Living Past: Racial and Social Themes in The Bluest Eye

Morrison’s The Bluest Eye appears to be a commentary that discusses how past history is living present in a political, social, racial and personal sense. The novel was published in 1970, with a setting of Midwest America post The Great Depression, inferring that although many years had passed Morrison still feels that the same issues of society live on. The past oppression of racial discrimination and domestic issues appear to be present in the novel, affecting characters fates and initial choices. These issues surround the novel, taking part in the plot and ultimate downfall of the main characters.

As a key character, Pecola Breedlove shows how past history repeats itself in the living present. Pecola is a victim of her parents’ background,

As a child, Claudia seems to resent black exploitation from the past as she does not embody the longing for ‘white perfection’ as other characters do. After receiving a white doll with blue eyes as a present, Claudia resents it and states ‘I could not love it’ (p. 19). It could be argued that the doll symbolizes prejudice against black people and how the appearance of white skin and blue eyes is preferred. As Claudia does not favour the white stereotype, it seems as though she is not living in a state of self -hatred that seems to stem from the past and live on in the present for others. Claudia and Pecola Breedlove are in the same age group, yet it could be argued that she does not affiliate herself with the same longing that Pecola feels to be ‘saved’ from black injustice by the appearance of blue eyes. Furthermore, it is argued by a critic that ‘Claudia MacTeer is Morrison’s persona in the novel, her fictional “second self” . The Bluest Eye seems to reflect this, as Morrison wants to highlight black prejudice by opposing it in her novel. It could be suggested that Morrison uses Claudia in the novel to represent her own resentment and need to break away from the past, stopping it living on in her own present, as well as the present of society. Claudia seems to provide a sense of hopefulness for the future rather than a cycle of personal antagonism, represented in

There is a sense of repetition the persistent repugnance within the black community’s view of their own race. Although black families such as the Breedlove’s are incessantly discriminated against in all aspects of life, it could be argued that their ugliness is only added to by their issues of self-loathing, ‘No-one could have convinced them that they were not relentlessly and aggressively ugly’ (p.36). The Breedlove family have built up a vigorous detestation for themselves, therefore they cannot escape from their own past loathing that repeats itself through generations. However, it could also be argued that there are some who are trying contradict past history living in the present. Morrison herself reiterates in the foreword of the novel ‘Most others, however, grow beyond it’ (p.5). As a result, it could be argued that The Bluest Eye is an on-going battle of those who want to move on from past idealistic appearances and those who are left behind to wallow in their own