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Similarities Between The Bluest Eye And The Color Purple

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Similarities Between The Bluest Eye And The Color Purple
Kaitlyn Queen
AP English IV
Mrs. Conner
In the two novels, The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye, the authors Alice Walker and Toni Morrison similarly observe the negative life effects caused by physical, sexual, and verbal abuse that can be destructive to the human mind and produce a shame within oneself as well as shaming from others. Both novels are set in the 1900s, presenting a racist and sexist environment that contributes to the dehumanization/ degeneration of a human being. In addition, love is often undefinable and misunderstood to a person who has experienced these detrimental encounters. Both authors write about very similar characters who lead extremely different lives with important stories that need to be shared. The plotline is similar in a few aspects; however the climaxes differentiate in that the protagonist in one novel gains immense amount of confidence and courage, while the protagonist in the other novel loses themselves completely.
The Color …show more content…
The racist views of society influence Pecola’s desires in life. The novel presents what is the ideal life in the title of the chapters through segments of the Dick and Jane story, but presents the reality of an African-American family in the text of the chapter. The Dick and Jane story is repeated three times in the opening scene of the novel. The first time it is presented, the grammar and structure is perfect, representing the perfect life of a white family. As the story is repeated, it becomes “’broken up and confused’” with the word run together to create a dysfunctional image in the readers mind (Bouson). By titling the segments of the book with parts of the story, Morrison “signals the increasingly fragmented world of the trauma victim” and allows the reader to predict what the real lifestyle of the family is because it is opposite of the story
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