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Beauty In The Bluest Eyes

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Recommended: Research in african american literature

“It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights - if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different.” In this quote found in Chapter 3, in the Autumn section of the novel, it showed the desire of Pecola to have the Bluest Eyes. Pecola wants to have blue eyes not because she wants to be beautiful but because she wants to change how she sees reality. Pecola experiences a lot of things and one thing led to another and she saw her parents have a violent fight, she thinks that the only solution to her pain is if she sees something different. In Pecola’s perspective, one’s physical appearance is the most important thing and that people …show more content…

Pecola, an 11 year old child was raped by her father. Pecola is an easy prey because she was just an 11 year old young girl, and she has no strength to voice out her concerns to the adults in the novel. She does not know anything about oppression and that’s how she became a victim of one. Because of what Pecola experienced, the physical abuse, that led to her psychological disorder. Pecola was emotionally abused by her classmates who usually called her ugly because she was black. She experienced a lot of things when she was in that age, and everything piled up which resulted to her mental abused self. Pauline breedlove, Pecola’s mother, did not care about her and neglected her the whole time. She was never there for her and was a very distant mother. When pecola told Pauline about Cholly raping her, she did not believe her but rather, she hurt Pecola for thinking that she was lying. Toni Morrison wanted the readers to know that the oppressors in the novel were also oppressed in their childhood and that made them do such thing. The parents of Cholly, Pecola’s father, abandoned him soon after his birth. Two white hinters forced him to have sex under a torch light. Cholly abuses Pauline and his other children and he is an alcoholic. Soaphead church abuses Pecola for making her believe herself that she already has the bluest eyes and that people will already accept her for how she

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She wrote that her inspiration for the story was a conversation she had had when she was little with another little black girl who had a fascination with blue eyes, much like her character Pecola Breedlove. Morrison is known for her stories that circle around how racism and misogyny affect black women. For The Bluest Eye, a little girl named Pecola Breedlove goes insane from the inhumane treatment she faces as an eleven-year-old african american girl in the Great Depression. There are many points in the book where she is dehumanized and treated less than dirt, even by her own parents. Her father in a bid to feel in control despite how much white men have controlled him, rapes his daughter and she becomes pregnant with his child.

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In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Morrison details the life of a young African American girl named Pecola who grows in Lorain, Ohio in the years following the Great Depression. The book’s purpose is to explain how and why Cholly Breedlove, Pecola’s father, came to molest his own daughter. An alcoholic and barbaric, Cholly's baleful and belligerent behavior is a reflection of his troublesome upbringing as a child. While only four days old, Cholly’s parents abandon him, leaving Aunt Jimmy to rescue and adopt him. Shortly after Aunt Jimmy dies, two white men devastate Cholly’s first sexual encounter, who coerce Cholly to continue while they smile contemptuously.

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Many people look up to their fathers, and wish to be just like them when they grow up. Other people turn out just like their parents as said in the quote “like father, like son”. In both Fences, eloquently written by august Wilson, and the film, Sins of the Father directed by Robert Dorhelm, the characters feel animosity towards their fathers due to their sins. William Shakespeare once said,” The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children”. This quote conveys that in the play “Fences”, written by August Wilson, and the film Sins of the Father, directed by Robert Dorhelm both Tom from Sins of the Father, and Cory from Fences, fathers made these characters to be very defiant.

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This is his coping with it, he runs away just like his father and mother did. Due to the fact that he never had a loving family, he ends up raping Pecola. All his life he has been oppressed and learned that you can’t blame the oppressors. The only thing you can do is pass the oppression along. He is the symbol of the perpetuation of oppression and how it cannot be solved.

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The author describes Cholly as child like," his reactions were based on what he felt at the moment" ( Morrison, p161), Cholly was mixed with two emotoins hatred and tenderson,. ( Morrison, p 163). After he raped Pecola, he would not pick her up from the kitchen floor, but would cover her up with a heavy quilt,leaving her alone. Despite Cholly's childhood , his behavior is no excuess to the abuse he inflicted on Pecola. I feel sad for Cholly's abuse as a young child, but I cannot excess his actions, that would effect another person in a negative

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Likewise, Morrison also uses symbolism for the duration of the novel to establish how people can judge a person based on their economic standing. For instance, symbolism is represented through the blue eyes that is repeatedly mentioned in the novel. The blue eyes represent the idealistic white middle class life that Pecola dreams of having since white people commonly have blue eyes. The reader can infer this suggestion because whenever Pecola is experiencing bad things she wishes to have blue eyes. Morrison writes, "If she looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different and Mrs. Breedlove too…Each night, without fail, she prayed for the blue eyes…

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The first piece in my portfolio is a piece of Pecola with blue eyes. One of the overarching ideas presented throughout The Bluest Eye is that white features, specifically blue eyes, is the epitome of physical beauty. Throughout the book, there is vivid visual imagery of blue eyes such as those of “lovely Mary Jane” (Morrison 50). The use of the word lovely further correlates her physical appearance and blue eyes with beauty. This causes Pecola to crave blue eyes so desperately that “every night, without fail, she prayed” in order to gain what she and everyone else unanimously view as beauty (46).

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This story punctuates the journey of Pecola in the 1940s where racism and sexism were prominent themes in life how her journey comes to represent fundamental problems with society. This idea finds fruition in the works of Morrison whose protagonist in the story attempts to be the ideal girls which she thinks can only happen through blue eyes. Also, in the current political and social period, this story holds particular significance as women’s rights have again come under siege whether it be through the pro-life laws that limit women’s choices. Therefore, the author advocates for a just society where equality can prevail, and humanity can take precedence over divisive politics and discrimination even though it is done through a creation of a realistic but unfortunate ending. Therefore, as pointed out by, Ted Chiang “Girls have always been told that their value is tied to their appearance; their accomplishments are always magnified if they're pretty and diminished if they're not” This thought can be clearly seen in “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.

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Pecola saw that Ms. Breedlove didn’t want anything with her and took care of the little white girl. This shows that Pecola is very unwanted and different from the world. Her mother showed this with the white girl. Ms. Breedlove was responsible to keep that house clean, but did overreacted a little bit to Pecola, which kind of wasn’t

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975 Words | 4 Pages

Pecola and her mother, Pauline, see themselves as ugly because they hold themselves to beauty standards in which light-skinned people are the ideal. Pecola and her mother have a brutal home life due to the drunken violence of Cholly Breedlove, and the constant pressure of beauty standards only adds to their misfortune. Morrison explains this pressure by asserting that “[i]t was as though some mysterious all-knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Pecola is challenged by the idea that her mother prefers her work life, that they have an outdated house, and that she does not look like the Shirley Temple doll with blue eyes. Morrison went into great detail when describing the elegance and beauty that was present in the Fisher home, to demonstrate that those who do not fit into the ideal American life often feel shame. The Breedlove family lived a very simple life, and in no way did they fit into what society believed to be correct. Mrs. Breedlove was the only member of the family that truly understood what the American Dream looked like. The work that she did for the Fishers lead her to envy the American Dream.

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1356 Words | 6 Pages

But it is not only the race and the colour of their skin what makes them unable to change their situation, but also poverty. Race and wealth are intertwined, and Pecola is the fundamental victim of this relationship, for she is a young black girl suffering from this ideology that determines her life. The dominant class imposes its values upon the other, for they think they are the best ones, reducing thus the personality of the people belonging to other classes, and at the same time, making them unable to change their oppressed situation, for they do not have the chance. They just accept their current position, and thus they will always be

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3280 Words | 14 Pages

It is the mother’s vulnerability to the racial standards of beauty that is transmitted to the daughter and ultimately leads to her victimization. In fact, the reason of Pauline’s vulnerability to the racially prejudiced notions of beauty lies in her relationship with her own mother. The relationship between Pecola Breedlove, the protagonist, and her mother, Pauline Breedlove, is ironically characterized by lack of love, and emotional attachment, indifference, frustration and cruelty. Set in a small town in Ohio, during the Depression, The Bluest Eye is the story of eleven year old Pecola Breedlove, who, victimized by the racist society, yearns for blue eyes, which, she believes, will make her worthy of love, happiness and acceptance in the

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African- American writings have dealt with manifold themes throughout history. The American Civil War can be considered a break-through in the political as well as literary history. Many texts were born with subtle experiences of racist attitudes in America. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye can be pinned to the African- American writings after the American Civil War movement of the 1960’s, representing a “distinctively black literature” what Morrison calls “race-specific yet race-free prose”.

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1) Society has change the way Pecola perceives herself and she has the idea in her mind that her life would be less miserable if she has blue eyes. She is always thinking that “if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” (Morrison 46). Pecola has gotten the impression of her life being complete if only she has blue eyes. She would see the eyes of others and become envious of their blue eyes. The boys at school would always pick on her and call her an ugly black girl.

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