The Search for Self in The Bluest Eye
             Ugliness 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 Hudson-Weems point out that "the pivotal idea [in Morrison¡s novel] is the domination of blacks by the existing American standards of beauty: blue eyes, blonde hair, and white skin." (10). Due to this conditioning, peers at school torment Pecola. She does not possess the standards of beauty that are instilled in the minds of all the young children; therefore, Pecola is ¡§ugly.¡ They use her as a pawn to invoke disgust by saying, ¡§Bobby loves Pecola Breedlove! Bobby loves Pecola Breedlove!¡ (46). They make fun of the darkness of her skin and call her names, ¡§Black e mo Black e mo Ya daddy sleeps nekked. Stch ta ta stch ta ta¡ (65). Beautiful people are treated differently. In the scene where Bay Boy, Wo...