Bluest Eye Allusions

In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, the narrator Claudia tells the story of a girl named Pecola who dreams to have blue eyes so she can feel beautiful in a white society. At the beginning of the novel, Pecola moves into Claudia’s home and becomes friends with Claudia and Frieda, who is Claudia’s older sister. This particular passage on page nineteen describes the three girls eating and playing together. Using three allusions, Shirley Temple, Bojangles, and Jane Withers, this passage highlights the importance of white beauty to the girls, its emphasis in society, and shows that Claudia is independent.
In this passage, Frieda and Pecola adore Shirley Temple, but Claudia hates the young actress. As an allusion, Shirley Temple represents white

beauty and emphasizes its importance to Frieda and Pecola, but also shows that Claudia is independent in her refusal to love the famous girl. While Claudia refuses to like Shirley, Frieda and Pecola admire her and her beauty. Frieda “was a long time with the milk, and gazed fondly at the silhouette of Shirley Temple’s dimpled face” (Morrison 19). She adores Shirley Temple, especially for her pretty face and looks. Both Frieda and Pecola continue to swoon over Shirley Temple and focus on her appearance. They “had a loving conversation about how cu-ute Shirley Temple was” (Morrison 19). In this quote, Morrison describes Shirley and calls attention to the word cute in a distinct way with the use of a hyphen in order to emphasize its importance in the sentence. While Frieda and Pecola obsess over Shirley Temple possibly because she is a young, talented actress, Morrison describes their adoration in certain ways, like Shirley’s dimpled face and the use of the hyphen between cute, that show that Frieda and Pecola actually adore Shirley because of her white beauty. Therefore, not only does society emphasize white beauty through actresses, fame, and the media, but the girls themselves also emphasize the importance of this type of beauty. Their adoration and fascination toward Shirley Temple highlights how important white beauty is to them. This foreshadows Pecola’s obsession with blue eyes, which further illustrates the importance of white beauty for her. Claudia, on the other hand, refuses to like Shirley Temple. She firmly proclaims, “I couldn’t join them in their adoration because I hated Shirley” (Morrison 19). In this quote, Claudia sets herself apart from her sister and Pecola and shows that she is independent with having her own opinions. Whereas Shirley Temple represents the importance of white beauty for Pecola and Frieda, who adore her, Claudia is independent because she does not like the young actress.
The second allusion in the passage, Bojangles, shows that Claudia hates Shirley Temple because he symbolizes the emphasis on white beauty in her society.

Using Bojangles, Claudia provides the example that there is an emphasis of white beauty in the movie industry. Claudia admits, “I hated Shirley. Not because she was cute, but because she danced with Bojangles, who was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with me” (Morrison 19). Bill “Bojangles” Robinson is an African-American actor who plays various roles alongside Shirley Temple. With the word “my” written in italics, Claudia comments that her and Bojangles share a connection due to their same race, but it is Shirley, and not Claudia, who dances with Bojangles. With this tone, Claudia suggests that Shirley Temple dances with Bojangles because society emphasizes white beauty. As an allusion, Bojangles symbolizes that white beauty is not just important to the girls themselves, but also for

society.
Following the reference to Bojangles, an allusion to Jane Withers casts Claudia as independent in recognizing society’s emphasis on white beauty.

As a young actress who plays as a nemesis to Shirley Temple, Jane Withers shows that not only does Claudia disagree with her sister and friend, but that she also voices her own opinion. Instead of agreeing with Pecola and Frieda, Claudia says, “I like Jane Withers” (Morrison 19). Claudia disagrees with her friends, and says she likes another actress. It is interesting that Claudia picks a young actress who plays a character who is mean to Shirley Temple. By choosing Jane Withers, Claudia is attempting to fight against society’s emphasis on white beauty that Shirley Temple represents. Frieda and Pecola, however, do not understand Claudia. Slightly annoyed, Claudia says, “They gave me a puzzled look, decided I was incomprehensible, and continued their reminiscing about old squint-eyed Shirley” (Morrison 19). Pecola and Freida do not understand why Claudia likes Jane Withers, but not Shirley Temple. Pecola and Frieda’s reaction show that they are victims of the emphasis on white beauty, but Claudia, however, can recognize its importance and shows that she is independent in her thoughts and

opinions.
Three allusions, Shirley Temple, Bojangles, and Jane Withers, illustrate the importance of white beauty to the girls, especially Frieda and Pecola, and the emphasis on white beauty in society. In the passage, Claudia also shows that she is independent by disagreeing with Frieda and Pecola and by recognizing the societal emphasis on beauty.