Book Analysis: The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye
“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion” This quote is explaining that if every book is censored that no-one will be able to think or say what they really feel. (Shultz). The Bluest Eye is a very controversial piece of literature. Many people say that it should be burned due to the many inhumane activities included. On the other side, there are plenty of reasons why people say that The Bluest Eye is a very important piece of historically correct literature. The Bluest Eye has earned literary merit through its discussions of controversial issues seen in an African American child growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, which also resulted in its banishment due to the events that she goes through such as incest and rape.
The Bluest Eye is mostly narrated by an African American girl named Claudia MacTeer. However, there is a main focus on another young African American girl named Pecola Breedlove. Pecola’s mother is very cruel to her family by being a constant reminder that life will never equal what it would if they were of a different ethnicity. Pecola’s father, Cholly, drinks excessively and rapes his daughter later on in the novel. Despite both of their difficult lives, “Pecola, like Pauline, [yearn] to be seen as beautiful, they long for the blue eyes of the most admired child in the 1940s: Shirley Temple” (Bump).
Morrison recalls in elementary school, a young friend told her that she wanted to have blue eyes. Morrison writes, The Bluest Eye was my effort to say something about that; to say something about why she had not, or possibly ever would have, the experience of what she possessed and also why she prayed for so radical an alteration” (The Bluest 77). When she was writing The Blues Eye, Morrison was attempting to make people realize that there are socially acceptable versions of beauty. Those problems did in fact
“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion” This quote is explaining that if every book is censored that no-one will be able to think or say what they really feel. (Shultz). The Bluest Eye is a very controversial piece of literature. Many people say that it should be burned due to the many inhumane activities included. On the other side, there are plenty of reasons why people say that The Bluest Eye is a very important piece of historically correct literature. The Bluest Eye has earned literary merit through its discussions of controversial issues seen in an African American child growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, which also resulted in its banishment due to the events that she goes through such as incest and rape.
The Bluest Eye is mostly narrated by an African American girl named Claudia MacTeer. However, there is a main focus on another young African American girl named Pecola Breedlove. Pecola’s mother is very cruel to her family by being a constant reminder that life will never equal what it would if they were of a different ethnicity. Pecola’s father, Cholly, drinks excessively and rapes his daughter later on in the novel. Despite both of their difficult lives, “Pecola, like Pauline, [yearn] to be seen as beautiful, they long for the blue eyes of the most admired child in the 1940s: Shirley Temple” (Bump).
Morrison recalls in elementary school, a young friend told her that she wanted to have blue eyes. Morrison writes, The Bluest Eye was my effort to say something about that; to say something about why she had not, or possibly ever would have, the experience of what she possessed and also why she prayed for so radical an alteration” (The Bluest 77). When she was writing The Blues Eye, Morrison was attempting to make people realize that there are socially acceptable versions of beauty. Those problems did in fact
Cited: Bump, Jerome. “Racism and Appearance in The Bluest Eye: A Template for an Ethical Emotive Criticism.” College Literature 37 (2010): 147-170. Web. Henningfeld, Diane. “The Bluest Eye.” Novels for Student. Ed. Diane Telgen. Detroit: Gale Publications, 1997. 79-82. Print. Lee, Dorothy. “The Bluest Eye.” Novels for Student. Ed. Diane Telgen. Detroit: Gale Publications, 1997. 82-84. Print. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin Press, 1970. Print. “The Bluest Eye.” Novels for Students. 1st ed. 1997. Print. Schultz, Valerie. “Bluest Eye Controversy A Tragedy.” Bakersfield. n.p. 10 Feb 2006. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. Titus, Ron. “Banned Book Week.” Marshall University Libararies, n.p, 6 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. Weever, Jacqueline de. “The Bluest Eye.” Novels for Student. Ed. Diane Telgen. Detroit: Gale Publications, 1997. 84-87. Print.