her, and she continues to struggle with this her entire life. What is outside on a person, their physical appearance, has always had great importance in our society, often to the detriment of a person's heart and soul. They create false expectations because of what white culture says is beautiful.
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