A Criticism of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

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The black way has never been an easy way. By the constructions of society, by its demand that there be an innate, horribly valid separation between the black man and the white man– the black way has never been right, nor fluid, nor gorgeous, nor terribly affectionate. Not by any literary standard. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye has been no exception. This has been her message; and again, as if to suggest a chant, the black way has never been a good way. To give some suggestion of a background to this piece, The Bluest Eye is told from the perspectives of two reflective women, Claudia and Frieda MacTeer, as they reminisce about their childhood, and the images of their friend, Pecola Breedlove as they all grew up through the years at hand in this book. Is this a coming of age story? Quite literally, but it is a dissonant one, apart from so many others-- and serves to further the message as stated above. If only to compliment it, then, puberty and growing into sexual prowess are developed by the same things that make up one’s moral sophistication– parents, one’s school environment, and their social environment. Pecola’s parents, her home life; none of it is the least bit welcoming, the least bit inviting. She cannot express herself as she grows into her body because she will be beaten for it. Her mother thinks her a liar, and her father is too plagued by his own mental images to care much for anyone apart from himself. He takes out his stresses on Pecola, as the reader will see in the last leg of the book; Spring respectively. This environment that Pecola grows up in is indefinitely “not the right way.” She is denied too much of herself, and this is why she goes insane, partially. There are many images that contribute to these the... ... middle of paper ... ...eb. 2014. Web. 6 June 2014. "The Bluest Eye." Totally and Completely Toni Morrison: A Novel Guide. Weebly.com, n.d. Web. 4 June 2014. Duvall, John N. The Identifying Fictions of Toni Morrison: Modernity, Authenticity and Postmodern Blackness. New York: Palgrave, 2000. Print. Grimes, William. "Toni Morrison Is '93 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature." The New York Times 8 Oct. 1993, Late Edition ed.: n. pag. Print. Smith, Nicole. "Literary Analysis of “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison : History and Slavery." Article Myriad. N.p., 15 Jan. 2012. Web. 4 June 2014. Bump, Jerome. Racism and Appearance in the Bluest Eye: A Template for an Ethical Emotive Criticism. Criticism. 2nd ed. Vol. 37. Austin, TX: U of Texas, 2010. Print. Sugiharti, Esti. Racialist Beauty: Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Thesis. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Collier, Eugeina. “Marigolds.” n.e., n.d. Print.

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