The Bluest Eye Rhetorical Analysis

In the novel The Bluest Eye the author Toni Morrison employs a plethora of literary devices in order to convey not only the adversities of our heroin Pecola, but also to bring attention to some of the deeper more pressing issues in, then, contemporary society. Through her novel Morrison demonstrates how internal racism, and societal perceptions of beauty are damaging to not only the individual being marginalized but also society as a whole. One of the reasons, I will argue, that Morrison uses imagery, diction, and tone to illustrate the repercussions of internalized racism, societal norms beauty standards. In the Bluest Eye Toni Morrison's tone when describing what is, in essence, the ideal black women is entirely bland to the point of

In an excerpt Morrison describes theses women as “such girls live in quiet black neighborhoods where everybody is gainfully employed. Where there are porch swings hanging from chains. Where the grass is cut with a scythe…”(Morrison 82). In the quote her diction paint a lifestyle that is the quintessential American dream; yet it is still hollow for she is only going through motions and expectations of everyday life. Morrison diction give sense of detachment from reality. The lives of these women are so systematic untill they seem more like machines than people. In another instance the author describes a sex scene with one of Geraldine (the quintessential black women) and her husband “she hopes he will not sweat--the damp may get in her hair; and that she will remain dry

She says that “what they do not know is that this plain brown girl will build her nest stick by stick, make it her own inviolable world, and stand guard over its every plant, weed, and doily, even against him”(Morrison 84). In this excerpt Morrison uses a metaphor to compare how Geraldine has constructed her nuclear family to how a bird goes about erecting a nest. However in making her family like this she has eliminated the human element in her family dynamic. In this configuration her family is more similar to a military unit with each vessel serving a distinct, specific purpose all for the sake of fulfilling some misson. In reality no normal family can function that way because as its members grow and mature their roles change, but more importantly a healthy family is full of love, care, and genuine emotion. However, rather than embrace these emotions intertwined in family life she shunned them trying to protect her meticulously constructed world and “stand guard over its every plant, weed, and doily.” as if a family is something that can be set almost like a dinner table. To Geraldine Pecola is a threat to her perfect world, because she is dirty, uncouth, and black. To her Pecola’s blackness and dirtiness is something that is utterly unbearable for her, because it is a stark illustration of everything she strives avoid and to shelter her family