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Pecola's Internal Struggle In 'Dandelion' By Toni Morrison

432 Words2 Pages

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The dandelions represent Pecola’s internal struggle because of her want to be beautiful and the contempt that this leads to from adults. It seems that all adults want to get rid of the weeds because they are ugly, but Pecola, on the other hand, thinks that they are beautiful. Pecola does not only view herself as a dandelion, but rather all black people, and in some cases, all women. When she is walking to Mr. Yacobowski’s shop, she thinks to herself, “they do not want the yellow heads - only the jagged leaves. They make dandelion soup. Dandelion wine. Nobody loves the head of a dandelion. Maybe because they are so many, strong, and soon (Morrison 47).” Pecola is realizing the views that society has of blacks and women. She sees this view when she talks to China, Poland, and Miss Marie. Black …show more content…

Society knows that if they do not have complete control over blacks, physically and physiology, they will grow and will overthrow their power, much like a dandelion in a field of crops would. They need to constantly keep their eyes on black people, doing whatever they can in their power to stop their spread. After visiting Mr. Yacobowski though, there is an obvious change in her perception of the dandelions. “They are ugly. They are weeds (50),” she thinks to herself while walking home. This change of perception is significant because she now views the once beautiful and strong dandelions, which represent who she is as a person, as ugly weeds. These now ugly weeds are juxtaposed to the white, beautiful, blue eyed Mary Jane. While eating the candy, she thinks to herself that “to eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane (50).” To her, the symbolic blackness of the weeds are no longer beautiful. But what is beautiful is the blue-eyed blondness of Mary Jane - of whiteness. She is continuing to mold into the person that society wants her to be, where she is easier to control, where she yearns for whiteness and despises her

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