... us to experience an absolutely wonderful and influential story. In an endeavor to find how the "Blues Aesthetic" interferes and interacts with the reader's perception of the novel, Cat Moses attempts to discover the necessity of the emotional content in The Bluest Eye. Moses understands that the reader is constantly overwhelmed by the emotionally effecting content - Pecola's incestuous rape, ensuing pregnancy, and abandonment by her community - that we ... nature, however, Pecola's cycle of renewal is destroyed when her father rapes her. Another aspect that Morrison uses in The Bluest E...

• Word Count: 2626
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... only her eyes were blue. "The Bluest Eye" gives a wide depiction of how racism affects life in a black community in Lorain, Ohio, in the 1940's. Morrison uses two narrative voices. The first and the predominant voice is of an omniscient narrator in the third person, responsible for the characterization of all the characters. The second is the voice of Claudia, whose memories frame the events of the novel. Claudia narrates her story from ... had asked her what she wanted, it would not have been a white doll, actually she did not want to have anything for Christmas. In the foreword of "The ...

• Word Count: 2371
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... she can overcome this battle of self-hatred by obtaining blue eyes, but not just any blue. She wants the bluest eye. Much of the narration comes from Claudia MacTeer as a nine year old child, but Morrison also gives the reader the insight of Claudia reflecting on the story as an adult. some first person narration from Pecola's mother, and narration by Morrison herself as an ... for how long white ideas of family and home have been forced into black culture. Instead of conventional chapters and sections, The Bluest Eye is broken up into seasons, fall, winter, spring, and summer. This type...

• Word Count: 1112
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... peace prize award winning African American writer who wrote The Bluest Eye. The Bluest eye is the sadden tale of a young black girl in a black community. When reading the novel, you meet and interact with many of the characters. Pecola Breedlove, the main character who suffers significantly in the society she's placed in. Her brother, who consistently tries to escape the mad house. Pauline and Cholly Breedlove, her unhappily ... religion, and physical abuse. The research will focus on, in the The Bluest Eye, the themes of the white standard of beauty, rejection, and the skin tone hierarc...

• Word Count: 2499
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography

... this battle of self-hatred by obtaining blue eyes, but not just any blue. She wants the bluest eye. Morrison is able to use her critical eye to reveal to the reader the evil that is caused by a society that is indoctrinated by the inherent goodness and beauty of whiteness and the ugliness of blackness. She uses many different writing tools to depict how "white" beliefs have ... for how long white ideas of family and home have been forced into black culture. Instead of conventional chapters and sections, The Bluest Eye is broken up into seasons, fall, winter, spring, and summer. This type...

• Word Count: 609
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... insight on how her traumatic childhood led her to escape from reality as a defence mechanism to the events around her. The Bluest Eye contains elements of ironic tragedy. In an ironic tragedy, the hero is below us in their power or intelligence. The reader can often identify with the hero even though their place in society is inferior to ours. It is easy to identify ... ascends into heaven. Applying this foundational myth to Morrison's novel will highlight the concept of the Hero in the lives of Claudia and Frieda who find refuge through the interpretation of growing seeds. In The Bluest...

• Word Count: 3660
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography

... is also narrated by a nine-year-old black girl, which is how old Morrison would've been in 1941, the year the novel takes place. Furthermore, Morrison's family struggled financially during the Great Depression, similarly to the MacTeer family in the novel. Through "The Bluest Eye", Morrison makes a statement about how vulnerable a young black girl, such as herself, is as she is exposed to ... that were stimulating. Morrison thought no one would realize that it wasn't always beautiful, how hurtful racism is. One reason why she wrote "The Bluest Eye" is because someone would actually be...

• Word Count: 1083
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... didn't do exactly what they were to do, they would be beaten, whipped, and sometimes killed. Toni Morrison describes the conditions under which African-Americans in general and Pecola in particular are forced to live. The characters in the Bluest Eye are faced both directly and indirectly by racism. The characters are issued to internal values that create their own set of discrimination within families and ... the neighborhood. Three characters from The Bluest Eye that I will be describing are Pecola , Claudia and Pauline. Pecola Breedlove is an eleven year old ... of her family. Pauli...

• Word Count: 971
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Morrison's argument is how society can greatly influence a person and how firmly a societies views and ideas can be almost forced on that person. The ideas and views present in The Bluest Eye are related to beauty and what makes one beautiful. The tragedy of Pecola Breedlove beautifully illustrates how this facade of beauty can dishevel one's life until finally leading one to madness. Thus, Morrison ... how those views and ideas can change a persons life forever. In the opening of The Bluest Eye, the passage from the Dick and Jane story, becomes a representation of an ideal white perso...

• Word Count: 1152
• Approx Pages: 5

... women straightening their hair, or getting a weave to fit into a certain, white culture, or people in India and China, using a bleach based lotion to make their skin less pigmented. In The Bluest Eye, Morrison refers to these traits of nature as "funk". This "funk" that is wiped away are little things that a black woman is born with to try ... man's work". Here, they learn "in short, how to get rid of the funkiness... The funkiness of nature... They wipe it away (83)". The Bluest Eye examines the home life of these children in the stories as well. It juxtaposes how a homelife can relate...

• Word Count: 940
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... themselves, or figments of their imagination. (ibid.p.3) In the book, The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison gets across very powerful ideas about American society of the day, these ideas have endured even until today giving the novel a timeless quality. She highlights the poverty and hardship suffered by black families who remain the poorest ethnic group in America today. The contention is raised as to how influential society is upon ... here you are, ladies and gentlemen, Sambo, The dancing doll."" (ibid. p.431) The narrator asks the question ""How on earth could he drop from the brotherhood to ...

• Word Count: 3381
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Adults look away when they see her, and children laugh at her craziness. A young girl's life is destroyed as a result of society's defining the norms, and placing them on such a high standard. In The Bluest Eye, Claudia MacTeer provides a child's point of view-sometimes from an adult perspective while an omniscient voice relates information unknown by Claudia, like Pecola's thoughts ... Morrison also seems to use names as an important role to symbolize the conditions of society. For example, the name of the novel, The Bluest Eye, is meant to get the reader thinking about how the desire ...

• Word Count: 1724
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... worth as a human being. Morrison clearly portrays whiteness as a standard of beauty for the characters in her novel, while the outlier is Claudia MacTeer who constantly subverts this idea. Toni Morrison's portrayal of whiteness as the standard of beauty is readily apparent throughout The Bluest Eye. Many of the characters in the novel are described in a physical manner that emphasizes their "unattractive" African American features. ... their work partners; black girls stepped aside when she wanted to use the sink in the girls' toilet, and their eyes genuflected under sliding lids. She n...

• Word Count: 617
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Fight Against Oppression!!!! In the novel, The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, the evils inflicted upon blacks by a white society indoctrinated by the inherent beauty of whiteness and ugliness of blackness are thoroughly depicted. Morrison's novel illustrates the disastrous affects racism had on African-Americans during the late nineteen hundreds. The Bluest Eye is a bitter novel that vividly reflects the way in which blacks were treated unfairly, and more important, how ... -old girl who faced many tragic events at such a young age. She believes that if she can live up to the image of blue-eye...

• Word Count: 1667
• Approx Pages: 7

... Mary Jane" (Morrison 50). This quote shows one of the many patterns Morrison uses to brilliantly bring us closer to the world of Pecola Breedlove: beauty. Through two of the novel's main characters, Pecola and Claudia Macteer, we see their world and time through that main pattern of beauty and it's counterpoint ugly. In The Bluest Eye beauty/ugly constantly shows up through both internal thoughts ... and narration or spoken through conversations. The idea of beauty can turn someone's life upside down and in the end lead him or her to madness. Thus, Morrison is trying to impress upon her...

• Word Count: 1215
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye tells the sad story of Pecola Breedlove, a poor prepubescent black girl, who wants to be loved and cared for by her family and society. She is a very dark skinned black girl and ... family and doting over their blond, blue-eyed little girl, while at the same time completely ignoring her own little girl. After being raped and impregnated by her father she is asked to leave school. The child is stillborn and Pecola goes insane withdrawing into a fantasy world where she has the bluest eyes of all. Morrison makes strong social statements about race, ...

• Word Count: 1289
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye tells the sad story of Pecola Breedlove, a poor prepubescent black girl, who wants to be loved and cared for by her family and society. She is a very dark skinned black girl and ... family and doting over their blond, blue-eyed little girl, while at the same time completely ignoring her own little girl. After being raped and impregnated by her father she is asked to leave school. The child is stillborn and Pecola goes insane withdrawing into a fantasy world where she has the bluest eyes of all. Morrison makes strong social statements about race,...

• Word Count: 1291
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Bluest Eye novel concentrates on the life of three young girls: Pecola Breedlove, Claudia and Frieda MacTeer. The main character is Pecola. She is an 11-year old black girl who wants to have the eyes of a white girl, blue eyes. Pecola lives with her family in the town of Lorain, Ohio. The family consists of the mother Pauline, the father Cholly, the son Sammy, and the ... she is ugly, and if she looked beautiful, he would take her with him. Pecola also considers her ugliness to be the reason of the teachers' and classmates' hate towards her. She prays to God every day because she thinks t...

• Word Count: 1329
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Running, wanting, watching Daughter. Scapegoat. Father. Pervert. Fighting, drinking, seducing Abusive, impulsive, vulnerable Charles (Cholly) Breedlove In the novel The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison, the protagonist was Pecola Breedlove and the antagonist was her father, Cholly Breedlove. Although Cholly and Pecola were father and daughter, they did not share the usual bond that is associated with similar relationships. Cholly hated himself because of ... the color of his skin. His "blackness" was what supposedly made him ugly, which made him in ... imaginary friend who became he...

• Word Count: 402
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is a novel about sexual commencement and maltreatment. The book begins in Lorain, Ohio at the end of the Great Depression during a time when many people's lives were meeting ends. For one family in particular, The Breedloves, it was a time of despair. Members of the Breedlove family included: Pecola, a neglected child, Pauline, an abused mother, and Cholly, a rootless man. Throughout ... abused so much sexually and emotionally, Pecola eventually ends up going insane and believing that she now has the bluest eyes and everyone is jealous of her. The novel ends w...

• Word Count: 759
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Bluest Eye By: Toni Morrison Blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin was the envy of most young African American girls in the 1940's. In the tragic novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old black girl is a victim of racial self-loathing and also rape by her father which results in pregnancy. Described as submissive, ugly, and ignorant, she is labeled the outcast amongst ... the black community of Lorain, Ohio ... does have blue eyes and goes insane as a result. (p. 204) "She spent her days, her tendril, sap-green days, walking up and down, up and down, h...

• Word Count: 413
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Esperanza is forced to grow up in a bad environment. In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Pecola is raised by two individuals that have unfit parenting styles. The Negative environment in Esperanza's life and the lack of parental influence in Pecola's life has the potential of leading both characters in negative directions for their adult lives. The environment a child grows up in influences each child's aspirations for ... Pecola's mother doesn't care for her at all. Cholly Breedlove, then, a renting black, having put his family outdoors, had catapulted himself beyond the reaches of huma...

• Word Count: 795
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness," (pg.45) what would drive a girl of such a young age to be so consumed with a seemingly adult problem? Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is the story of young black girl growing up in a small town in Ohio, during the 1940's. Pecola Breedlove's self-loathing nature and eventual descent into madness is a ... product of the constant negative reinforcement that she received from her surroundings. These influences manifest themselves through those closest ... from everyone because of her beauty, and that beaut...

• Word Count: 876
• Approx Pages: 4

The Bluest Eye 1. The Bluest Eye is the title of the book. The author of the book is Toni Morrison. Some important facts that influence the story is that, the town where the story takes place is where Morrison grew up as a little girl. Also, the time that the story takes place (1941) is the same time Morrison would be nine years old. The same age as the narrator of the story (Claudia MacTeer). The title of the ... life. He rapes Pecola and she gets pregnant with his baby. Frieda is Claudia"s ten-year-old sister. She is experienced about the adult world and is sometimes braver than Claudia. Pol...

• Word Count: 879
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

"The horror at the heart of her yearning was exceeded only by the evil of fulfilment" The text The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a text based upon the fate of a little girl, Pecola. Pecola acts as a scapegoat for the black society of America, as their void in the place of culture explodes into a rank distaste for themselves. Pecola suffers this twisted perspective of beauty, and in doing so absorbs the ... anger of the disorientated black community. ... -indulging black society which takes out its insecurities on Pecola, drive Pecola into this downward spiral into "madness". Once holding th...

• Word Count: 650
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School