Examples Of Oppression In The Bluest Eye

Michael D’Aulerio

Mrs. Roux

English Honors 3

17 April 2023

Shattered Dreams: An Analysis of Beauty, Identity, and Oppression in The Bluest Eye

The American Dream is based on the notion that one can achieve individual and societal value through hard work and determination. Unfortunately, societal values can be flawed and often detrimental, preventing those outside of society’s expectation from discovering their own morality and self-worth. Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, is set in a highly racialized small town where every character’s description highlights their loss of humanity from the town’s oppressive norms. In The Bluest Eye, Morrison critiques the American Dream by exposing how societal pressures and unattainable beauty standards

Geraldine’s high social standing from hard work should serve as a model of success in the black community. However, in the process of climbing the social ladder, Geraldine abandoned her black consciousness and humanity in exchange for white virtues of cleanliness, wealth, and order. Natalia Czajkowska, in a case study on Geraldine, explains that “the process of her self-loathing begins with her idealization of white standards and by adopting them into her life … [resulting] … in a total negation of her true identity.” In search of prosperity through white beliefs, Geraldine has learned “how to behave … In short, how to get rid of the funkiness. The dreadful funki- ness of passion, the funkiness of nature, the funkiness of the wide range of human emotions” (83). The “funk” Geraldine wipes away is her black roots of joyful expression and community support. Now, Geraldine takes no pleasure in sex or spending time with her family, and she instills the same emotional insuffincies in her son. She teaches him to live to a higher standard than the “niggers,” and prevents him from playing with the other children, which prolongs the cycle of black self-hatred in the community. Also, when Geraline meets Pecola, she immediately devalues her, “having seen this girl all her life” (91) and calls her “a nasty little black bitch” (92). Geraldine condemns Pecola because Pecola reflects all of the black qualities which she despises in herself, further perpetuating the harmful effects of internalized oppression. Morrison suggests that the venture for and internalization of white ideal of success strips black people of their cultural