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The Bluest Eyes By Toni Morrison

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4 Surprise Swate Student no: 2015153295 The Bluest Eyes. Beauty is equated with whiteness by the Western culture and this is portrayed in Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eyes. Pecola and Pauline Breedlove are absented from existence by society’s notion that Caucasian features are the standard of beauty and the Breedlove women do not reach those standards. Thus, they are “ugly” and their presence is not recognized. We look at Nussbaum’s (1997) Cultivating Humanity theory put into words the notion of the white standard of beauty that the Breedlove women have personalized, Du Bois (2008) double consciousness theory, and Spivak’s (1988) repetition-in-rupture theory, as well as Kristeva’s (1982) abject theory with close connection and textual …show more content…

This objectification of women by men not only rests on mature women but young children too. The female objectivity of the two female or even any black female is invented by the seemingly white culture, predominantly white men. Morrison points out that every black female never mind the age, living in this society is subjected to the gaze that alienate them from existence. This is shown in the scene where Pecola is raped by her father Cholly: “…he staggered home reeling drunk and saw his daughter in the kitchen…he could not tell what he saw or felt” (Morrison, 1970). This double oppression of a young black girl in a patriarchal society is an example of Du bois (2008) “double consciousness”. Pecola is also a symbol of the black community’s self-loathing and belief in its own ugliness. She is absented even more from existence by her mother when she tells her of the ordeal and she doesn’t believe her but beat her instead. This cause Pecola to self-loathe and absent herself from existence because she is made to believe that the bad experience she had was her fault. Pecola is pushed furthermore into her imaginary world, which is her only shield against the pain of her existence. This becomes evident of the power that men have over women in this society. Pauline is powerless to speak up and fight for the equality of women, more especially her daughter’s. Morrison used Kristeva (1982) “silencing the abject” theory and Spivak (1988) “can the subaltern speak” theory as examples to show how women are made to personalize the abuse and objectification by their patriarchal partners. Pauline’s only time when she feels powerful, loved, pretty and not alienated is when she has sexual intercourse with Cholly: “…I feel his flank just graze my behind. I know he wants me to come first. But I can’t. Not until he does. Not until I feel him loving me. When he

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Toni Morrison, the first black women Nobel Prize winner, in her first novel, The Bluest Eye depicts the tragic condition of the blacks in racist America. It examines how the ideologies perpetuated by the dominant groups and adopted by the marginal groups influence the identity of the black women. Through the depictions of white beauty icons, Morrison’s black characters lose themselves to self-hatred. They try to obliterate their heritage, and eventually like Pecola Breedlove, the child protagonist, who yearns for blue eyes, has no recourse except madness. This assignment focusses on double consciousness and its devastating effects on Pecola.

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In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she validates her theme of how society can corrupt people through the portrayal of a conflicted society of racism to show segregation between the white and nonwhite, symbolic blue eyes to portray what the characters desperately desire in order to have a better life, and an abused

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