The Bluest Eye
Michael Williams
Professor Henderson
English 1B
Sept. 28, 2011
The Males of The Bluest Eye
Finding good qualities in any of the men of The Bluest Eye are hard to come by. There are many factors that come into play that have shaped the personalities of all of these males. The female characters in the novel endured a lot in coping with the males. Toni Morrison does an exceptional job of painting a vivid picture of the social climate of America in the 1960’s and society’s affects on the people of The Bluest Eye. In a variety of ways, the males of The Bluest Eye have many issues in their past that cause them to act very callous, immoral and bring a lot of anguish to those around them. Even though some of the males played minor roles in the book, their behavior and actions played a major role in how it affected others. Mr. Yacobowski was the 52 –year-old white immigrant owner of the Fresh Veg. Meat and Sundries Store. Pecola visits the store alone to buy candy. When she walks in the store, Mr. Yacobowski looks at and treats Pecola as if she isn’t worthy of being treated any better. Mr. Yacobowski gives Pecola just enough attention so that she can purchase the candy and leave the store. “She looks up at him and sees the vacuum where curiosity ought to lodge. And something more. The total absence of human recognition --- the glazed separateness. She does not know what keeps his glance suspended. Perhaps because he is grown, or a man, and she a little girl. But she has seen interest, disgust, even anger in grown male eyes. Yet this vacuum is not new to her. It has an edge; somewhere in the bottom lid is the distaste. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her blackness.” (Morrison, p.48-49)
The way that Mr. Yacobowski made Pecola feel was very typical during those times. Although Pecola was a young black girl, Mr. Yacobowski would not deny her acceptance into his store because he wanted
Professor Henderson
English 1B
Sept. 28, 2011
The Males of The Bluest Eye
Finding good qualities in any of the men of The Bluest Eye are hard to come by. There are many factors that come into play that have shaped the personalities of all of these males. The female characters in the novel endured a lot in coping with the males. Toni Morrison does an exceptional job of painting a vivid picture of the social climate of America in the 1960’s and society’s affects on the people of The Bluest Eye. In a variety of ways, the males of The Bluest Eye have many issues in their past that cause them to act very callous, immoral and bring a lot of anguish to those around them. Even though some of the males played minor roles in the book, their behavior and actions played a major role in how it affected others. Mr. Yacobowski was the 52 –year-old white immigrant owner of the Fresh Veg. Meat and Sundries Store. Pecola visits the store alone to buy candy. When she walks in the store, Mr. Yacobowski looks at and treats Pecola as if she isn’t worthy of being treated any better. Mr. Yacobowski gives Pecola just enough attention so that she can purchase the candy and leave the store. “She looks up at him and sees the vacuum where curiosity ought to lodge. And something more. The total absence of human recognition --- the glazed separateness. She does not know what keeps his glance suspended. Perhaps because he is grown, or a man, and she a little girl. But she has seen interest, disgust, even anger in grown male eyes. Yet this vacuum is not new to her. It has an edge; somewhere in the bottom lid is the distaste. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her blackness.” (Morrison, p.48-49)
The way that Mr. Yacobowski made Pecola feel was very typical during those times. Although Pecola was a young black girl, Mr. Yacobowski would not deny her acceptance into his store because he wanted
Cited: Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970