...glorification of white beauty which lead to black self-hatred during this time. Furthermore, it was written at a major part of the Civil Rights Movement, which involved counteracting the bias that white is beautiful and black is not. 2. Toni Morrison is an African-American writer and professor. She grew up in Ohio, Lorain Where the Bluest Eye takes place. She developed a love for literature and storytelling as she grew up. The story is the told from the view of a 9 year old girl which would have been the same age as Morrison during time in the book. Showing the connection that the book has connection in her life personally. The story evolved from a conversation she had with a little girl in elementary school who wanted blue eyes. 3....
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...The Bluest Eye Essay (2nd Draft) Ms. Morrison divides her novel “The Bluest Eye“ into four seasons by making use of motives of her own life. The desire for communicating and sharing aspects with the reader develops a real and identifiable story. But, the reader will only receive knowledge about character perspectives and time frames piece by piece. In order to develop Pecolas fortune to a dramatic climax, she let’s the nature act against her, too. Furthermore, various techniques are used that make the text narratively rich, which leads to a style that contributes towards the dramatic plot action. A lot of what makes The Bluest Eye such capable is the use of special techniques that safe the readers attention at all times. Though Morrison structered her novel with an exposition, climax and conclusion, the plot is still very complicated and never a simple one. You can compare the way Morrison changes charecter perspectives and time frames to building a tower, giving the audience only pieces of knowledge little by little. Furthermore, it sometimes even feels like the novel started at the climax and goes intentionally back to the exposition, because you get to know the tragedy in the beginning but you have to experience the end first by reading the book. The change between the characters narrative enhances the way Morrison structered her story. Another very important stylistic aspect is the change in the character narratives which changes from 3rd person omniscent to a lot of...
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...Defying Social Norms Through Writing Essentialist definitions claim that women writers avoid confrontational issues in their work. They instead choose to play it safe when it comes to the topics that they write about. Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and Virginia Woolf defy this claim by writing about topics such as race, social status and gender. The novels, “The Bluest Eye,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “To the Lighthouse,” are examples of how these women writers challenge the essentialists’ claims. Beauty standards are a prevailing theme in “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison. Young black girls, like the character Pecola, have to face the hurdles that the color of their skin causes for them. A theme in the novel is that whiteness is...
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...In the novel The Bluest Eye the author Toni morrison introduces us the narrator Claudia Macteer. Claudia narrates her life and the environment she was raised in. At the beginning of the story Claudia lives with her loving family and a friend of hers-Pecola Breedlove the protagonist. Pecola is temporarily staying with the Macteer’s because of a family complication she was facing. Although pecola and Claudia were raised in a similar neighborhood the two characters have a polar opposite ideas what is beautiful. Pecola believes that beauty is what she sees when she drinks milk out of the sheril temple cup.When she looks at herself and she sees that she is lacking the things the white girls have. This idea of that there is a default in being black...
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...the focus on a common theme: wish fulfillment. In novels like Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison multiperspectivity plays an imperative role in the two works as well as the entire post modern movement, including movies such as Pulp Fiction, shifting the from the perspective of the protagonist to other characters. As audiences read these novels there is an underlying moral which is hidden beneath this surface of shifting narrators; the novels explain a terrifying human truth, something which people shy away from but the postmodern movement hints at, that individuals are not special, You are not special. Postmodern novels strip away the beautiful facade of being the only one, replacing it with reality and displaying insignificance of individuals. Through the use of multiperspectivity a single character does not have the entire world revolve around them, instead the underrepresented minor characters become as important to the story as the protagonist. In Postmodern novels how to subject is presented to us, whether in a first person narrative or an omniscient narrator matters. An extension of metanarration different styles of narration “can tell us how or what, but only novels, and the narrative resources belonging to them, can tell us why” (Malmgren 152). In Carl D. Malmgren’s Essay, Texts, Primers, and Voices in Toni Morrison's the Bluest Eye he explains how the multiple different styles of narration, starting with Claudia MacTeer’s narration as...
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...Pecola had a similar fascination with the images on a Mary Jane wrapper. “To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane.” (43) Pecola was preoccupied on literally ingesting what she considered this ideal figure of beauty. The Mary Jane candies are interesting as well, being an example of the power that is held over the young black girls. In addition to Claudia and Pecola acting as a contrast and similarity to shirley Temple, both representing the underprivileged side of society, Morrison also includes families and individual characters who aspire to live like the ruling class and seek social equality by disassociating themselves from the lower class African Americans. Later on in The Bluest Eye,...
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...In Toni Morrison’s the novel “The Bluest Eye”, it provided a comprehensive understanding of how whiteness is the preferred beauty standards, which misleads the lives of African American women and children. Morrison is a master at examining the relationships between the races and genders. She also talks about the struggle between civilization and nature, despite the fact that if it is myth. Morrison has a unique way in her writing that causes the reader to get visual through her narrating stories. Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye demonstrates her creative techniques to express the struggles of how African American girl’s deals with society’s concepts of beauty, self-hatred, self-worth, and family. As many individuals may know that beauty is...
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...Not Seen from Within Beauty may come from within but on the first glance, beauty on the outside is what is judged first. All the way from what someone is wearing to what their genetic features display on her face, she is ranked on everyone personalized scale of 1 to 10. Pecola is viewed in this book struggling with what beauty was. She struggled with whether or not beauty truly did come from within or if it was was on the outside. She was described in the book as so ugly that her mother had trouble seeing the beauty in her. Although I can thankfully say I've never had trouble with my mom seeing the beauty in me I have struggled with it myself. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison speaks of finding, loosing, and the perspective of beauty. Although...
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...Research Paper #2 Chloe Ardelia Wofford, most commonly known as Toni Morrison, is an American novelist and professor. She was born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio. She is the second child among her sister and two younger brothers. She came from a black working-class family that took pride in their heritage. As a child, Morrison enjoyed literature, unlike most children. She had a variety of favorite authors such as Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. She later on attended an integrated school with Europeans, Mexicans and Southern blacks. Since she adored literature, she was the only black student in her first grade class who could read. She maintained excellent grades and graduated with honors from Lorain High School in 1949. Wofford continued her education at Howard University, where she majored in English with a minor in classics. During this time, she alternated her name to Toni, since most people had difficulty pronouncing her original name. In the years she spent at Howard, Toni participated in a repertory company and graduated in 1953; more over, she later on attended Cornell University and achieved her master's degree in 1955. Wofford taught introductory English at Texas Southern University in Houston. A year or so later she met Harold Morrison, a Jamaican architect. The two ended up falling in love and eloped in 1958. They had their first son in 1961, who was named Harold Ford. Although, she was suffering from an unhappy marriage because she felt that her husband...
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...result of self- loathing, the dissatisfaction with self, in relation to societal ideals. In the novel The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison, the topic of racial passing is widely explored through the theme of self- loathing. In the text Morrison portrays the human condition through the contrasting views of protagonist Pecola Breedlove and her foil Claudia Mac Teer. Morrison uses various literary elements within the text to convey her take on the ideals of racial passing, such as symbolism, imagery, and point of view. In the text...
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...For years, black women have been negatively impacted by generational systems of oppression. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison demonstrates this oppressive cycle as well as the long-term, damaging affects of internalized racism. Utilizing various perspectives from black women and children alike, Morrison shows these woman’s quest to find love and acceptance within society. This paper seeks to analyze this theme of love and the black woman identity. In doing so it will evaluate how white beauty standards, media, colorism, and internalized racism all contribute to enforcing division between black women and cultivate a cycle of self-hate. The book focuses on the journey of Pecola Breedlove, an eleven year old, dark skinned black girl, who prays...
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...Josh Kloosterman 8:30am The Bluest Eye literary analysis Beauty is a perceptual scope that the reader looks through while reading the bluest eye in its entirety. It is the focus of ideals and issues within the book the Bluest eye. Beauty or lack of is the major motivator for decisions and/or consequences throughout the story. It can define who you are in terms of society and where you fit in, but does it have to? Supposedly, in this country we call home, if you work hard enough you can have whatever your heart desires. In the Bluest eye All Pecola Breedlove wanted was to have blue eyes or in her mind, be beautiful. She believed because of what society had taught her that those whom are beautiful have blue eyes and blonde hair. This is a social institution which has been part of America’s culture since the beginning of the U.S. We must look a certain way, have a specific occupation, or live in a particular neighborhood if we are to fit into society. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison has captured these and other stigma's we place on ourselves and raise the question of, is these things the only way to be accepted and have some level of beauty in societies eyes? We are raised in a society that tells us we are all equal, however that ideal is rarely practiced throughout our history. We only have to turn on the television or open a magazine to see who the adored people in our country are. Pecola believes that if she could have blue eyes then she would be accepted. "If she looked...
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...Pat ***** Ms.B*** English 7 11/13/13 The Enigma of Beauty Society’s eyes have been trained over the years to conspicuously spot flaws in what’s been perceived as its standards of beauty. Indifference within its own definition of genuine beauty-stands out like an eye sore amongst the conformity of what or rather whom we are. In Toni Morrison’s Bluest Eye, characters call into question what is beauty itself and how can they achieve that “look” everyone yearns to have. Is it they who radiate unattractiveness or is it society’s harshness who push them to hide within the depths of their own ugliness? It is within the young character Pecola Breedlove do we indeed call to question the harshness of human self-worth. She often debates her own beauty but still embraces her ugliness-wearing it shamefully. “Thrown, in the way, into the binding conviction that only a miracle could relieve her, she would never know her beauty. She would only see what there was to see: the eyes of other people.” (Morrison, 1970) But what of, the binding conviction? The constant reminder of her offensive ugliness left nowhere to receive sympathy from, as her family welcomed their ugliness just as bluntly. “We soothe ourselves with clichés. Its only skin deep, we cluck it’s only in the eye of the beholder. Pretty is, as pretty does.” (Newman, 2013) There’s an impenetrable wall of perfection surrounding the world she grows in. Flaws categorized in...
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...Born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved. Morrison has won nearly every book prize possible. She has also been awarded honorary degrees. Early Career Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison was the second oldest of four children. Her father, George Wofford, worked primarily as a welder, but held several jobs at once to support the family. Her mother, Ramah, was a domestic worker. Morrison later credited her parents with instilling in her a love of reading, music, and folklore. Living in an integrated neighborhood, Morrison did not become fully aware of racial divisions until she was in her teens. "When I was in first grade, nobody thought I was inferior. I was the only black in the class and the only child who could read," she later told a reporter from The New York Times. Dedicated to her studies, Morrison took Latin in school, and read many great works of European literature. She graduated from Lorain High School with honors in 1949. At Howard University, Morrison continued to pursue her interest in literature. She majored in English, and chose the classics for her minor. After graduating from Howard in 1953, Morrison continued her education at Cornell University...
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...February 2013 The Bluest Eye In Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”, Pecola becomes the victim of the society she lives in. Throughout her life she is treated like an outcast by the people she meets. The people of her society make it very clear that she is ugly and worthless. Despite the fact that Pecola Breedlove may not be the prettiest flower in the garden, she is put down by society because they want to make themselves feel better, which causes her to eventually lose her sanity. Society victimizes Pecola and puts her down in order to make themselves feel better. She lives in a black community; however, she has much darker skin than most of the people around her. This makes her an easy victim because she is different. During this time period, black people were oppressed. In the case of Pecola’s community, instead of internalizing their oppression, they turned around and threw it all on Pecola, to make themselves feel better. When Claudia and Frieda were walking home one day, they saw a group of boys circled around Pecola. Claudia narrates, “It was their contempt for their own blackness that gave the first insult its teeth. They seemed to have taken all of their smoothly cultivated ignorance, their exquisitely learned self-hatred, their elaborately designed hopelessness, and sucked it all up into a fiery cone of scorn that had burned for ages in the hollows of their minds---cooled---and spilled over lips of outrage, consuming whatever was in its path” (Morrison 65). Those boys...
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