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Themes Of The Bluest Eye

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Analyzing The Bluest Eye
In the novel, The Bluest Eye, author Toni Morrison integrates many social and structural forces and themes throughout the story that are central to understanding the character’s experiences. Varying forms of oppression, and issues surrounding gender, race and social class are prevalent in the book, affecting each character in their own way. As the story progresses we gain more insight into the lives of the characters which helps complete the picture of the intersection of the forces of gender, race and class. Each character in the story experiences an interaction between these forces, rather than only experiencing one or the other. Therefore, it is important to note that even though I will be breaking down each …show more content…

The rape is told through Cholly’s perspective and we only get to hear the way he feels and acts. We are neglected Pecola’s point of view and reaction, which shows how male oppression has the ability to mute women. In addition to violence the women and girls experience, the women in this novel engage in horizontal hostility. Horizontal hostility occurs when “individuals direct the resentment and anger they have about their situation onto those who are of equal or lesser status” (WVFV 63). The women in the novel are oppressed by the men, and instead of responding to the real threat of their oppression, they respond and create oppression against those of the same or lower status—in this case, other women and children. The women gossip about one another and put each other down for characteristics they deem undesirable. Mrs. Breedlove experiences this shortly after moving to Lorain, Ohio with Cholly. Mrs. Breedlove did not seem to fit in with the other black women she met, and they treated her poorly with “their goading glances and private snickers at her way of talking (saying “chil’ren) and dressing” (Morrison 118). In this situation, the women are engaging in oppressive acts against each other. When it comes to their children, the women dominate and oppress them through the use of physical force, such as when Mrs. Breedlove yells at Pecola and slaps her for spilling the pie, or when Mrs. MacTeer whips Claudia, Frieda and Pecola for “playing nasty.” From these

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