The Bluest Eye (A-paper)
The Search for Self in The Bluest EyeUgliness and shame permeate Pecola Breedlove's being in every step she takes, every word she breathes, and every thought that her mind conceives. Pecola spends her life seeking acceptance in the eyes of those around her. She believes that if she can just possess the blue eyes that all those white, blond, blue-eyed, Shirley-Temple-looking-girls have, then she will also attain the love and happiness that seems to emanate from every aspect of their being. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison depicts Pecola's life as dark, dreary and as a desperate search for that small detail of beauty that will change the way others see her and grant her that integral spark of existence that incessantly eludes her. Through Pecola's interaction with the other characters in the novel, Morrison shows us the destructive force of valuing our self-worth by societal standards of beauty.Morrison discloses victimization in many forms throughout The Bluest Eye. The prejudice that jumps out and victimizes Pecola seems to strengthen the idea that blue eyes will achieve for her the acceptance she seeks. As early as first grade we are conditioned to the ideal of American beauty. Samuels and H
Being deprived of a nickname as a child is one of the most disturbing memories she holds. Without a nickname, Pauline feels unclaimed by her family in any special way. This is where the conditioning begins: ". In this episode, Pecola comes to fetch the laundry from her mother at the Fisher's home and Pauline receives her with contempt: "Polly even begins to see her own daughter through the acquired astigmatism of the Fishers' world" (Klotman 124). When her front tooth becomes rotten and breaks off in the midst of biting into a piece of candy, she gives up on the idea that she might attain a trace of beauty. Harris concedes that nicknames bestow a special recognition on "an individual for a feat accomplished, a trait emphasized, or a characteristic noticed. The movie theatre and its make believe world is the only distraction that helps Pauline escape the loneliness that has become her life. There on the silver screen she learns the standards of beauty by which society measures her. Geraldine extinguishes Pecola--the funk--with venom in her words: "Get out. In this example, Pecola's belief that beauty brings happiness is reinforced. All Pecola hears and observes from the people and images around her is how ugly she is and how she does not fit into the aesthetic values that society has established: "They had looked about themselves and saw nothing to contradict the statement; saw, in fact, support for it leaning at them from every billboard, every movie, every glance, ¥yes,' they had said, ¥You are right' (39). The fact that her own race is prejudice against her blackness feeds Pauline's feelings of loneliness, alienation, and separation.
Common topics in this essay:
Samuels Hudson-Weems,
Dick Jane,
Blue Jack,
Pauline Fishers',
Maureen Peel,
Jean Harlow,
Lorraine Ohio,
Oh Lord,
Catering Fishers,
Maginot Line,
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standards beauty,
blue eyes,
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claudia frieda,
dick jane,
bluest eye,
maureen peel,
loves pecola breedlove,
bobby loves pecola,
values engraved text,
cain buddy wilson,
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Acceptance Essays
