ipl-logo

Theme Of Beauty In The Bluest Eye

806 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism and sexism in Toni Morrison,s Sula

The oppression by the standards of exterior beauty haunts majority of the characters in Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye. The concept of beauty is a theme in the novel that leads into a larger theme of self-hatred within the characters, struggling daily with an unescapable force in their community. Slavery might have been a matter of the past; however, society has chosen to target the less unfortunate, when exercising a form of racism to people who do not meet the standard of acceptance in the form of media. In The Bluest Eye, the author explores the persisting damage of how people have yet to overcome being objectified after many years under servitude. The chosen passage can indicate that the ugliness does indeed have a source and it comes from the indirect influence of the larger society with their imposed standards of white beauty. The obvious message being broadcasted constantly is that whiteness acts …show more content…

The imposed beauty standards are impossible to achieve by majority of the characters, seeing that there is no form of changing a person’s skin color. African Americans receive the message through media outlets that their own skin color is not enough to be acceptable as being anything but ugly. The imposing media of films with their all white cast members and commercialized items, exposes white beauty on an all-time high and it is this type of media leads the characters to have an unhealthy self-image and interpersonal relationships. The author depicts the characters to be powerless against these types of attacks through media that they simply accept what the majority has deemed as perfect characteristics that does not include their own physical traits. The notions of white beauty as a superior standard of appearance provides a clear deconstruction of people on a deeper

Show More
Related

How Does Atticus Finch Succeed Do You Try Again

443 Words | 2 Pages

The book states, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. ”(39) People should not judge other people's actions or choices because we never know what they experienced in their lifetime. As mentioned earlier, the time period that this book took place in was very judgemental on the color of people's skin and gender roles. On the contrary, many people may argue that the the color of people’s skin does not relate to their life experiences.

Read More

Willie Lynch's Stereotypes In The Life Of A Black Woman

1331 Words | 6 Pages

When you look at me what do you see? To society, I’m a black female who fits the stereotypical “wanna-be” black female wanting to have white hair textures. They watch carefully as I walk past them; afraid of my “black girl capabilities” solely based off of stereotypes that have been carelessly passed down from generation to generation. They think, “She’s probably unhappy with her dark complexion”. They wonder, “Why does she look so angry, it’s probably just another angry black woman.”

Read More

Labeling In The Bluest Eye

886 Words | 4 Pages

The world is filled with labels, some negative and some positive. When it comes to negative labeling, a person’s sense of beauty in themselves and in the world is impacted. In The Bluest Eye, author Toni Morrison uses her characters such as Pecola to illustrate how another’s labeling can alter the way one internalizes his or her own beauty; Morrison poses an overall negative storyline filled with labels and discrimination that in turn allows the reader to identify the highlighted and deeper beauty that is not always visible to the naked eye. Pecola, a young girl during a time of extreme racism and discrimination, is raised in an abusive and unstable home. The effects of the abuse on Pecola has a large impact on her views of the world and

Read More

Summary: A Genealogy Of Modern Racism

703 Words | 3 Pages

In the essay, “A Genealogy of Modern Racism”, the author Dr. Cornel West discusses racism in depth, while conveying why whites feel this sense of superiority. We learn through his discussion that whites have been forced to treat black harshly due to the knowledge that was given to them about the aesthetics of beauty and civility. This knowledge that was bestowed on the whites in the modern West, taught them that they were superior to all races tat did not emulate the norms of whites. According to Dr. West the very idea that blacks were even human beings is a concept that was a “relatively new discovery of the modern West”, and that equality of beauty, culture, and intellect in blacks remains problematic and controversial in intellectual circles

Read More

Beauty In The Bluest Eyes

1723 Words | 7 Pages

“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

Read More

Rhetorical Devices In The Bluest Eye

1648 Words | 7 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison takes place in Ohio in the 1940s. The novel is written from the perspective of African Americans and how they view themselves. Focusing on identity, Morrison uses rhetorical devices such as imagery, dictation, and symbolism to help stress her point of view on identity. In the novel the author argues that society influences an individual 's perception on beauty, which she supports through characters like Pecola and Mrs. Breedlove.

Read More

Colorism In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

1012 Words | 5 Pages

The minds of black people have been brainwashed into thinking that people with more European features are more beautiful. Janie’s appearance models power, reflects society’s hypocrisy, and shows the distinction between the inner

Read More

The Bluest Eye Conformity Essay

991 Words | 4 Pages

In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, the standards of

Read More

Symbolism In The Bluest Eye

1647 Words | 7 Pages

In The Bluest Eye, Morrison offers multiple perspectives to help explain the intensity of racism and what it means to be oppressed and degraded in society. Through the eyes of various characters, readers are taken on a journey during the 1940s to demonstrate how each black character copes with the unfair standards and beliefs that society has. While some of the characters internalize self-hatred and have the desire to be someone else, others do not wish to change themselves to fit into the societal standards. Throughout the novel, there are clear and distinct remarks that are made to help distinguish the difference between white characters and black characters which is quite crucial. Morrison uses dirt and cleanliness to symbolize how society

Read More

The Bluest Eye Beauty Standards Essay

975 Words | 4 Pages

What is the most pressing issue facing society today? In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison argues that it is beauty standards, even calling physical beauty “the most destructive idea[] in the history of human thought” (122). While this may seem outrageous in a world of terrorism, global warming, homelessness, and hunger, beauty standards and the feelings of inferiority that stem from them affect everybody. In severe cases, these feelings can even manifest themselves deeply inside of a person and lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, self-hatred, and even suicide. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison uses the insecurities of the female characters to demonstrate that beauty standards are a danger to society, as they perpetuate racism and self-hatred.

Read More

Theme Of Double Consciousness In The Bluest Eye

1542 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

Self-Worth In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

1172 Words | 5 Pages

Toni Morrison, in numerous interviews, has said that her reason for writing The Bluest Eye was that she realized there was a book she wanted very much to read that had not been written yet. She set out to construct that book – one that she says was about her, or somebody like her. For until then, nobody had taken a little black girl—the most vulnerable kind of person in the world—seriously in literature; black female children have never held centre stage in anything. Thus with the arrival of the character Pecola Breedlove, a little hurt black girl is put to the centre of the story. Pecola’s quest is to acquire “Shirley Temple beauty” and blue eyes – ideals of beauty sponsored by the white world.

Read More

Identity In The Bluest Eye

835 Words | 4 Pages

Morrison 's first novel, The Bluest Eye, examines the tragic effects of imposing white, middle-class American ideals of beauty on the developing female identity of a young African American girl during the early 1940s. Inspired by a conversation Morrison once had with an elementary school classmate who wished for blue eyes, the novel poignantly shows the psychological devastation of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who searches for love and acceptance in a world that denies and devalues people of her own race. As her mental state slowly unravels, Pecola hopelessly longs to possess the conventional American standards of feminine beauty—namely, white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes—as presented to her by the popular icons and traditions of white culture. Written as a fragmented narrative from multiple perspectives and with significant typographical deviations, The Bluest Eye juxtaposes passages from the Dick-and-Jane grammar school primer with memories and stories of Pecola 's life alternately told in retrospect by one of Pecola 's now-grown childhood friends and by an omniscient narrator. Published in the midst of the Black Arts movement that flourished during the late 1960s and early 1970s, The Bluest Eye has attracted

Read More

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

1563 Words | 7 Pages

Morrison is among the pioneer of those contemporary black writers who have redefined African- American writings in more ways than one. This assignment will focus on the aspects of gender bias and double consciousness in The Bluest Eye. The Bluest Eye works at different layers of the lives of black people. At one level it accounts for the racial discrimination faced by Afro-Americans throughout their life time.

Read More

The Bluest Eye Research Paper

1260 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More

More about Theme Of Beauty In The Bluest Eye

Related Topics

Open Document