Racism In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

Race often plays an important role in how an individual is viewed based on societal standards and quality of life. A vast majority of the characters in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye attribute the difficulties they face and the outcome of their lives to being African American in an era when people with dark pigmentations of skin were viewed as second class citizens. Morrison’s novel focuses on the different spectives of African Americans, both male and female, who differ in the standard by which they live their lives based on their experiences with racism following the depression era of the twentieth century. The issue of race and class is essential in understanding the mindset and actions of characters such as those in The Bluest Eye, the lengths the characters were willing to go to in order to conform to society, and how consequential decisions they made in order to endure and to survive had a lasting impact on the quality of their lives. Race and class defined how characters throughout the novel dealt with elements such as beauty, self awareness, ethnic identity, morality and the idea of society’s opinions.

“‘You are ugly people’” (39). One of the first things that catch the eyes of Morrison’s readers in The Bluest Eye is the classism between her pages. Morrison digs deep into her character’s lives and sets up character flaws that will eventually fall victim to classism. Toni Morrison sets up strong foundations of classism in her book, The Bluest Eye, that shares a harsh truth between the children, adults, and ideas and concepts of beauty.

Toni Morrison, the author of The Bluest Eye, centers her novel around two things: beauty and wealth in their relation to race and a brutal rape of a young girl by her father. Morrison explores and exposes these themes in relation to the underlying factors of black society: racism and sexism. Every character has a problem to deal with and it involves racism and/or sexism. Whether the characters are the victim or the aggressor, they can do nothing about their problem or condition, especially when concerning gender and race. Morrison's characters are clearly at the mercy of preconceived notions maintained by society. Because of these preconceived notions, the racism found in The Bluest Eye is not whites against blacks. Morrison writes about

The media has become the world’s largest oppression outlet. Whether it be through movies, TV shows, or real-life news, the media has become capable of shifting one’s view on either yourself or other groups of people. Types of oppression that can result from the media include, but are not limited to, internalized oppression and interpersonal oppression. Internalized oppression is when a member of an oppressed group believes and acts out the stereotypes created about their group. Interpersonal oppression, on the other hand, is the belief that one group of people are superior to another group of people. Essentially, the media broadcasts ideas from interpersonal oppression and causes internalized oppression through the

The dominance of the white race is evident through the power that it holds in a traditional society. Throughout The Bluest Eye, Claudia and Frieda, two young black girls, gradually begin to hate Maureen Peal, a lighter-skinned “friend” with whom they attend school. Claudia and Frieda despise the beauty that other members of society see in Maureen and attempt to figure out the reason for Maureen’s power over themselves. Claudia argues that “Maureen Peal was not the Enemy and not worthy of such intense hatred,” and that the only thing they had to fear was “the Thing that made her beautiful and not [them]” (Morrison 74). When Claudia references the “Thing to fear,” she is addressing Maureen’s lighter skin tone and acceptance into society, and not her own blackness, despite the fact that Maureen is not a part of the white community. Claudia’s hatred toward Maureen illustrates the power that light-skinned, and primarily white, individuals have over blacks to deceive people as well as place themselves above everyone else. The ability for the white community to assume its position at the top of the social hierarchy

A standard of beauty is established by the society in which a person lives and then supported by its members in the community. In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, we are given an extensive understanding of how whiteness is the standard of beauty through messages throughout the novel that whiteness is superior. Morrison emphasizes how this ideality distorts the minds and lives of African-American women and children. He emphasizes that in order for African-American women to survive in a white racist society, they must love their own race. The theme of race and that white skin is more beautiful is portrayed through the lives and stories told by the characters in the novel, especially the three girls Claudia, Pecola and Frieda. Through the struggles these characters have endured, Morrison shows us the destructive effect of this internalized idea of white beauty on the individual and on society.

The desire to feel beautiful has never been more in demand, yet so impossible to achieve. In the book “The Bluest Eye”, the author, Toni Morrison, tells the story of two black families that live during the mid-1900’s. Even though slavery is a thing of the past, discrimination and racism are still a big issue at this time. Through the whole book, characters struggle to feel beautiful and battle the curse of being ugly because of their skin color. Throughout the book Pecola feels ugly and does not like who she is because of her back skin. She believes the only thing that can ever make her beautiful is if she got blue eyes. Frieda, Pecola, Claudia, and other black characters have been taught that the key to being beautiful is by having white skin. So by being black, this makes them automatically ugly. In the final chapter of the book, the need to feel beautiful drives Pecola so crazy that she imagines that she has blue eyes. She thinks that people don’t want to look at her because they are jealous of her beauty, but the truth is they don’t look at her because she is pregnant. From the time these black girls are little, the belief that beauty comes from the color of their skin has been hammered into their mind. Mrs. Breedlove and Geraldine are also affected by the standards of beauty and the impossible goal to look and be accepted by white people. Throughout “The Bluest Eye” Toni Morrison uses the motif of beauty to portray its negative effect on characters.

Russell M. Nelson once said, “We were born to die and we die to live.” Toni Morrison correlates to Nelson’s quote in her Nobel Lecture of 1993, “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she uses language to examine the concepts of racism, lack of self-identity, gender roles, and socioeconomic hardships as they factor into a misinterpretation of the American Dream. Morrison illustrates problems that these issues provoke through the struggles of an African American community during the1940s. Through the characters’ challenges of being accepted by society, the reader can blatantly see corruption not only in America, but also throughout the entire world. Morrison uniquely applies multiple points of view to tell the story of a young black girl who desires blue eyes in order to be socially “beautiful”. The reason the book is so effective is that Morrison bases the themes on personal experiences. By the end of the novel, we do not directly gain a sense of hope, change and progress for the future, but instead raises awareness of racism, sexism and self-identity. To convey the importance of personal experiences vis á vis social issues, Morrison parallels crucial times in history to the novel. The author demonstrates how history affects her characters and how the characters’ lives in microcosm represent what was occurring globally at the time. The Bluest Eye offers the possibility for

Racial identities are ideological, social construct and phenomenon adopted by various literature. Many literature authors select the subject of race to identify the existing stereotypes of race in the modern and ancient societies. Toni Morrison reveals her beliefs about racisms through a graphic description of the Recitatif plot. The style allows the reader to experience the true nature of racism and revelation of personal traits without the use of race. In the short story, Recitatif, she deliberately denies her characters their racial identity contributing to the ambiguity fluctuating between the dominant races, white and black. The author reviews the historical events of the 1960s and 70s that promote the racial identities of White and African-Americans. Changing the expectations of her readers on the solutions based on stereotypes further spreading the awareness of the racial stereotypes that are controversial topics oh human existence (Löchle 4). The ironical nature, literature tricks, the plot of the story embrace the racial stereotypes unfolding in the narrative. The author engages her readers through closer reading through the adoption of literary elements, allowing the readers to fill in the gaps of the story. Through their participation, the readers develop an emotional attachment to the characters and the story generating deeper understanding and reversal responses. In particular, the ambiguity of racial identities of the characters shapes the racial indifferences and uncertainties. Morrison intention is for the readers to face their racial assumptions, which are over and over again contradictory. Proving the social and historical portrayals of two girls, she allows the reader to questions their stereotypes and understanding of the characters. Employing a variety of literary skills, and choosing not to disclose the racial identities of her characters Toni pre-occupies the reader with the idea of confronting their own racial stereotypes and prejudices.

The affiliation between beauty and whiteness limits the concept of beauty only to the person’s exterior. The characters are constantly subjected to images and symbols of whiteness through movies, books, candy, magazines, baby dolls and advertisements. Another example of the images and symbols in the novel is when the black protagonist, Pecola, feasts on a ‘Mary Jane’ candy.

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, is a story about the life of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who is growing up during post World War I. She prays for the bluest eyes, which will “make her beautiful” and in turn make her accepted by her family and peers. The major issue in the book, the idea of ugliness, was the belief that “blackness” was not valuable or beautiful. This view, handed down to them at birth, was a cultural hindrance to the black race.

When such caring disappears, disastrous results ensue. Thus, Morrison offers a part of the pattern of black interaction that sustains against the dissolution represented by Pauline’s refusal to mother her children, Geraldine’s distortion of the notion of family and Cholly’s destructive abuse of his daughter.

Throughout Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye, she captures, with vivid insight, the plight of a young African American girl and what she would be subjected to in a media contrived society that places its ideal of beauty on the e quintessential blue-eyed, blonde woman. The idea of what is beautiful has been stereotyped in the mass media since the beginning and creates a mental and emotional damage to self and soul. This oppression to the soul creates a socio-economic displacement causing a cycle of dysfunction and abuses. Morrison takes us through the agonizing story of just such a young girl, Pecola Breedlove, and her aching desire to have what is considered beautiful - blue eyes. Racial stereotypes of beauty contrived and nourished by

Growing up in the era where it was segregation and racism is scary. It really gives you an outlook on how people can be so cruel. For Toni Morrison growing up in Ohio during that time it really impacted her. Most of her books are about self acceptance. Also on how African Americans are treated. In the book The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison writes about how colored girls are treated young and old. How they try so hard to fit in. About how people judge them based off their color not even where they come from. How every color girl wants to be like a white and have blue eyes.

There are many reasons why people look back on their life. I suppose it depends on where you stand with yourself and how you choose to reflect. As of lately, I have felt the most content with myself than I have ever in my life. When I look back and reflect I see more positive than negative, even if the reality of that isn’t true. The most meaningful of my life experiences would be when I became a mother and when I found God. Although they both may sound cliché, it is how I found the right path in life. They both tie in together to make me a better person and provide me with a better sense of direction. At first, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to have children. But when it all happened it was like I transformed into a new person. I would watch my daughter sleep and I could think of all of these amazing things that I wanted to see happen in her life. I would mostly wonder what I needed to become so that we didn’t have a rough life. During these moments I became stronger. My motivation would build and like an architect I was creating this blueprint of a beautiful life. From that point on, I made it a priority to put my daughter and her happiness first. Once I did that, everything started to fall together; I had a sense of direction. I had so much support from my family and at the same time I sadly, started to lose friends. My friends had their own lives without kids. It was a bittersweet moment. It is true that when times get tough you see the true colors of others. I was a