The Bluest Eye Essay

The book “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison takes place in a poor area of Lorain, Ohio in the year 1941. I think this is a great setting for the book. It teaches people now about the hardships that people of color (specifically African-Americans) had to face every day in the early 20th century. Although I like the setting now, I think it would be very interesting to read a book about the same topic in the present time. Hardships for any person of color still exist, even though it may not be as bad or easy to see. For example, in the book it talks about how hard it is for black and brown (brown is an umbrella term for a person of color that is not black) people to find and keep housing, and how hard they work to make it look nice so they can keep that housing.

The only exception to this rule would be female Asian-Americans, who are typically paid $0.13 more than a white female, but that usually does not apply to native Asians. Also, people of color with a clean record, specifically those with ethnic names, are less likely to be hired than a white male who has a prison record. These statements are both facts. Therefore, the unemployment rate of black and brown people is much higher, and if a black or brown person is able to get a job, they will not get paid what they deserve. Because of this, it is still harder for a person of color to find and keep housing than it is for a white person to find and keep housing. I can relate this to the early 20th century because the wage gap was more transparent and often told to you if your employer was not ashamed of being racist. The young girls in the book (Claudia, Frieda, and Pecola) suffer abuse from their white and wealthy next-door-neighbor, Rosemary Villanucci. Rosemary thinks she is prettier than the girls because she is fair-skinned, and will go out of her way to get the little girls in trouble in any way she