The Bluest Eye by Toni Morisson - Essay Example

The Bluest Eye: Theme of Beauty and its Relevance I do believe that the incorporation of the novel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, in the college English course is of absolute necessity to address certain rudimentary issues in the society. The story, written by Tony Morrison, depicts the life of a young African American girl, Pecola Breedlove. Her father impregnates her with the strong desire to have the blue Caucasian eyes. In her belief, she sees this as an opportunity to become more beautiful and stand a chance in a society that appreciates beauty above character.

She believes that the blue eyes would in effect change his father’s perception of her to the brighter side of everything in her life. It depicts the sort of stereotypical communities we live in and the unconventional family settings that shape the fabrics of the modern society. Pecola, hailing from Ohio, sets to see the world through a different pair of eyes.Consequently, she plunges herself into the flaws of misguided perceptions that leads her down the road of failure. The new blue eyes that she dreams of helping us to see the norms and tradition of beauty without distraction in the lines of racial segregation.

Morrison keeps the reader enchanted to the realization of the facts that form the core of our society for so many years. He uses the theme of beauty to focus on the consequences of the decision made by Pecola. Amazingly, it is the way that the society appreciates human dignity by in accordance with the allocation of favorable materials or acquisition.Supposedly, those deemed beautiful get better chances in life, and that is the primary driving force for Pecola (Mbalia 28). She believes that beauty lies in the possession of blonde hair and blue eyes.

Toni Morrison captures the stigma that we embrace and questions its credibility as the only way of acceptance of some level of beauty in the society. Throughout the history, the society deems everyone as equal but that ideal case ceases to exist when in a real life situation. Its scripts shine boldly in the books of literature, state and federal laws.On the contrary, the practices of the society are entirely different from the writings in the books. Pecola represents a section of the community that thrives to find a sense of belonging in a narrow-minded society.

Conversely, Claudia was the antagonist in accordance with the story of her life (Mbalia 30). She grew to be fond of herself and proud of whom and what life made her. Clearly, she embraces her life and heritage that shows how powerful beauty besets upon someone that embraces it. Claudia sets herself out to gain experience and knowledge in a bid to look better than the blonde doll intended to represent beauty.In the modern world, the question of beauty and its relevance to your position in society is still prevalent.

The discrimination of people because of their look and sense of beauty is still viral. The idea that beauty determines what it is we have to achieve in life is still around us. If it were not people would not feel the need to modify their bodies regularly. It transcends many like eye color changing contacts and hair dye to other more intense forms of body modifications.Unfortunately, due to the consumer nation we live in, the history of our culture, and the fact everyone is different, the longing to look a certain way deemed “beautiful” is always present.

Beauty does not have to shape your reality, but in America, we are subconsciously raised believing that there is a certain particular way of success. Work CitedMbalia, Doreatha D. Toni Morrisons Developing Class Consciousness. Selinsgrove, Mass.: Susquehanna University Press, 2004. 28-38