The Bluest Eye
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| Author | Toni Morrison |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1970 |
The Bluest Eye is a 1970 novel by Toni Morrison which details a year in the life of a young black girl in Lorain, Ohio named Pecola. The story is told from five perspectives: Pecola's, her mother's, her father's, her friend Claudia's, and Soaphead Church's. Because of the controversial nature of the book, which deals with racism and child molestation, there have been numerous attempts to ban it from schools and libraries. [1]
The book was written while Morrison taught at Howard University and was raising her two sons on her own.
[edit] Plot summary
The novel's entire plot is summarized in the first pages. The paragraphs in which this is done advise the reader not to look at the "why" of the story but at the "how". The novel, with child sex, irresponsible adults, and corrupt society seeks to show the misery in which black people live. When she indirectly refers to Pecola as "dirt", and to the Breedloves as animals, she is not being racist, but exposing the ills to which they are submitted. Soaphead Church's letter to God is a summary of the insanity of the world around him, as the novel could be for the author.
Pecola's parents' history is examined throughout the novel, showing us who they are in three main parts: her father Cholly's background, her mother Pauline's past life, and the couple's conflicted marriage. Cholly was deserted by both his parents, and was rebuked when trying to access his father. His son seems to do the same thing later on, running away repeatedly.
There is a contrast between the world shown in the cinema and where Pauline is a servant, the WASP society and the existence the main characters live in. Most chapters' titles are extracts from a Dick and Jane reading book, presenting a happy white family. This family is contrasted with Pecola's existence. For example, in the chapter where Pecola is raped by her father, the title is "SEE FATHER HE IS BIG AND STRONG FATHER WILL PLAY WITH JANE FATHER IS SMILING SMILE FATHER SMILE SMILE".
[edit] Characters in "The Bluest Eye"
- Pecola Breedlove - The protagonist of the novel, a poor black girl who believes she is ugly because she and her community base their ideals of beauty on "whiteness". The title The Bluest Eye is based on Pecola's fervent wishes for beautiful blue eyes. She is rarely developed during the story, which is purposely done to underscore the actions of the other characters. Her insanity at the end of the novel is her only way to escape the world where she cannot be beautiful.
- Cholly Breedlove - Pecola's abusive father, an alcoholic man who rapes his daughter. Rejected by his father and discarded by his mother at a young age, Cholly was raised by his Great Aunt Jimmy. After she dies, Cholly runs away and pursues the life of a "free man", yet he is never able to escape his painful past, nor can he live with the mistakes of his present. Tragically, he rapes his daughter in a gesture of madness mingled with affection. He realises he loves her, but the only thing he can do is rape her.
- Pauline Breedlove - Pecola's mother. Mrs. Breedlove is married to Cholly and lives the self-righteous life of a martyr, enduring her drunkard husband and raising her two awkward children as best she can. Mrs. Breedlove is a bit of an outcast herself with her shriveled foot and Southern background. Mrs. Breedlove lives the life of a lonely and isolated character who escapes into a world of dreams, hopes and fantasy via the motion pictures she enjoys viewing.
- Sam Breedlove - Pecola's older brother. Sammy is Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove's one son. Sam's part in this novel is relatively low key. Like his sister Pecola, he is affected by the disharmony in their home and deals with his anger by running away from home.
- Claudia MacTeer - Much of the novel is told from the perspective of Claudia. In this sense, she is the primary narrator in the book. Claudia is Pecola's friend and the younger sister of Frieda MacTeer. The MacTeer family serves as a foil for the Breedloves, and although both families are poor, Mr. and Mrs. MacTeer are strict but loving parents towards their children - a sharp contrast to the dysfunctional home of the Breedloves.
- Frieda MacTeer - Claudia's older sister and close companion. The two MacTeer girls are often seen together and while most of the story is told through Claudia's eyes, her sister Frieda plays a large role in the novel.
- Henry Washington - a man who comes to live with the MacTeer family and is subsequently thrown out by Claudia's father when he inappropriately touches Frieda.
- Soaphead Church - a pedophile and mystic fortune teller who "grants" Pecola her wish for blue eyes. The character is somewhat based on Morrison's Jamaican ex-husband.
[edit] Trivia
- Mos Def & Talib Kweli's, otherwise known as Black Star, song titled "Thieves in the Night" take its premise from Morrison's book, paraphrases parts, and loosely quotes the final page of the novel in the chorus.
- The Morrison passage in question reads, "And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not passionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life."
- The lyrics of the Black Star song's chorus are: "Not strong, only aggressive; not free, we only licensed; not compassionate, only polite; now who own the nicest? not good, but well behaved, chasing after death so we can call ourselves brave, still living like mental slaves. Hiding like thieves in the night from life, illusions of oasis making you look twice..."
- In the story, Pecola drinks out of a cup with Shirley Temple on it since she wanted blue eyes like Shirley Temple and believed drinking from it would turn her eyes blue. In reality, Temple's eyes are actually brown.
