The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison

 

Introduction

            “The Bluest Eye” is the debut novel of Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. It is a profound exploration of racism, beauty standards and the human condition. It was first published in 1970 and is considered one of Morrison’s seminal works. Set in Lorain, Ohio, in 1940, the novel explores the devastating effects of racism on Young African—American girls. The novel is divided into different sections named after the seasons – Fall (Autumn), Winter, Spring and Summer.

            The story revolves around the life of a young girl named Pecola Breed Love, who years for blue eyes and believes that having them will make having them will make her beautiful and loved.

About Toni Morrison

            Toni Morrison, originally named Chole Anthony Wofford was an American writer noted for her examination of the black experience (Particularly the black Female experience ) within the black community. She received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993, She was the First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize. She normally wrote about racial discrimination. She also received a Pulitzer ‘Beloved’. She has published approximately 11 novels, among which world-famous novels are ‘Song of Solomon’, ‘The Bluest Eye’, ‘Sula’, and ‘Beloved’.

Historical Context

           The Bluest Eye is Penned down in the Era when the Civil Rights was at its peak. The basic themes and core issues of the Novel are the same as that of the Movement. Inside the Civil Rights Movement, another movement emerged stating that ‘Black is Beautiful’. The ‘Black is beautiful’ movement, is intended to wipe out the possibility that dark individuals, common traits, like the colour of the Skin, facial traits and Hair are inalienably appalling and ugly.

The Setting of the Novel

           The Bluest Eye happened in Lorain, Ohio. It is a small town located on the bank of the Lake Erie. The novel starts in 1940 when the economy of Lorain depends on the industry.

Summary of the ‘The Bluest Eye’

            The story of the novel starts with Nine-year-old ‘Claudia Mac Teer’, and her 10-year-old sister, ‘Frieda Mac Teer’ who lives in an old house in Lorain, Ohio. It is 1941, near the end of the Great Depression and their family struggles to make ends meet.

“Quiet as it’s kept, there were
 no marigolds in the fall 1941.”

            Although there is a tremendous sense of love in their home, their mother Mrs. Mac Teer is strict and punishes them often, but out of a sense of concern and love for her Children. Their father works hard to keep the family afloat. To help financially, the Mac Teer’s take in a boarder named Henry Washington. They later take in a young girl named Pecola Breedlove because her family’s house was down and ended up in jail Claudia and Frieda like Pecola, but feel sorry for her.

            Pecola and Frieda love Shirley Temple because of her beauty, but Claudia hates Shirley Temple. She also hates the similarly blonde and blue-eyed baby dolls that she is supposed to adore. The only thing Claudia likes to do is destroy the dolls.

“Adults, Older girls, shops, magazines

 newspapers, window signs all the

 the world had agreed that a 

 blue-eyed, yellow-haired, Pink

 Skinned dolls were what every

 girl child treasured.”

            Eventually, Pecola moves back into the apartment where her family lives and her life continues to be hard. Her father is an abusive alcoholic and her mother is neglectful and self-righteous. Her parents fight on a regular basis, and these altercations lead to physical violence by running away but Pecola being a young black girl is unable to escape. She believes she is fated to live her sad life because she is ugly, she is not white and because she lacks blue eyes. Her friend and other boys make fun of her several times. She prays for blue eyes because they will make her beautiful.

            Pauline Breedlove, Pecola’s mother is partially lame and often feels isolated. She loves movies, but they make her believe in her ugliness and that only the beautiful deserve love. She cleans a white woman’s home and it makes her hate her own.

            Pecola’s father, Cholly, was an abandoned Child raised by an Aunt who later died. During Cholly’s first sexual experience, two white men stumble upon the girl he has with and force him to continue sexual act as they watch. This humiliating incident leads Cholly to develop a hatred for women.

            One day during the spring of 1941, Cholly returns home drunk and finds Pecola washing dishes. He rapes Pecoal and leaves her on the kitchen floor. Afterwards, Mrs Breedlove beats Pecoal when she learns of the rape. In an act of desperation, Pecola visits Soaphead Church, a local Charlatan who claims he can work miracles and asks for blue eyes. Soaphed Church tricks Pecola into poisoning a dog he has long wanted to kill, stating that if the dog acts funny it is a sign she will receive her wish.

When summer arrives, Claudia and Frieda begin selling marigold seeds. As they make their way around the neighbourhood, they learn that Pecola has been impregnated by her father. Unlike the rest of the community, the girls want the baby to live. They spend the money they have made buying it at Pecola’s house and Plant the remaining marigold seeds in their backyard. They believe that if the marigold seeds grow their prayers have been answered and the baby will live.

            In the end, however, the seeds do not grow and Pecola babies die. Afterwards, Pecoal goes mad, and in her psychosis, believes she has received blue eyes.

Conclusion

            Overall, Morrison’s novel ‘The Bluest Eye’ provides an essential insight into the issues of discrimination that are experienced by many African Americans. But despite many changes, modern society is still subjected to these damaging effects of beauty perception.