Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye and Walt Whitman's I Hear America Singing - Literature review Example

Toni Morrisons "The Bluest Eye" Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye is all about a young black girl called Pecola Breedlove who lives with her family but she lives a difficult life in that, Pecola’s father, Cholly, abuses alcohol and her mother, Pauline has a lame foot and always feel isolated. Her parents engage in fight constantly, and Pauline encourages her husband’s violent behavior and this makes Pecola starts to think that if she were prettier, her parents would be living in harmony. Pecola prays for beauty every day and since she equates beauty with whiteness, she prays for blue eyes in order to change the way she perceives the world and the way others perceive her, and so she believes that if she had blue eyes, she would be loved and admired and her life would be transformed. Other children for her dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes mock her and this makes her yearn for blond hair, blue eyes, and this way, she is sure her family will fit in. While at school, Pecola is teased by boys and a light-skinned girl called Maureen Peal, and also a young boy from the neighborhood, Junior convinces Pecola to visit her and attacks her with a cat, later he kills the cat and blames Pecola forcing his mother to yell at her and kick her out. While drunk, her father rapes her and when her mother finds her unconscious on the flour and tells her that Cholly has raped her, Pauline does not believe it and hits her instead. Later on, Pecola becomes pregnant with her fathers child, but the baby dies when born prematurely; thereafter, Pecola begins to lose her mind believing that her wish has been fulfilled and that she has the bluest eyes. Morrisons novel examines some of the significant themes of ideal America such as race, gender, identity and difference among others. To begin with, The Bluest Eye novel depicts how racism is real in America and this is expressed in the lives of various characters but mainly racism affects Pecola. Morrison emphasizes on racism as the primary African-American obstacle and the novel covers both the inter-racial as well as intra-racial problems. The black community seeks to meet the white standards of beauty and they desperately focus on how to be accepted by the whites (Bharati and Joshi 40). According to Pecola, beauty and whiteness are connected and so she believes that when she acquires the blue eyes, people will love her and the discrimination and teasing in her life will be gone and receive affection and respect instead. More so, she believes that if she were prettier, her parents would live peacefully and harmoniously because largely, Pecola and her family are mistreated because they happen to have black skin. Truly, the novel provides an extended depiction of the manner in which white beauty standards deform the lives of the black especially girls and women, and the implicit messages that whiteness is superior have been spread throughout the novel. For instance, the belief that light-skinned girl, Maureen, is more beautiful as compared to other black girls and the perception of white beauty in the movies among others is a depiction of racism. Additionally, Pauline’s preference for the little white girl of her boss over her own daughter and also “ the way she fantasizes about the movies stars shows that she too is a victim of an internalized racism” (Bharati and Joshi 41). In addition, Cholly also gets humiliated by two White men who find him having sex for the very first time and forces him to continue as they watch. Gender is also another issue that prevails in the novel, for instance, Cholly constantly beats his wife and Pauline has no choice but to put up with his violent husband in order to reinforce her role as a martyr. Moreover, when Pecola is raped by her father and informs her mother about the issue, Pauline fails to believe her and beats her up instead. Identity and difference is also common among Americans and this novel has covered this. For example, Pecola has difficulty embracing her identity, as she believes that being black means ugly and she therefore associated beauty with whiteness forcing her to yearn for blond hair and blue eyes just like the whites to help her overcome all the problems she is facing. She wishes to have blue eyes in order to see things differently and for her to be perceived differently by others, this shows that she is not content with who she really is. There is also class difference present in the novel as seen when Pecola associates beauty with the middle-class who are the whites, and the blacks are perceived to occupy the lower class. All these confirm that race and gender are problems that have existed and still prevail in modern societies with most people especially the black and women being the victims. Morrisons story offers the possibility for transcendence following the supremacy of the whites as revealed in this novel, and Pecola’s belief that beauty is associated with whiteness, that is, blue eyes and blond hair confirms how the whites are perceived as being supreme and their dominance in the society. Bloom posits that Morrison’s novel covers “the most subtle implication of the general society’s perception and definition of beauty” (Bloom 36). Racism, sexism, gender, discrimination are the common themes in Morrisons novel that are experienced in the contemporary world. Accordingly, Morrison has significantly used various literally devices to ensure cohesion and coherence in his work. Ideally, literary devices play a leading role in communicating a better understanding of the theme or themes of the story to make the story lively and interesting. Primarily, Morrison has used imagery particularly symbolism to make the story lively. For instance, the blue eyes symbolize the beauty and happiness according to Pecola because she associates the blue eyes with the middle class-the whites and she believes that if she has blue eyes, she will be able to see things differently and be seen differently. Therefore, the blue eyes seem to symbolize the cultural beauty attributed to the whites in America. More so, the Marigolds has been used in the novel to symbolize security and welfare of Pecola’s baby and Claudia and Frieda have faith that if the marigolds grow, then Pecola’s baby will be fine. In addition, Morrison has successfully used myth by covering or revealing the widely spread association between whiteness and supremacy. Furthermore, the use of characters like Pecola, Cholly, Pauline and others have contributed significantly to the structuring and formation of this story successfully, and themes such as racism, gender, and sexism has helped structure the story appropriately and in a more interesting manner. These themes reflect what is happening in the contemporary world and how they interfere with people’s relationship in modern societies. Overall, Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye and Walt Whitmans poem I Hear America Singing differ greatly. As Morrison novel depicts racism and gender that is common in America affecting individuals especially the black community, Whitman’s poem talks of diversity of every person of the United States. The poem is an artistic representation of equality between individuals and between sexes, and the poet hears voices of all the people who contribute to the life and culture of America. More so, the poem celebrates those people making America great. Unlike the bluest eye novel where Pecola is teased or mocked by other children for having black skin and curly hair, diversity is the prevailing idea in the Whitman’s poem and so there is no racism or even discrimination depicted in the poem, only togetherness for the good of all Americans. Again, there is no case of gender inequality depicted in Whitman’s poem since individuals of all sexes are given equal consideration. This is not the case in Morrison’s novel where gender is one of the prevailing themes depicted in the story. Moreover, Whitman’s poem talks about and emphasizes on good parenting, but this is not the case in Morrison’s novel where Pecola suffers in the hands of her parents, her father rapes her while her mother prefers nursing the white little girl over her. Works Cited Bharati, Megha, and Joshi Lal Mani. Race, Class and Gender Bias as Reflected in Toni Morrison’s First Novel the Bluest Eye. Journal of Literature, Culture and Media Studies, 2009. No.1, pp. 37-45. Bloom, Harold. Toni Morrisons the Bluest Eye. New York: Infobase, 2009. Print. Read More