Analysis of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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In the novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison readers are taken throughout the daily lives of African Americans who are faced with numerous trial & tribulations. Already facing the harsh reality that they were inferior to the white race. There were many families throughout this story that was faced with this stigma, however it seemed that the Breedloves had it just twice as hard. A series of social problems of which African Americans were victims to during the 1940s-1060s such as Rape, interracial prejudice, and mental illness. First and foremost, it's important that I state that Toni Morrison’s real life indeed does correlate with the actual story, The Bluest Eye. Just as the the little girl narrating the story was nine years old in 1941, so was Morrison. Another similarity is that one particular family, The MacTeer’s that endured a great deal of struggling during The Great Depression, as did Morrison's. While also stating that one of the character’s, Claudia grew up listening to her mother play the violin, just as Morrison did. How can you love when you have never received love? Neglected as a child by your own mother, dismissed by your own father. It seemed that Cholly, Pecola Breedlove’s father had quite a hard life. Not forgetting the racist whites who made him have sex with that girl right in front of their eyes. The humility & ridicule he constantly felt. When he met & impregnated Pauline with Pecola he even questioned how would it be possible for him to love her when he still had so much anger in his heart. Situations or moreover things that occurred throughout this story seemed to affect or better yet impact the African Americans depicted in this reading differently. Rape being one of them. Particularly this left a lo... ... middle of paper ... ...n the problems African Americans had within their own culture. The concept of beauty was quite tough when lightskin such a Maureen Peal was seen as beautiful . She has even stated “ I am cute And you ugly.” Meanwhile someone of darker skin such as Pecola’s was perceived as ugly. If she was cute--and if anything could be believed, she was--then we were not. And what did that mean? We were lesser. Nicer, brighter, but still lesser. ... And all the time we knew that Maureen Peal was not the Enemy and not worthy of such intense hatred. The Thing to fear was the Thing that made her beautiful, and not us. (Morrison,75) Either you accepted the ridicule and in turn believed it yourself or you knew your self worth and striked back. African American women seemed to have went through it all, but the challenge to keep on going was the most difficult of them all.

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