Bluest Eye Beauty
Claudia MacTeer
Claudia suffers from the same mentality of most of the characters in the novel; she is insecure about materialistic things and knows that beauty belongs to white people. Claudia does not believe white is beautiful because she sees it, but because she is told and exposed to how others view beauty. Claudia believes white is beautiful because everyone who is older says it is. Claudia subconsciously defines beauty as having a good personality.
When Claudia is given a doll for Christmas she tries to love it like she’s seen the way other girls do. Claudia found the doll to be a nuisance; she said it was “suppose to bring me great pleasure, [but] succeeded in doing quite the opposite.” (18) The doll made Claudia uncomfortable, she was fascinated by others infatuation with the dolls. Claudia tried to find the love in the dolls; she figured if all these people loved the doll, there must be love hidden inside. As she searched for love she found nothing, she ended up dismembering the doll and finding no inkling that there was love hidden inside the doll.
Claudia does not understand why others find white people to be beautiful; she wants to understand why no one sees black as beautiful. Claudia is comfortable in her own skin, she accepts who she is, a black girl, and she doesn’t have a problem with it. Although Claudia does not feel inferior towards white people and their looks, she is jealous when Maureen, a white student from class says, “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute!” (53) When Maureen tells Claudia this she is jealous that Maureen is seen as cute and she is not. Claudia realizes that no matter how she views beauty others will still think she is ugly and Maureen is beautiful, or cute.
In the end, I believe Claudia finds beauty. She is confident in herself, and she does not have a self-esteem issue, or at least not as bad as the other characters. She realized that the only reason everyone else felt better about
Claudia suffers from the same mentality of most of the characters in the novel; she is insecure about materialistic things and knows that beauty belongs to white people. Claudia does not believe white is beautiful because she sees it, but because she is told and exposed to how others view beauty. Claudia believes white is beautiful because everyone who is older says it is. Claudia subconsciously defines beauty as having a good personality.
When Claudia is given a doll for Christmas she tries to love it like she’s seen the way other girls do. Claudia found the doll to be a nuisance; she said it was “suppose to bring me great pleasure, [but] succeeded in doing quite the opposite.” (18) The doll made Claudia uncomfortable, she was fascinated by others infatuation with the dolls. Claudia tried to find the love in the dolls; she figured if all these people loved the doll, there must be love hidden inside. As she searched for love she found nothing, she ended up dismembering the doll and finding no inkling that there was love hidden inside the doll.
Claudia does not understand why others find white people to be beautiful; she wants to understand why no one sees black as beautiful. Claudia is comfortable in her own skin, she accepts who she is, a black girl, and she doesn’t have a problem with it. Although Claudia does not feel inferior towards white people and their looks, she is jealous when Maureen, a white student from class says, “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute!” (53) When Maureen tells Claudia this she is jealous that Maureen is seen as cute and she is not. Claudia realizes that no matter how she views beauty others will still think she is ugly and Maureen is beautiful, or cute.
In the end, I believe Claudia finds beauty. She is confident in herself, and she does not have a self-esteem issue, or at least not as bad as the other characters. She realized that the only reason everyone else felt better about