Oppression in Society

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Have you ever experienced oppression because of your race? In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, the author describes the life of a young black girl named Pecola and the black people around her. Young Pecola is surrounded by people that oppress her, like her father Cholly and her mother Pauline, as well as the black and white community, who also tend to oppress each other. Some sections of the book are narrated by the antagonist, Claudia, while the others are narrated by third person omniscient. The author conveys the main theme of the book by describing how black society were subjected to unfair treatment by white society. We see this by how Pecola and the black people around her react towards the oppression they receive. In the 1940’s, blacks suffered racism and oppression by white society. This theme of oppression is shown clearly throughout the novel by the symbolism and internal conflict that Morrison uses.
Toni Morrison’s symbolism represents the oppression that Pecola and the black community experienced. As Pecola is walking down the street to go the grocery store to buy candy, she sees dandelions at the base of a telephone pole. She wonders why nobody likes them. She thinks they’re pretty but always hears adults brag about their gardens being dandelion-free. Pecola thinks, “Nobody likes the head of a dandelion. Maybe because they are so many, strong and soon”(47). Pecola refers to the dandelions as being strong and numerous, making people dislike them for getting in their way. As she’s describing the dandelions she also describes the black community, hence the dandelions representing the black community. When Pecola says,”...they’re so many strong and soon,”she describes black people as being strong and every...

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...hange her life.
The black community in the novel had to suffer oppression from white society and this seen through symbolism and internal conflict. In the 1940’s black people were discriminated against simply because of their skin color, therefore treated with no type of kindness. This oppression is still seen in today’s society with racism, not only to black people but to other people of different races too. This oppression can also be seen with discrimination against people who are different or have different views. For example homosexuality, our society doesn’t approve of those who are homosexual. In order to stop this oppression among the people around us and our community, people should start treating each other with respect and not look down on each other simply because they come from different places or have different views.

Works Cited

The Bluest Eye

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