The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison - Research Paper Example

The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison The novel ‘the Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison illustrates the tragic effects of the white, middle class American young females that have influenced the African American young females during the mid nineteenth century. It elaborates the overwhelming inspiration of the young African American females who desired to be as beautiful as whit young females (Bloom, 2010). The novel is inspired of his elementary school conversation with the classmate who desired to have blue eyes. The main objective of this essay is to critically analyze the naturalism and realism aspects demonstrated in the novel. Therefore, we shall critically analyze the theme, characters and the plot of the novel (Bloom, 2010). The novel illustrates the psychological devastation of the young black girl named as ‘Pecola Breedlove’ who seeks for love and attention from the world, but is denied and devalued due to her race. The novel briefly illustrates the mental status off the young lady that slowly unravels her hopeless attraction and desire to attain American standards of feminine beauty regarding the skin color, blonde hairs and blue eyes. She considers that after possessing this beauty she will become popular and recognized as a white in the society (Lehan, 2005). The Bluest Eye has gained attraction through out the times in the literary critics (Lehan, 2005). The novel demonstrates the sensitive portrait of the racism bred in the American culture that has immensely affected the lives of several people, among them the novel focuses on the life experience of African American Female that has transformed the definitions of beauty for her (Bloom, 2010). Analyzing the plot and the characters of the novel, it shall be noted that the characters of the bluest eye, the white family, mother, father, Dick and Jane (Lehan, 2005). The lifestyle and the appearance of the character in the novel provide the readers with the real illusion of the American white people. In addition, the lifestyle described in the novel is similar to the lives of white Americans during the nineteenth century, when they were considered to be one of the higher status in the society, whereas the African American people were relatively poor and strived hard for living (Bloom, 2010). In addition, the were treated inferior and hatered in the society, that eventually influences the mental and desire of the character Pecola (young African American woman). The character Claudia remembers the first menses of Pecola and her girlhood adventures, illustrating the conflicts and violence among their parents that immensely influences the lives of Pecola and her brother Sammy (Bloom, 2010). During the times, Pecola consistently prayed for the blue eyes, as she believed that if she had blue eyes, she would be able to attain a better status in the life. The author in the novel illustrates the harassment and the hatred Pecola comes across in the school, when she was called with abusive words due to her darker skin; she was called ugly and names like ‘nasty little black bitch’. The way the author describes the event similar to the discrimination in the American culture on the base of different in skin colors (Bloom, 2010). The event in the novel illustrates the life and influences of the several other African American young girls that were victimized, blamed and treated inferior because of their skin color. The humiliation Pecola encounters in her life is realistic; this is because of the reason that the real events that took place in the early age of Pecola are reflect the true stories during the mid nineteenth century - before the time when the white American and black American were treated equally. The parents and the house of Pecola are identical to the real life events that have thousands of the African American girls faced in their lives (Kearns, 1996). The supremacy that the white Americans attained in the society paved the desires of the young African American girls that gradually started to believe that their appearance could make them gain attention and love in the society. It has also been observed during the period that the African American did not rejoice an equal status in the society; there were more likely to get involved in clerkly job (Morrison, 2007). Similarly, it has been demonstrated by the character of Pauline, who has been working as a maid for an affluent white family. Analyzing the theme of the novel, it shall be noted that the African American characters portray the self-hatred that was developed by the way the society treated young African American girl. This developed Pecola’s consciousness that in the American society the white middle class families are better than the black hopeless and working class families. This is because of the media and the way advertisement demonstrated beauty, degraded the appearance of blacks (Bloom, 2010). On the contrary, it appreciated the appearance of the white girls as a standard beauty (Morrison, 2007). This realistic and natural event has been illustrated through the strong desire of Pecola, who believed that her blue eyes should make her beautiful and admirable in the society (Bloom, 2010). The novel highlights the hatred for the African American that are being hated for their race, appearance, and blindly acceptance of media that depict African American as unlovable and ugly. Unlike Claudia, who is loved and nurture by her family for how she is. It has been observed that Pecola has become afraid and conscious regarding her appearance because of her parent’s devalued behaviors; besides this, she has been hated and rejected by the people who value ‘appearance’; these people also endured similar insanity like Pecola regarding the beauty and appearance (Bloom, 2010). The color naturalism has been extensively portrayed in the Bluest Eyes, it has been determined that gazes and the gazes of white are superior to others. “The color naturalism in the novel has been illustrated with the backdrop of loss conventional or semiotic. Color becomes an embellishment, a way of achieving naturalistic effects, of recapturing the world as it appears to the eye” (Bloom, 2010). This is evident from the statement that the eye that captures or dominated the world is dependent on the beauty of blue eyes (Bloom, 2010). Pecola has been degraded in the society because she does not fit into the white gaze. This eventually lead her believe that the desire to attain whit lifestyle and white culture is to attain by having blue eyes. The Bluest eye symbolizes the imagination and illusion of the flowers and the eye. It has been evident from the text that the different flowers and colors have been used to symbolize the beauty and structure the black race and white race, through developing superiority and inferiority among the people. Analyzing the various scenarios in the text, it is observed that the author has often symbolizes ‘dandelion’ to represent the African American Women (Bloom, 2010). Morrision also describes the women as ‘wild dandelion stems’ specifically commenting the dressing patterns as ‘wild roses sprinkled over it’. This shows that the author has made use of natural flowers to represent the African Americans and while Americans. It has been noted that the black American have been symbolized with the dirtiness and lower class flowers, whereas the upper and higher class flowers like roses and tulips. In addition, the life style and the white culture has been described as the vibrant and more classy as “the big white house with the wheelbarrow, (and how it is) full of flowers” (Bloom, 2010). References Bloom, H. (2010). Toni Morrison - The Bluest Eye. New York: Infobase Publishing. Kearns, K. (1996). Nineteenth century literary realism : through the looking-glass. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lehan, R. D. (2005). Realism and Naturalism: The Novel in an Age of Transition. London: Univ of Wisconsin Press. Morrison, T. (2007). The Bluest Eyes. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing. Read More