What Is The Mood Of The Extract From The Bluest Eye

The extract from the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison outlines the casualties that an African-American family faces from a young girl’s perspective. The author effectively uses the point of view of a young girl to instigate both a sympathetic and empathetic response from the reader. The transition of the narrator from a bewildered to an understanding individual also leaves an impressive impact on the reader. This shift in character illustrates the young girl becoming mature. Thus, this extract can be viewed as a reflection of the narrator’s past.
This excerpt is written in the point of view of a young girl named Claudia. This method of the author’s leaves a profound effect on the reader in contrast to how the reader would have received or responded to the passage if it was an adult’s perspective. This effect emerges due to an individual’s natural tendency to specifically sympathize with children, and try to understand their situation and its effect on them. Therefore, the extract would be read and analyzed in a more intense manner. For example, “Adults do not talk to us -- they give us directions. They issue orders without providing information,” leaves the reader reflecting upon the naivety of children and their automatic response
Due to the family’s low social status, they are forced to work in order to create a decent living for themselves. The children are also obliged to work to help their family. Therefore, the family has both a duty to themselves and to the society to fulfill. Another theme in the excerpt is perseverance. Despite the harsh conditions the narrator and her family live in, they are persistent and diligent at working. Even the illness of her daughter does not stop the mother from completing her chores. Suffering is another theme that may be tied with the theme of duty. Because of their need to live and provide, these obligations result in the suffering of all those of a low-class