As with Catcher in the Rye, respond with five comments of your own choosing and two of the writing prompts included below.
1. How does nature function in the novel? Do you consider it a benevolent presence against which the events of the novel are contrasted, or a potentially malevolent force? Is Morrison’s use of natural imagery hopeful or ironic?
2. Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
3. At the end of the novel, Claudia questions her own right or ability to tell the truth about Pecola’s experience. How seriously are we to take her questioning? Is she a reliable narrator?
4. To what extent is Cholly to blame for his violence against his family? Which other people or circumstances may also be to blame? What is the novel’s position on blame?
5. The novel includes a number of secondary story lines, such as Geraldine’s and Soaphead Church’s histories, with the main story line of the Breedlove family. Select one of these secondary stories and explain how it relates to or comments upon the main story line.
152 Comments
November 3, 2009 at 11:37 pm
“ But her blackness is static and dread. And it is the blackness that accounts for =, that creates, the vacuum edged with distaste in white eyes” (49)
Learning more about Pecola and the way that she tends to seclude herself it is evident to see that even in the novel, their was an ideal look. And because she didn’t fit into the section she was considered “ugly”, which is not true but because she is young and ignorant. “Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes. Fervently, for a year she had prayed.” (46) I feel like she was not really informed that everyone is beautiful in their own way and as a result I wish that she takes it upon herself to embrace her beauty and stop secluding herself from others because of both her name and the way that she looks. I feel like I can make a personal connection to her because I to am dark skin and not many others are my skin completion which made it difficult on me at one point. As time progressed I began to learn that it was something that was out of my hands and therefore it only made sense for me to love myself. But as that took time, Pecola’s development may take time.
November 3, 2009 at 11:37 pm
A reoccurring theme along the novel would be the use of “ugly”. The underline meaning is still unclear to me because it is used in many forms to the extent that it is obvious that the meaning is not something good but I am indecisive on whether its an internal or external thing or both. An internal, (in my opinion) would be when the author speaks about the presence of the Breedlove family as a whole. “Mrs. Breedlove, Sammy Breedlove, and Pecola Breedlove- wore their ugliness, put it on, so to speak, although it did not belong to them.” (38) This particular sentence made me believe that this was something that they had control over but they decided not to retain, an attitude that they gave off to their community. On the other hand, the physical definition of ugly could be when Pecola is constantly talking about herself and how she wishes that she can be another way in terms of her appearance. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that they way that she feels can just be an illusion of her mind. Because the term ugly, in the end relates back to Pecola and what she may believe is wrong with her.
November 4, 2009 at 1:12 am
“We stare at her, wanting her bread, but more than that wanting to poke the arrogance out of her eyes and smash the pride of ownership that curls her chewing mouth. When she comes out of the car we will beat her up, make red marks on her white skin, and she will cry and ask us do we want her to pull her pants down” (9).
Frieda and her sister aren’t angered with Rosemary Villanucci because she sits in a Buick eating bread and butter that they crave. Frieda and her sister are irritated at Rosemary’s immodest behavior. She taunts the two girls with her pride of ownership of the bread and butter and the luxurious comfort of a car. Readers, who do not condone violence, sympathize for the two sisters’ because the taunting is extremely hurtful. Ironically, the readers might take pleasure in seeing Rosemary get beat up leaving vivid red marks on her white skin. And honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing Rosemary in pain because it is exactly what she deserves.
November 4, 2009 at 1:13 am
“We don’t know what we should feel or do if she does, but whenever she asks us, we know she is offering us something precious and that our own pride must be asserted by refusing to accept” (9).
The most important word within that entire excerpt is pride. Pride is defined as a high opinion of one’s own dignity. Essentially pride can lead to one’s downfall, feeling as if you’re too good for a little assistance or guidance; evident within the text. The sisters know Rosemary is offering them something precious, however their pride must be asserted by refusing to accept. They could be starving, dying of hunger, but because of their pride, they have no choice but to say no. Pride can result to even more than just starvation. I can feel as if I’m too “big and bad”, invincible, but one projectile from that gun or a stab wound can leave me paralyzed or dead.
November 5, 2009 at 6:07 pm
To add on to what Ian is saying here, it is actually human nature to do just this. Pride is quite possibly the largest cause of human downfall and failure. Due to pride, people tend to deny help that is offered to them, no matter how much they need it, as seen in the example put forth by Ian.
Prideful people also tend to refuse to believe that they could be wrong about something. This can lead to many mishaps in one’s plans. It is always a good thing to at least learn how to humble oneself to asking for help when they need it.
November 4, 2009 at 1:13 am
“Adults do not talk to us-they give us directions. They issue orders without providing information” (10).
Adults, especially parents, definitely do not “talk” to children. They give directions and issue orders without providing information frankly because they undermine the capability of a child’s understanding. The world would be a less problematic and violent place if parents just sat their kids down in their earliest stages and just talk to them. Explain controversial topics such as politics, religion, drugs, sex and morals. Develop a mutual connection as parent and child. A little guidance can take anyone a far way is the positive direction.
November 5, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Regretably, i have to dissagree with both the quote and Ian. While it is true that there are a lot of families in which the parents are not there for the kids and there for they don’t discuss anything with them, that isn’t true for everyone. There are many households in which parents have long discussions with their kids in order to help them understand the workings of the world.
For example, the house i was brought up in was very calm with very little ordering around. When someone did something wrong or didn’t understand a specific topic, there would be discussions explaining the misdeads or misunderstandings. I know of many other houses like this, and many of my friends were brought up the same way.
However, I do agree that there would be a lot less conflict in the world if there was more conversing between parents and children at a younger age.
November 4, 2009 at 1:36 am
2. In my opinon both racism and sexism hold equal weight in terms of the kids in the Bluest Eye. I came to this conclusion while comming across a particular section in the novel where Pecola introduces the new girl in school who is white. She has all of these things that no one else has such as lunch that is made for her daily in a certain way. Or her fur coat of her beatifully long hair which is related to “lynches”. She goes on to explain how she stood out so much and she was greatly appreciated to the extent that no one bothered to pick on her as they picked on others. In addition, she was respected by everyone because she was a female and she was white. In addition to that she attracted any and everyone including the the teachers who taught her. Although Pecola didnt want to push herself on someone she knew that if offered a friendship she would not be the one to terminate it. In my opinion this goes to prove that the fact that Mageen was white and rich and a female gave her many privilages over the others. Pecola on the other hand who is also a female but an african american is often teased and because of her lack of finances she is not help up to such a high rank. Instead she is teased on her skin color and her clothing selection which goes to prove that both are weighed equally along hte novel.
November 4, 2009 at 1:47 am
In my opinion, the seasons play a big roll in keeping the novels underline message consistent. This is evident because each new shapter is named after the season that the chapter will take place in. In addition to that the characters speak of the season in terms of what they can eat. For example, it is know that certain crops do not grow during certain times of the year and because they are not as advanced as we have become they depend soley on these plants for survival. As stated in the novel, Pecola uses the different scenarios of Winter to describe her father and his actions. She is able to say things like “his eyebrows bend like black limbs of leafless trees.” (61) in addition, winter is also connotated with hate, sin , fear and dread. This goes to explain that each season was there to describe the mood of the upcoming section of the novel. Along with the occuring use of winter, spring and summer Have both been mentioned when describing maureen peal. They describe things such as her clothing and her style and how it relates back to the season and its appearance during that time. I noticed that winter and maureen were never used in a related context informing the readers that she is a jolly person and nothing negative is really related to her.
November 4, 2009 at 3:37 am
4. I think the drinking problem is to blame for Cholly’s violence against his family. In p.40, he comes home drunk, refusing to get coal for his wife. So, Mrs. Breedlove throws cool water at him and begin hitting her. Sammy comes in and begin hitting his father back and calling him a “Naked Fuck”. Sammy tells his mother to kill Cholly. I think Cholly is drinking too much, causing him to have conflicts with his family.
However, I find that two white men and a girl named Darlene are the ones to blame. In the past, Cholly was having sex with Darlene for the first time until two white men came in. They had their flashlights pointing at Cholly, telling him to continue what he’s doing while they watched. They were harssing him, “I said, get on wid it. An’ make it good, nigger, make it good” (148). After that horrible experience, Cholly directed all his hatred to Darlene instead of the two white men. He blamed her for being humilated and harassed by those guys. The novel’s position in blame is to show the cause of the character’s anger and violence towards others.
November 4, 2009 at 4:05 am
2. Racism is a greatest threat to the children of The Bluest Eyes. In the first chapters, Claudia shows a hatred against dolls for their whiteness. She treats them like garbage, “Break off the tiny fingers, bend the flat feet, loosen the hair, twist the head around, the thing made one sound-a sound they said was the sweet plaintive cry “Mama” (21). It shows that white people are beautiful and nice than black people. It reminds me of something in Imperialism where the British had a soap ad, saying that black people are dirty. Claudia feels that white images get false love instead of colored images, “What made people look at them and say, “Awwwww”, but not for me?” (22).
November 4, 2009 at 4:37 am
“Like, here is the bathroom; the clothes closet is here; and these are my children, Frieda and Claudia; watch out for this window; it don’t open all the way” (15).
After reading this quote I realized the severity of the relationship between the mother and her children. The problem is, there was no motherly-daughterly relationship. She treated them as she would any other person or thing. There’s no love and affection. I didn’t hear any fondess in hear voice when she introduced her children. The mother in Bluest Eye isn’t like Beloved in “Beloved.” I’m not sure I could picture the mother in Bluest Eye going to the extreme extent to protect Frieda and Claudia from harm. She’s like most mothers that came from slavery and now deal with segregation and discrimination. She’s proud to be a strong black Christain woman who provides for her own. She makes sure her children are obedient and, most importantly, conduct themselves properly as to not disgrace the family name. However, she does not involve herself in her children’s education or lives. This happens to most families in those days.
November 4, 2009 at 5:12 am
“Misery colored by the greens and blues in my mother’s voice took all of the grief out of the words and left me with a conviction that pain was not only endurable, it was sweet” (26).
This quote opened my eyes to a text-to-world connection. It lead me to compare the black women from today to those back in the day, during the time period this book was written. I realized that the women during the 1800’s to early 1900’s were stronger than the women in the 21st century. They were stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. Physically they were stronger due to the circumstance they were put through. Mentally they were stronger because their mind was the only thing that kept them sane. They were used to their routine life. Wake up in the morning, work hard, heavy labor, go home and tend to house chores, sleep late, then start the routine all over again. Mentally they had no future to look forward to; conditions would always be the same so there was no point in fantasizing or dwelling on a life they would like to have, like the way we fantasy on the American Dream. Emotionally, very few felt love. For the most part they only felt pain, misery, and hate. Most black women were not killed, thus, they became stronger. Black women in the 21st century do not go through nearly half of what the women back then went through. Today life is sugar coated with all the sweet unnecessary pleasures in life. Emotionally and mentally women have evolved. We are smarter today, of course, because of the education we are provided. However, emotionally we worry about things the strong black women wouldn’t even care about. The stupid, selfish things in life make us different from the women back then. We must appreciate what we have and dismiss the petty, ignorant things we consider life.
November 4, 2009 at 4:39 pm
“That night, in bed, the three of us lay still. We were full of awe and respect for Pecola. Lying next to a real person who was really ministratin’ was somehow scared. She was different from us now-grown-up-like. She, herself, felt the distance, but refused to lord it over us” (32). Strangely, I find it comical that Claudia and Frieda admire and respect Pecola because she experienced her first menstrual. They never encountered nor been so close to someone with their period. Toni Morrison portrays the characters as amazed and somehow treated Pecola as if she was an inanimate object; an astonishing exhibit. Pecola suddenly became a woman; abruptly distant from her childhood and relationship with Claudia and Frieda. She feared this and regretted experiencing this transition from girlhood to womanhood.
November 4, 2009 at 5:51 pm
“She walks down Garden Avenue to a small grocery store which sells penny candy. Three pennies are in her shoe-slipping back and forth between the sock and the inner sole. With each step she feels the painful press of the coins against her foot. A sweet, endurable, even cherished irritation, full of promise and delicate security. There is plenty of time to consider what to buy” (47).
I remember my first day of first grade; I walked to school by myself, extremely proud with my first set of house keys. Already that day felt like it was the greatest day yet. I felt responsible and lucky for some odd reason. While walking down the block, approaching my school, to my surprise there was a freshly folded five dollar bill sitting right there in the middle of the sidewalk; unaccompanied, unaided and wanting ownership. I ran up to the five dollar bill, scooped it up with my right hand and kept running as if there was no tomorrow, towards my school building. I was extremely blissful and if I was to smile any harder than I already was my face would have ripped. I was already late, so I had no time to visit the store, so after school, I ran out of the school building, directly across the street into the grocery store; gripping the five dollar bill in my sweaty anxious palm. I played it smart and only spent a dollar on a ice cream bar and with my four dollars in change, I stuffed it in my socks; incognito for anyone who might have lost it. The friction from the four singles caused little burns on the side of my feet, but at that age it was all worth it because to me that was a lot of money.
November 4, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Writing Prompt # 2. Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
Racism is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye than sexism. Claudia, the narrator, shows extreme hatred towards the doll because the doll is white and society portrays itself as being more favoring to anything that’s white as result of the false pretenses that white is pure and ideal. Claudia “fingered the face [of the doll], wondering at the single-stroke eyebrows; picked at the pearly teeth struck like two piano keys between red bowline lips. Traced the turned-up nose, poked the glassy blue eyeballs, twisted the yellow hair. [Claudia] could not love it [simply because it was white]. But [she] could examine it to see what it was that all the world said was loveable. [The more she did so, she sought to immediately] break off the tiny fingers, bend the flat feet, loosen the hair [and] twist the head around” (21). Claudia was opposing the societal set norm for what is beautiful. She was curious to find out when the entire world came to the consensus that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured and desired to imitate. In addition, a slew of racial epithets were used throughout the entire novel, for example “nigger” and “ratty nigger”. Blacks were also compared to desperate birds and depicted as struggling to consolidate with their weaknesses and hang on.
November 4, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Writing Prompts # 1. How does nature function in the novel? Do you consider it a benevolent presence against which the events of the novel are contrasted, or a potentially malevolent force? Is Morrison’s use of natural imagery hopeful or ironic?
Nature does indeed have a significant purpose within The Bluest Eye, evident in the four sections of the novel being named after the four seasons: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. However, the events in the novel do not meet the expectations of the seasons. Autumn is the shift from warm to cold weather, however, also associated with fruitful harvest. Ironically, Pecola’s baby dies in a season that is supposedly prosperous. Spring, the transition between winter and summer, is historically associated with birth and rebirth of natural things, nevertheless Pecola is raped in this season and Claudia remembers being whipped with new switches her mother “reaches into the bushes and pulls off” (30). Winter, associated with the cold and dreadfulness of things, is used to describe Pecola’s disgusting father who rapped her; a cold-hearted despicable man. “My daddy’s face is a study. Winter moves into it and presides there. His eyes become a cliff of snow threatening to avalanche; his eyebrows bend like black limbs of leafless trees [and] his skin takes on the pale, cheerless yellow of winter sun” (61). Whenever Claudia eats a strawberry, a natural fruit, it reminds her of summer; a season of violent sudden storms, parched days and sticky nights. Ironically, summer is usually associated with fun and happiness but frightens and quenches Claudia.
November 4, 2009 at 11:12 pm
“In one gallop she was on Pecola, and with the back of her hand knocked her to the floor.” (109)
During this scene I was slightly disgusted by Mrs. Breedlove’s actions as she hits her instead of helping her. She rather comforts the little white girl than helping Pecola, her daughter, who has just been burned from the pie. Also, she yells at the three girls with a tone “like rotten pieces of apples” while her words towards the little white girl is filled with “honey”. (109) This shows that Mrs. Breedlove, in a way, has abandoned her own black family for the sake of the white family she works for and it is wrong of her. It made me question “how can a mother perform an action so cold towards her own daughter?”. It was a cruel move and she shouldn’t have done that just for a blackberry pie.
November 4, 2009 at 11:22 pm
“I said, get on wid it. An’ make it good, nigger, make it good” (148).
This quote makes me sick. Two white men forced Cholly to continue having sex with Darlene while they watch them. That’s sexual harassment and invasion of privacy in this section. It made me upset about what these white men did to Cholly, watching him having sex and pointing flashlights at him. I wonder if people like them still do those kinds of things to other people in today’s society. It feels like no one have any privacy to have sex or do whatever they want.
November 5, 2009 at 6:11 pm
While I do agree with the fact that this part of the book is quite sickening, and can easily make a person angry, i do want to point out that it’s not sexual harrassment. If anything, it should be a form of rape. Forced sexual activity, be it with the assailent, or with someone else can be considred rape.
Now, that being said, it is always wrong when someone is forced to have sex with anyone.
November 4, 2009 at 11:44 pm
“The other dolls, which were supposed to bring me great pleasure, succeeded in doing quite the opposite” (20).
Claudia’s encounter with the white dolls reminded me of a something similar to it. I was part of the Dzert club, a club where the members travel to Egypt and Ghana to learn about our ancestors in the past. On one day, the group showed a video where they have little kids, choosing a white baby doll instead of a black baby doll. One of the little kids who is black chose the white doll because to her, the white doll represents good and the black doll represents evil. The main purpose of that program was to show what the younger generation think about race in society. They probably understood what they think about racism.
November 5, 2009 at 12:02 am
“She ran into the bedroom with a dishpan full of cold water and threw it in Cholly’s face. He sat up, choking and spitting” (44).
This reminded me of a scene from 50 Cent’s movie, “Get Rich or Die Trying”. In the movie, Marcus threw a pan of cold water at his cousin for kicking him off the bed. That led to a fight where Marcus’ grandfather had to break it up. When the grandfather was taking the cousin upstairs, the cousin started questioning Marcus where’s his father. That was mean to say because he never saw his father in his childhood. It caused Marcus to develop a hatred towards his cousin.
November 5, 2009 at 12:08 am
In the book, beauty is represented by a doll that is white, with blonde hair and blue eyes and the girls see themselves as ugly because they do not physically match the doll. This sadly, exist in our world also. Even though race is not as much as an issue in our world, people believe they’re ugly because their physical features do not meet with the social norm’s definition of beauty. The media creates what beauty is in a society and they should not be the one who decides what features make a person beautiful or not. A person should have his/her own definition of beauty and not what the media says.
November 5, 2009 at 12:42 am
2. I think sexism is a bigger threat to the children of the novel. The way women are represented in the novel makes them seem completely inferior and only for the use of men. The Breedlove’s marriage is a clear example of sexism because Cholly is a dominating drunk and Mrs. Bleedlove is trapped in a loveless marriage. The two really don’t get along and Cholly often beats Mrs. Breedlove. Characters like Mr. Yacobowski and Soaphead Church show how men are dominant of women. Mr. Yacobowski treats Pecola terribly and Soaphead Church uses her because of her ignorance. Even the school boys are sexist because they taunt Pecola. Junior bullies her and blames her for killing his mother’s cat.
November 5, 2009 at 12:50 am
2. I believe that racism is greater of a threat to the children rather than sexism. In the story, all Pecola wants is blue eyes because she believes it represents beauty and it would bring her love and affection from others. As a result of her conquest to attain blue eyes, she becomes delusional, and insane as she believes she has finally obtained it. Another example is the scene when Claudia was given the doll. Claudia knows that the “world had agreed that a blued-eye, yellow-haired, pink-skinned foll was what every girl child treasured” and as a result, she “could not love it” (21). The doll represented the social definition of beauty and because she doesn’t match the doll, she isn’t seen as beautiful.
November 5, 2009 at 1:02 am
5. Geraldine’s storyline comments on the main storyline by contrasting the type of lifestyles and type of black people they were. Geraldine has lived a more upscale life and looks down on black people like the Breedloves. The two storylines connect with the children, Pecola and Junior. Junior taunts Pecola and throws a cat at her then blames her when the cat dies. Geraldine insults Pecola and insinuates that she is inferior and not of as much worth as her and Junior. This incident shows a difference in class and social standing. This is put into the novel because it represents how people of the same race can hate each other and make each other feel ugly even though they are of the same race.
November 5, 2009 at 1:07 am
One reoccuring theme along the novel was the definition of beauty and who exactly was considered beautiful. It seemed as if, dark skinned people were’nt proclaimed as beautiful and as a result, the majority of the society believed that they were ugly. “Sky- soft brown” skin.” (58) And because Pecola was alot darker she has a hard time even making friends because no one was really iterested in her because of her appearance. “Pretty eyes. Pretty blue eyes. Big blue pretty eyes. “(46) As a result of the pressure from the society, Pecola would fall asleep wishing for blue eyes and lighter skin. As the stroy progresses it becomes evident that those who are darking than a certain tone are ugly and those who are lighter are worshiped and envied and as a result, Pecola often finds herself unhappy. She believes if she were able to get blue eyes than things for her would change and people would be interested in speaking to her, which is not true but because she is young she believes that if she gets this she would now be labled “beautiful.”
November 5, 2009 at 1:12 am
“The cat will always know that he is first in her affections. Even after she bears a child.” (86)
This quote reminds me of a short story and a movie I’ve seen where a family only has love for money and no one else. Even though the mother took care of her children she did not love them. All she wanted was expensive jewelery, clothing and money but, her husband could not afford her lifestyle. This caused her love for money to rise and care for the children to decrease. As a result, one of the children rocked on a rocking horse until he died and it could be the same destination for Junior. Junior kills the cat because of how much affection his mother gives it, while he receives very little love. Both stories shows that the lack of love for a child will lead to terrible consequences.
November 5, 2009 at 1:27 am
The house itself holds great power and this becomes noticeble in the beginning chapter of the novel. “Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty.” The house described the social status of the Breedloves. Becuase the house is poorly built and is very old, it is evident to the reader that although they live in this very poor looking house the house holds great power to their well being. In the particualar house many events have taken place to the extent that it can now be described as miserable and dreadful. Along with that house the Macteer house on the other hand is the complete opposite because they have more love amoung the family. This is shown through the vibe given off through the house which in the end tells us the readers that they may serve as a happier family.
November 5, 2009 at 1:47 am
4. While Cholly has performed unforgivable actions towards his family, he should not be blamed to the full extent. At four days old, he was abandoned by his mother and he was forced to have sex with Darlene while being watched. When he went to search for his father, his father tells him to scram. It is not his fault for having such an unfortunate childhood which could be the reason for being drunk and violent. In my opinion, the two white men who forced him to have sex are the biggest influence on his behavior. Even though it was the men who made him continue, his hate was directed at Darlene showing that it dramatically scarred him. I believe the novel agrees with me because in the book, there is a chapter dedicated to his past and once you discover his brutal childhood, you feel more sympathetic towards Cholly and see that its not all his fault for being violent.
November 5, 2009 at 1:51 am
“‘Please God,’ she whispered into the palm of her hand. ‘Please make me disappear.’” (45)
I think this quote shows Pecola’s discontent with herself and her family. She hates her family because it is so dysfunctional and her house is physically unbearable. She doesn’t want to be where she is so she hopes to disappear. She does not want to exist because she hates her existence. She believes she is ugly and wants nothing to do with herself. She cant stand the life she lives because her family is too unbearable to live with and she thinks shes ugly because she doesn’t have blue eyes.
November 5, 2009 at 1:59 am
“Knowing that there was such a thing as outdoors bred in us hunger for property, for ownership”(18).
This quote really intrigued me, and made me question whether I felt the same. Does knowing about being homeless drive us to want a place of our own or is it a natural urge? I must agree with Claudia. Knowing that there is such a thing as being homeless or out in the street is what drives us more to want a home. I think it’s the fear created by being alone in the streets is what pushes us. The coldness and lack of comfort is what drives us to have homes. Also, I think it has to do with the feeling of success. If forced “outdoors” it’s something to be ashamed of, while owning a home or property evokes feelings of pride and accomplishment.
November 5, 2009 at 2:05 am
“Colored people were neat and quiet; niggers were dirty and loud.” (87)
This quote was very interesting to me. It shows Geraldine’s opinion of herself and the other black people around her. The quote draws a firm line between colored people and niggers even though in the eyes of white people they are the same. It also reminded me of a joke Chris Rock once told. He said something about loving black people but hating “niggas.” This situation is almost the same because in the joke he talked about black people moving forward and striving to achieve while “niggas” stay ignorant and choose to fight, steal, and do things of ignorant nature.
November 5, 2009 at 2:08 am
I strongly disliek the ending of the novel because, Pecola actually gets the blue eyes that she has wantes from the beginning of the novel. As a result, she has fallen in with the rest on this look that is bealived to be “ideal” when in actuality it is changing the mindset of the people of the society. Pecola does not realize that having her new blue eyes has only separated her from her family and those whom she loves, her family. She has now come up with am imaginary friend who serves as a subsitute for the the society that is avoiding her. Pecola believes that those who do not speak to her do chose not to because they are jealous of her new found beauty which is not true because it distanced her from those who she spoke to who has dark brown eyes. Along with that Pecola and her imaginary friend reminise on the different events of the story which informed us of the different mishaps that took place. For example, Pecola being raped, Cholly’s death and much more. In the end Pecola manges to move away with Ms. Breedlove. I personally disliked the story because i feel that Pecola should have stayed which her natual physical features which may have been what defined her as a person. Instead she was given the opportunity to change which didnt strengthen her growth as a character in th end. I was hoping for her to really overcome everything but although she learned that thats not what defined beauty i was hoping that she would be about to define beauty within herself.
November 5, 2009 at 2:13 am
“You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house.” (92)
I was very surprised when Geraldine said this. I understand why she called her a bitch; she was angry it was within reason, but it was her using the word “black” that caught my attention. Does Geraldine think that she isn’t black? What makes her think she is so much better than Pecola? She must think because she has lived a better life than Pecola and has been able to live like a white person that she is now among the ranks of the white person. She must have forgotten that they were both black in that situation. Geraldine, as a character, disgusts me.
November 5, 2009 at 2:24 am
One of the most disturbing images for me is when Pecola spills and burns herself with the blueberries. I find it incredible that Mrs. Breedlove cares more about the safety and well being of the little girl, but not of her own child. As opposed to trying to make Pecola feel better, she instead hugged and sweet talked the little girl. In fact, she slapped Pecola several times and yelled at her for messing up ‘her’ floor. I feel that in this scene is evidence of the double standard in the society. This is the perfect example of the reality of people in this time period, there was this belief that whites were superior and everyone blindly believes in that. Mrs. Breedlove could have calmed her daughter down, but she chooses to help the other girl. I find that wrong, especially for a mother. Mothers should be caring for their children. Not for the children of others. That is not to condone selfishness, but to show that it is important – especially for the mental well being of a child – to love in all possible ways, and never neglect a child.
November 5, 2009 at 2:27 am
While the book sends out many messages, one message that keeps on appearing in my mind is that white people are the source of many problems in the story. Cholly’s childhood has been malformed because two white men force him to have sex with Darlene, one of the reasons why he is violent most of the time. As a result of the social norm’s definition of beauty is white and blue-eyed, Pecola goes insane in an attempt to acquire blue eyes. Mrs. Breedlove scold her daughter and comforts the little white girl just to please her employer. These examples show that white people create many challenges for the characters in the story.
November 5, 2009 at 2:30 am
The differentiation amongst blacks is interesting to note. The fact that Junior’s mother, Geraldine says that her son is ‘different’ because he not a nigger, he is colored shocked me. Geraldine feels the need to differentiate her son from the other boys; ironically enough, Junior dreams of spending time with those same boys his mother despises. Further, I found it unnecessary for Geraldine to scream at Pecola when her son was to blame for her cats’ death. I find it ridiculous that a mother would say such things, especially in front of such a younger girl. Geraldine’s actions were unpardonable because she should have considered the mental effects that her words would have on not only on Pecola, but on her own son. As opposed to setting a good example for him, she is simply fueling his desire to bully others.
November 5, 2009 at 2:35 am
The biggest reason why Pecola wants blue eyes is because she feels that if she becomes beautiful all her problems will be solved; the main problem being the constant fighting between her parents. Pecola wishes that her parents will either cut down on or stop fighting completely. Like every child, Pecola is affected by the daily activities that occur in her house. She constantly sees her parents fighting each other and that has a negative effect on her mentality. Pecola feels that beauty, above anything else will allow her to have a better life. Not only does she believe that she will do better in school, but she also thinks that she will no longer be bullied. Pecola wishes to be liked by the people in her neighborhood she wants her parents to be proud of her. What she asks for, although seemingly unreasonable, actually makes sense; Pecola, like most people, wants happiness. Unfortunately, she believes that happiness comes with beauty, in this case in blue eyes.
November 5, 2009 at 2:40 am
Writing Prompt #2: Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
Racism was a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye becuase we can tell how much it affected them as a result of some of Claudia’s actions. Claudia mistreated her doll because it was white.we can tell that there is some hatred towards the doll becuase she does things to it and breaks it up. when claudia first recieves the doll she shows no interest towards it. Other young girls who get dolls for the first time are happy to play with them and be their “mother” but Claudia showed another affection towards her doll. The doll that was given to Claudia had blue eyes and was white, it looked nothing like her. While talkin about the doll, Claudia said “I could not love it” (21). The doll was not what she wanted and it showed how much of an affect racism had on the children because Claudia showed alot of hate towards a white doll.
November 5, 2009 at 2:40 am
“We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was having her father’s baby that the marigolds did not grow”(5).
Pecola reminded me of a character from a different that was in the same situation. In the novel Push, Precious was pregnant with her father’s baby twice. Her first child has Down Syndrone. Precious was pregnant because her father raped her. Pecola was also raped by her father Cholly. These girls faced bad experiences when they were young, being raped by their fathers. It made me upset of the horrible thing that a father would do to his own daughter. Fathers should be sentenced for life for abusing their family in that kind of way.
November 5, 2009 at 2:44 am
A lot of the blame for the violence against his family should be placed on Cholly because he consciously makes the lives of his wife and his children miserable. Cholly, of all people, should know what it is like to grow up without parents; yet, instead of learning from his own life, he is giving his children the same, probably an even worse, life. He has not cared for the creation of a family since the beginning; for instance, he abandoned Darlene and a possible child for a father who abandoned him. I find it ironic that he is upset at his own father, but he is about to do the same thing to his child. Cholly seems to have no interest in his children or his family, and although Mrs. Breedlove should share in his shame, Cholly deserves much of the blame. He is sick and twisted creature for raping his own daughter. He is a horrible father for constantly being drunk and beating on his wife. And he is simply a bad parent for never being supportive for his family. In short, Cholly deserves most of the blame.
November 5, 2009 at 2:48 am
2. I believe that racism and sexism are both threats to the children in The Bluest Eye. The reason why I believe this is because this neighborhood is based on what color skin people have. Pecola, who is the the main character, goes through a lot of stuggle. She is a young black girl who is treated very differently from the white children. Pecola is living with the MacTeer family and she is doing so because her father has burned down her house. Racism plays a major role because the children somtimes don’t understand why things are the way they are. In the beginning, Rosemary Villanucci, who is a white neighbor, taunts the Claudia and Frieda. Girls and women in the book are treated very differently. Also the Breedloves family is a poor family and blacks are looked upon that way.
November 5, 2009 at 2:57 am
4. Cholly should be blamed for most of the violence agianst his family in the book. The way he treats his loved ones is unaceptable. Cholly does not make the decisions based on what is best for his family, actually he makes things a lot worse for him and his family. For example, when he was going to start a fmaily, he left Darlene and never thought about the consequences that he and his family will have to endure. Cholly is selfish, cruel and does not think what he does hurts the people around him. Cholly also is always drunk and beats his wife. Cholly deserves most if not all of the blame. The book takes the side of the wife and his children because Cholly is shown as a horrible person who is selfish and does not think when he makes his decisions. Cholly’s family does not deserve the violence but because Cholly makes the right decisions his family has to take the brunt of the pain.
November 5, 2009 at 3:01 am
“My eyes.” “What about your eyes?” “I want them blue” (174).
Pecola wanted blue eyes like white people because she wants people to look at her different. She hates being teased by boys for being ugly and hates being abused. I understand that kind of pain she has. I think people shouldn’t be look different because of the color of our skin. People should be treated as equal instead of being treated separately. I remember of watching something in History class last year where a teacher separated blue eyes students from brown eyes students. On the first day, the blue eyes students were treated with special privileges and the brown eyes students were treated special. On the next day, the brown eyes students were treated special also. The teacher was showing an example of segregation within society.
November 5, 2009 at 3:05 am
“I did not want to have anything to own, or possess any object. I wanted to feel” (21).
Claudia’s dissatisfaction with her doll is similar to Pecola’s discontent with her appearance. Claudia isn’t happy with the present because it doesn’t evoke a feeling. Her house still feels the same and she’s stuck in the same predicaments. This also results in her weird despise of white girls. Similarly, Pecola wants blue eyes in order to feel pretty. Pecola thinks that the blue eyes will make everyone recognize her hidden beauty, because, besides her eyes, her other features aren’t that awful. She wants to be just like the white girls.
I think Morrison is trying to comment on how our feelings effect us and how we appreciate things. Claudia is unable to love and appreciate a doll, which other girls would love, because she doesn’t feel connected to it. Meanwhile, Pecola’s slight bitterness about her appearance makes her wish and pray for blue eyes.
November 5, 2009 at 3:13 am
“They beat us differently in the spring. Instead of a dull pain of a winter strap, there were these new green switches that lost their sting long after the whipping was over.” (97)
This quote reminds me of a the book “Beloved”, another book by Toni Morrison where Sethe was whipped on her back and it left numerous scars which turned out to look like a cherry tree. Come to think of it, I believe these two books have similar themes such as racism. Both books show how terribly racism has negatively affected the lives of the characters and how their lives has been destroyed as a result of it. I believe one of her most important messages is to show how much pain and suffering racism has brought to this world. It has never been a good thing and fortunately, it is slowly disappearing off of this country.
November 5, 2009 at 3:15 am
I related the situation with the Breedlove family to a novel I am currently reading. The novel is about the Hondurans and the struggles farmers have faced for decades. It is written by, Elvia Alvarado a woman who has six young children. In her society, the man only takes care of the children that are his, regardless of those that the woman may already have. Further, men make little money and care only about themselves; rarely do they help out the family. I related this to The Bluest Eye because Alvarado lives in a society with a double standard, similar to the society the Breedloves live in. There is one set standard in the family and one for outside the home. The Breedloves may seem like a normal family, but in reality they are mentally traumatized, especially Pecola. Further, there is this sense of patriarchy in both societies because the men seem to have the most valued opinions. Sexism is also evident in both settings, as with almost any setting one might encounter.
November 5, 2009 at 3:21 am
Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
I must admit is a toss up between the two and I could probably write and essay on this topic. They are both have huge impacts on the way these girls live and are perceived, but I think sexism I more of a greater threat. In the novel there is little talk of how a man or an African American should be perceived. The main focus is on how a little girl should be perceived: blonde hair and blue eyes. The girls come across of series of emotions which differ on whether they are talking of a white girls beauty or a black girls. Claudia and Frieda disagree on Shirley Temple, but they agree on Maureen. Even though Claudia seems very intelligent in her personal thought of beauty she almost contradicts herself by not seeing beauty in an African American female. The issue in the story is there is no positive way of being female except when you look like Shirley Temple. All the women somehow, someway compare themselves to this American Dream idol and are angry at each other and themselves for not being them. Racism plays a part in the way women are classified, but the book can be related to by all women, including myself
November 5, 2009 at 3:30 am
One of the things that I found interesting was the incident between Frieda, Claudia, Pecola, and Maureen Peal. Claudia says that she had never thought about the fact that she was ‘ugly’ because she had always been comfortable in her own skin. However, Claudia begins to question the reality she faces daily after she sees the special treatment that Maureen receives simply because she is pretty. She wonders what the difference is between Maureen and herself. Further, Claudia begins to feel worse about herself and blames it on her looks. Although this is a universal feeling, it seems to me that these children see it worse. These young girls are constantly faced with racism and they have to face it whether they like it or not.
November 5, 2009 at 3:33 am
To what extent is Cholly to blame for his violence against his family? Which other people or circumstances may also be to blame? What is the novel’s position on blame?
Cholly is blamed for his violence towards his family becuase he sexually abuses his daughter. Cholly is blamed but he is blamed to a certain extent as a result of his past and things that were done to him as well. Cholly suffered and was mistreated in ways that are not ways to treat a human. Two men, who were white, made Cholly perform sexual acts jus for them to enjoy and make fun of him. As a result of the things that he went through in his past it is hard for Cholly to love the way how he is supposed to and all he knows of is sex. He does not want to harm his family intentionally but his past makes it hard for him to love 100%. Other people or circumstances that may be also to blame are the people who put down black people. The white people can also be to blame becuase they are the ones who made black people feel less of what they are and that is what made Claudia have so much hate towards her dolls that were white and had blue eyes. In the novel, one person does not have the blame for everything and instead of putting the blame on someone a person is made so that we can feel sympathetic towards them.
November 5, 2009 at 3:33 am
“When she comes out of the car we will beat her up.” (9)
There is no particular point I want to make about this quote; I just like it. I think it makes the girls feel strong against a racist so I like it. I feel that these girls shouldn’t be made to feel bad and when they can make someone else feel bad because of it that is their own personal victory. I’m not saying I condone violence against racists, but I’m in favor of someone getting what’s coming to them. I support this quote 100%.
November 5, 2009 at 3:35 am
2. I definitely think that sexism is the greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye, this is so because unlike racism which only exists between the races sexism can be seen within the African American community. It’s one thing to be discriminated against by someone who does not share your own race but when it’s the same race discriminating against it own a shift occurs. People’s positions not just in their communities are questioned but their positions in life are. What does it say to a little black girl when she see a white man behaving and a sexist manner towards her or another black woman in her community, and to also see the same behavior from the black men in her community. As a young woman I would feel as though I was worth less and serve no purpose but to be disrespected and demeaned. Knowing that not even my “own people” value my presence would be a shot to not only my pride but my self-esteem, my own skin would become a prison.
November 5, 2009 at 3:37 am
Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is filled with many gripping passages but now stoop out to me as much as,” There is a difference between being put out and being put outdoors. If you were put out, you go somewhere else; if you are out doors there is no place to go. The distinction was subtle but final. Outdoors was the end of something, an irrevocable, physical fact, defining and complementing our metaphysical condition.” (17). This passage although unusual stood out to me because of just that, it takes some things so trivial as being put out and molds it into a multiply dimensional topic. Being put out and or being put out doors took on a life of its own and in a way given it own stage to be picked at and carefully examined. The extent that the author went through to emphasize the difference in the two phrases allows the reader to full appreciate her talent as a writer.
“That nigh, in bed, the three of us lay still. We were full of awe and respect for Pecola. Lying next to a real person who was really ministratin’ was somehow sacred. She was different from us now –grown-up-like. She, herself, felt the distance, but refused to lord it over us.”(32). This Quotation is one of my favorite because it is realistic, it represent something that young girls experience in their lives. The feeling that the character expresses as she lies in bed next to Pecola is some thing that I can related to and understand. I felt how much they admired Pecola and the new sense of wonder that she brought with this change. I can definitely acknowledge the characters fear also, they feel that this change has separated them and have somehow made Pecola more superior to them.
November 5, 2009 at 3:41 am
At the end of the novel, Claudia questions her own right or ability to tell the truth about Pecola’s experience. How seriously are we to take her questioning? Is she a reliable narrator?
Claudia is a nine-year old girl who doesn’t even know where babies come from; therefore, she is not fully a reliable narrator. Throughout the story Claudia questions the world around her to her ideas. For such a young girl she is very bright especially when it comes to formulating her own ideas; however, Claudia can not make logical or fully acceptable ideas because she doesn’t fully understand certain things like where babies come from for example. The parts where she is narrating is written in the eyes of an innocent, young observer. Even though she is unreliable it makes your opinions of each character a little more innocent. Like the hookers that live upstairs for example. I personally think their jobs are immoral but you see them in a light that makes them a regular person like everyone else. I think that is Morison’s overall message: everyone is beautiful you just have to see it in your own light.
November 5, 2009 at 3:42 am
2.
I believe racism is more of a threat to the children than sexism. Although sexism is a major factor in the children’s lives, it doesn’t really affect them as much as racism does. When Claudia received a white baby doll for Christmas she realized that she didn’t like them at all. She didn’t see why everyone was so attracted to this doll because she had no connection to it. This led to her hatred of white dolls which she continued to destroy during her childhood. Another sign of racism is Pecola’s desire for blue eyes. Society views African Americans as ugly people and Caucasians as beautiful. Since Pecola is surrounded by this she begins to dislike her appearance and longs for blue eyes, thinking that they will change the way people view her even though it won’t. At school, the “high yellow” girl, Maureen is treated with higher respect than the other black girls at school because she is half white. Children notice race more than sexism because they are judged on their skin color so often.
November 5, 2009 at 3:46 am
“And he said the honest-to-god real reason was he couldn’t take no more of that violet water Della Jones” (13)
I was shocked when I first read this part of the passage because I found this reasoning as an excuse and strange. I don’t get why a person would leave their partner because he/she is too clean. It would make sense to have someone that is too clean than to have someone that is too dirty. Yet I didn’t find him as a horrible person after reading the way he behaves in front of the protagonist. Besides the sad excuse of leaving Della Jones, I find this person perfectly normal and amusing.
November 5, 2009 at 3:49 am
I believe that Soaphead church’s life had a lot of similarity to Pecola’s because they both faced many challenges that although they believe they are solving them, they are not. Both Soaphead and Pecola are outcasts in their societies and they want to correct that somehow. They both wish for miracles, miracles that are beyond reach. Soaphead foolishly implies that he can ‘fill in’ for God, while Pecola wishes for something impossible, something ridiculous – a pair of blue eyes. Both of them believe that by being in touch with their religion they will get what they wish. Unfortunately, these problems cannot be corrected as easily as they think.
November 5, 2009 at 3:50 am
“We looked hard for flaws to restore our equilibrium.” (63)
This quote made me consider the way society thinks. This is the way most of the people I see on a daily basis think. They try to put people down to bring themselves up and this is the case with the girls and Maureen. They hate that she is light-skinned so they search for the tiniest most insignificant flaw to peck upon. This happens a lot in the world we live in. Society has lost its supportive nature and is more inclined to put itself down. Its odd how life is similar to this book.
November 5, 2009 at 3:55 am
“I was physically revolted by and secretly frightened of those round moronic eyes, the pancake face, and orangeworms hair” (20)
I liked the way the author makes the character with these point of views towards dolls. I’m not a girl but I have always wondered what was so good about having dolls and what is so fun about them. I like how the main character breaks away the stereotype of how all little girls love to play with dolls and how uncomfortable it actually is. If I didn’t read this passage, I would probably still think that girls love to play with dolls for no apparent reasons. They may want to sleep with dolls or use their imaginations around it but in the end, it’s just a figure and I love how the author shows that no matter what, a doll is a plastic shaped person.
November 5, 2009 at 3:57 am
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.”
There is this reoccurring theme of using other people as a scapegoat. Everyone is trying to find someone worst looking or just someone inferior. It seems like no one will be able to change this idea of beauty because there is no unity. And it is more than dislike it’s a hate for something they hate in themselves.
November 5, 2009 at 4:01 am
“She was never able, after her education in the movies, to look at a face and not assign it some category in the scale of absolute beauty, and the scale was one she absorbed in full from the silver screen.”
This is something relatable to ALL women. This sense of do my abs look like hers, are clothes as cool as hers lurks in our actions. This is one of the reasons why I feel that it is a sexism is more of a motif because this is an action done by all the female characters one way or another.
November 5, 2009 at 4:02 am
“The line between colored and nigger was not always clear; subtle and telltale signs threatened to erode it, and the watch had to be constant.” (87)
This quote really sticks out to me. One of the major themes in the book is racism. In the book some people doesn’t know when you are a “colored” person and when someone is a “nigger”. Sometimes characters in the book tried to hide themselves from being made fun of. For example, Junior’s mother tired to control how peolple thought of her child. Junior’s mother kept putting lotion on, espcially in the winter because she wants to keep it ashen. People are judged based on how they look and what their skin color is. Racism is always the thing that makes the chatarcters act the way they do.
November 5, 2009 at 4:04 am
“‘You are ugly people.’ They. . . saw nothing to contradict the statement”(39).
This statement made me feel so sympathetic towards the Bleedloves. Their home is torn apart by the continuos fighting within the family, but then they have to deal with the outside world looking down at them. Their ugliness is increased by their poverty. They’re forced to live in a cramped store front, because they can’t afford a regular sized home. And when faced with the world they have to deal with feeling physically ugly. Especially Pecola, who is forced into an environment where only girls with blonde hair and blue eyes are considered ideal and beautiful. They have no place of relief or escape from all their pain and that’s why I feel bad for the entire family.
November 5, 2009 at 4:05 am
5.
Soaphead Church’s histories directly relates to the storyline of the Breedlove family because it deals with Pecola’s desire to have blue eyes. Pecola came to Soaphead and asked him if he could make her eyes blue. Soaphead thought it was the most “logical petition” he had ever gotten. He was angry at the fact that he couldn’t actually make her eyes blue. He wanted to help her move away from her blackness. I disagreed with all of Soaphead’s views. He found her wish to be logical while I found it stupid. He also wanted to stray her away from her race. Instead of making her think that she has blue eyes, he should have helped her accept the fact that she will never have blue eyes. This would then lead to bringing her closer to her race instead of straying away from it and being ashamed of it. Soaphead doesn’t understand the root of the problem.
November 5, 2009 at 4:09 am
“She was never able, after her education in the movies, to look at a face and not assign it some category in the scale of absolute beauty, and the scale was one she absorbed in full from the silver screen.” (122)
People where always charcterized differently. Pauline tried to be what white beauty means. Pauline even started to hate herself because she was not living up to the white beauty. People in the book try way to hard to be another race even though they aren’t that race. I feel this takes out who someone is really is. People should not be characterized by their gender or race because everyone is human. The white beauty is someone that is perfect, makes all the right decisions and isn’t hated. People like Pauline has the notion that they have to be the white beauty or they will never be acepted in society.
November 5, 2009 at 4:17 am
One of the things that caught my attention besides the author’s attention for detail was the abuse suffered at the hand of Cholly. Pecola’s home environment does nothing for her already low self-esteem; she walks with her head hung low and tots the idea that she is “ugly”. And the abuse that she receives from her family only reassures her negative self image. Because of this abuse and the way the people in her community treat her she has developed warped ideals as to what beauty is and what makes a person beautiful. She hangs on to image of the blond haired boy eye girl on the Mary Jane wrapper as beautiful. When I read this passage in chapter three it reminded me of why I hate Barbie dolls and how I think they contribute to some of the pressure girls are given from the media to look like Barbie, and have that perfect figure. There is nothing I hate more than I child not feeling like there best is good enough.
The issue of skin color in the Black Community has sparked arguments for years and so when Maureen Peal as being light-skinned and gaining all this attention I was intrigued. I wanted to see how Toni Morrison would incorporate this new character, would she be “stuck up” and belittle Pecola because of her darker skin or would she be show as being treated better than all the other girls. And after reading on I’m still not sure if I like the way that Morrison incorporated this character, she starts off very sweet and genuine, but as soon as she feels the least bit threatened she becomes nasty. I feel as though she was there as another example of what outter beauty can do to a person. She serves as something to comapre Pecola against, she is the monster that is created when image becomes the center of everything.
November 5, 2009 at 4:17 am
“Her simplicity decorated us, her guilt sanctified us, her pain made us glow with health.” (205)
Claudia states that all the pain Pecola is going through makes people around her feel better. I feel that is wrong because people are making Pecola feel bad. She has gone through a lot of struggle from her father burning down the house to adapting to a new home. If people like Cholly were in her position that they would not want others to feel better based on their pain and stuggle. I also feel that it’s good that Claudia is pointing out this fact because this is a society where racism is dominated. Pecola has the support she needs to get through all the pain and stuggle she is enduring.
November 5, 2009 at 4:20 am
“We looked hard for flaws to restore our equilibrium.” (63)
I really agree with this quote. This is very powerful because we can relate this with our current soceity. I feel that people have to look down at others to make themselves feel better. People are not supporting others and people need to look at the flaws in others to make them feel more suporior. I have seen this in characters like Cholly because he has to make others feel bad and he needs to hurt the people around him to make him feel powerful and make him feel better about his life even though most of the time he hates his life. People should be helping each other while making themselevs better people.
November 5, 2009 at 4:25 am
“We stare at her, wanting her bread, but more than that wanting to poke the arrogance out of her eyes and smash the pride of ownership that curls her chewing mouth.” (9)
This is a very powerful line. The reason why I believe it’s powerful is because Claudia really states how she felt in her childhood. When her neighbor, Rosemary Villanucci, used to taunt her they hated her. The reason why Claudia hated her was because she felt that she was powerful because of her position in society. Claudia aslo felt as though Rosemary had to make fun of others just to make her life feel better. She knew that it was the wrong thing to do but society tells people that we need to see flaws in others and that we need to make fun of others to make us feel more supior.
November 5, 2009 at 4:29 am
“Frieda was destroyed. Whippings wounded and insulted her” (31).
Reading about parent beating children caught my attention because I have always disapprove of child abuse of any form. I understand how parents become frustrated and stressed out when taking care of children but I don’t think beating them is the answer. Child abuse usually causes more complications on other areas and psychologically, the child will do things they got beat for whenever the authority figure isn’t present. It doesn’t work and it causes more problems. This part of the book caught my attention because the character was getting beat since the mother wouldn’t let the children explain. When the children explained that Pecola was menstruating the mother felt guilt and this part is interesting because it shows how the ruthless and wrong the mother is to just start beating kids out of nowhere as if she was a beast.
November 5, 2009 at 4:29 am
“I had only one desire, to dismember it. To see what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty, the desirability that had escaped me, but apparently only me.” (20)
I relate to this quote a lot. When I was younger, the white Barbie dolls never appealed to me. There was a point when I only bought the African American Barbies because I thought they were prettier than the white ones. I never really saw a blonde haired, blue eyed girl as the epitome of perfection when I was younger. It was and is always a black girl. This shows you how the views of children are manipulated by their parents and society. If your child is told that a certain person is beautiful, they’re going to believe that that kind of beauty is the kind they should emulate. Society needs to teach children that everyone is their own person and there are so many different looks that are pleasing to the eye.
November 5, 2009 at 4:39 am
4. I think that Cholly is largely to blame for the violence against his family, but he is not the only one to blame. I feel as though if he did not live in the society that he loved in and didn’t see the things he did he would be a much different person. His frustration with the abuse that the African Americans suffer and the discrimination that they deal with on a daily basis is mirrored in his actions. I think if he wasn’t living in a place that made sexism somewhat of a norm and did have the past that he had he would be a completely different person. I am in one way shape or form excusing his behavior, the raping his daughter, and brutalizing of his wife, I am merely trying to rationalize what it is that could force a man to such destruction.
November 5, 2009 at 4:39 am
“It had begun with Christmas and the gift of dolls. The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll” (19-20).
Through Claudia’s hate for white dolls it shows that she is different from Pecola because Claudia doesn’t have the same love for white skin and blue eyes. Instead, Claudia hates blue eyed dolls. She finds nothing special in the dolls and she hates it just like she hates white people. Claudia doesn’t like playing or sleeping with the doll, instead she enjoys destroying the doll. This destruction shows the amount of hate that Claudia has for white people. I relate this to the beginning of the novel when Claudia and her sister were watching Rosemary eat bread. Rosemary act like she is better than the sisters because she is white and this puts anger in the sisters that makes them want to destroy Rosemary. I think through Claudia’s eye, the doll represents Rosemary and how she wants to treat the people that look down on her. The society has made everyone think that having light skin and blue eyes represents beauty, and this type of beauty is shown in baby dolls that most children receive during Christmas.
November 5, 2009 at 4:40 am
“But their ugliness was unique” (38).
The way people view the Breedlove family as “ugly” affects the way Pecola feels about herself. Pecola feels ashamed of her own skin because she looks different from how society views beauty. Pecola wishes to be different so that she can live a different and better life that she doesn’t have. The more Pecola wants blue eyes the more it shows how little self confidence she has in herself. Unlike Claudia and Frieda, Pecola isn’t able to stand up for herself and have love in her own skin color. This shows the amount of influence of “right beauty” that the society has on people like Pecola.
November 5, 2009 at 4:40 am
“It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” (46).
The blue eyes symbolize beauty throughout the novel. Pecola wishes she can have a pair of blue eyes and with having blue eyes Pecola thinks she would have a different life from what she has now. Pecola also thinks that by having blue eyes people would view her differently and she would see another side to the world. The blue eyes also symbolize the views that people have on beauty. I relate this to black face because everyone in society view each race differently and to many people, they view having blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin as beauty. Meanwhile, African Americans are viewed as ugly and dirty people because of their skin. This shows how wrong the society view things and that not everyone can be defined as a certain type of people base on skin colors.
November 5, 2009 at 4:41 am
“My sister and I both suspected that we were secretly prepared to be her friend, if she would let us, but I knew it would be a dangerous friendship” (63).
This shows the reactions that many African American girls have when trying to become friends with white girls. In Claudia’s case she doesn’t want to be friends with Maureen because she doesn’t like how everyone finds her perfect. She fears that by becoming friends with her things would go bad. The struggle that Claudia and Frieda has when trying to be friends with Maureen shows the difficulties of African Americans girls trying to make friends outside of their race. Not everyone accepts this friendship and as the novel continues it shows that Maureen is no different from other white people. They are judgmental and believe they are better than others surrounding them.
November 5, 2009 at 4:41 am
Blue is an important color throughout the book, whether is about the blue color of the eyes or just the color blue, it is mentioned a lot throughout the book. When Pecola wants blue eyes it shows that blue not only represent s beauty but the power to be view differently. With having blue eyes, society would love that person and their lives would be different. Additionally, the color white shows the beauty that everyone sees and wants. To people having white skin means being prettier and better than others. Throughout the novel white plays an important role in the way Pecola view her skin. Pecola not only want to have blue eyes but she wants all the features that a white girl has. This shows the same of power that the color blue and white brings in the novel.
November 5, 2009 at 4:41 am
“Cholly opened his eyes slowly. They were red and menacing. With no exception, Cholly had the meanest eyes in town” (40).
I can relate to this quote because there are time I find myself glare at people who disturb me either during my sleep or when I’m doing my homework. I don’t really mean to glare at them but when I am super relaxed or when I am extremely busy and someone bothers me during that time period, I would give them the meanest eyes I have. There were many things I find distracting at home and most of them involve parents making me do petty chores or help communicate with their clients. My parents don’t understand my words when I explain that I have a lot of work to do and they find ways to make the process even longer too. I find that when I do homework in the library, I am able to finish way faster. This situation relates to Cholly right now because Cholly is also being bothered to work and he gives his wife a glare instead which is just like how I would give my parents the glare at a similar situation.
November 5, 2009 at 4:42 am
I think racism is the greatest threat in the children’s lives because it affects the way they act and view themselves. Pecola want to change into a different person, who she believes will make her prettier and a person that everyone would love. The society makes people think that having blue eyes and white skin is the meaning of beauty, this idea is emphasize throughout the beginning of the novel with Claudia and the baby doll that she had receive in Christmas. Every adult believes that the dream doll for children would be a baby doll that shows the beauty the way society views it. Unlike other girls in the society, Claudia doesn’t enjoy having the white doll because she doesn’t know what to do with it and she doesn’t see the beauty in it. I think the way Claudia feels about the doll is affected by how the white children treats her and her sister. The way the children are treated in school and outside of school by people shows the racism that is in the society and how it does play an important part in the children’s lives.
November 5, 2009 at 4:43 am
A lot of the blame on violence in family should be place on Cholly because he is the one that allows himself to become violence with his family. Even though Cholly had a bad childhood with his father and mother a banning him, but he should be able to learn from that misery. He should be able to understand what it is like when there is no love within a family and he should work hard to make it better, instead of drinking all the time. He should be able to figure out the right and wrong of things since he is an adult but I think he tries to fide from reality but drinking and using violence all the time. I think Cholly just want to feel the pain that he has when he was little, he just want to escape from reality. Additionally, I think there are other factors that contribute to the way Cholly acts. When Cholly was force to have sex with Darlene it puts anger and shame inside him. This affects Cholly because it makes her a more violent person than he already is. The way people view Cholly makes him have misery and he wants everyone around him to share the same pain that he feels.
November 5, 2009 at 4:47 am
“Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike.”
It is unfortunate the torture this girl has to go through. It seems as much as she tries to keep her innocence everyone around her rips it out of her. She, like Claudia, are young girls who have such innocent was of thinking, but unlike Claudia, Pecola has to deal a lot more. She is almost a Jesus like figure. She takes every one’s issues and soaks them up to make them her own.
November 5, 2009 at 5:09 am
“She had explained to him the difference between colored people and niggers.” (87)
This quote is something that has been brought up in society so many times through comedy and in the black community. In the Bluest Eye colored people are considered “neat and quiet; niggers were dirty and loud” (87). Although African Americans have been oppressed, they still separate themselves. Instead of everyone being black, it’s separated into “coloreds” and “niggers”. The “coloreds” are African Americans that are acceptable in society. They are well kept, intelligent, stable. “Niggers” are unsuccessful, unintelligent, etc. They’re basically everything a “colored” black person isn’t. I think its ridiculous that races separate and degrade themselves even more than they have by other races. Instead of breaking apart, everyone should support each other.
November 5, 2009 at 5:16 am
“Bed’ not mention it to your mother. She don’t take to so much Bible study and don’t like me having visitors, even if they good Christians” (79).
I liked this part of the book because the two sisters pretend to be innocent and clueless characters. They know exactly that he was messing around with hookers and they still act as if they didn’t knew that. They are also in control of the situation because they asked who they were and he lied about it. They can choose to tell their mother about this whole thing but decided against it. I also find this ironic because to become hookers and doing similar adultery related actions are the exact opposites of being a Christian but he choose to use this lie instead.
November 5, 2009 at 5:23 am
“Pauline felt uncomfortable with the few black women she met. They were amused by her because she did not straighten her hair. When she tried to make up her face as they did, it came off rather badly.” (118)
Pauline has the struggle that all black women and girls face. Wearing your “natural” hair is frowned upon by certain people in society because it’s not straight; it’s not like a white woman’s hair. So many black women use bleach products on their face to lighten up their skin to try and be that “acceptable” skin tone in society. It’s hard living in a society where you get dirty looks for being you are naturally. Not every black girl wears a weave or uses perms. African Americans spend the most money on cosmetics out of any other race on the planet. We’ve tried to adapt to all of the expectations of society so we won’t have to deal with the pain of being called ugly or not good enough by others. The problem with this is that it makes us weak. Instead of embracing what we were born with we’re lightening our skin and changing our hair. We need to be proud of who we are and not try to live up to anyone else’s standards but ours.
November 5, 2009 at 5:25 am
I think Cholly is partially responsible for the violence he inflicts on his wife and family. He does have a painful past. His mother abandoned him and his father later ignores him and sends him away. Although he has two people who apparently cared for him, his Great Aunt Jimmy who rescues him and then Blue Jack , whom Cholly “loves” (135) neither was able to teach him or show him to care. He is mixed up and the only way he acts is with violence and abuse. After the episode with Darlene and the two white men, he hates Darlene because he is powerless and can’t do a thing to the two men who abused them or to protect her; “with a violence born of total helplessness, he pulled her dress up, lowered his trousers and underwear”(148). Even when he abuses his daughter he feels “hatred mixed with tenderness” but he always chooses to feel anger and hate, and gets drunk to be able to survive “only in drink there was some break, some floodlight, and when that closed, there was oblivion” (160). He tried to be happy with his wife, but that did not work either and he lost everything.
November 5, 2009 at 5:35 am
The greatest threat to the children of “The Bluest Eye” is racism. From the beginning,the black and white race were focused on because of the dolls. From the beginning, the protagonist hated little white girls because of the dolls. The fact that she did not like the dolls also relates to how she doesn’t like white people because the dolls had blue eyes which people normally thinks were the prettiest ones and the character disliking that shows how she dislikes the ones people normally think are the best(white). People also pick on them because they are black and this includes Maureen. She openly insulted their skin color many time; “What do I care about her old black daddy?” (73) and “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black emos. I am cute!” (73).
November 5, 2009 at 5:41 am
“My eyes.” “What about your eyes?” “I want them blue” (174).
I hate how Pecola wants her eyes to be blue. It disgusts me. How can we let our children fall into this kind of mentality? This relates to society today. So many people wear contacts because they are unsatisfied with their natural eye color. I don’t care whether you dislike it or not, EMBRACE IT. We were all born with different characteristics and we should be proud of them. Society now has the technology to change the characteristics of babies before their born. You can change their eye color, hair color and sex to your liking. It takes away from the whole meaning of reproduction. Your children are supposed to be made up of your genes and come out however your genes decide to form. People shouldn’t worry about whether they’ll be accepted or not, just accept yourself.
November 5, 2009 at 5:53 am
“The other dolls, which were supposed to bring me great pleasure, succeeded in doing quite the opposite….I had only one desire: to dismember it” (20).
The society’s portrayal of beauty based a white doll with blue eyes and blond hair undermines young black girls’ self-esteem. The standard of beauty the society imposes on people creates imperfection and unrealistic ideals for those who don’t acquire those characteristics. If beauty is defined by a white doll with blue eye, then external appearance is particularly sensitive to young black girls living in white dominated neighborhoods. Some girls are jealous of those who have those characteristic of a white doll and feel the pressure to alternate their appearance to fit the status quo. Claudia obviously feels jealous and or even confused by the society’s fondness for a white doll. I can sort of connect this to the Barbie young girls possess today and how girls defined their beauty by the Barbie’s appearance. In our society girls at such a young age are being influenced by the media and the market to define beauty base on certain qualities. It is not surprised to see Pecola going insane having to be judged constantly for her “ugliness” and feeling pressured by everyone around her to modify her appearance.
November 5, 2009 at 5:53 am
“They were old enough to be irritable when and where they chose, tired enough to look forward to death, disinterested enough to accept the idea of pain while ignoring the presence of pain. They were, in fact and at last, free” (139).
Although this passage isn’t connected to the bigger theme of the book but I found the whole passage to be powerful and interesting to read. I really like Morrison’s word choices and the style in which she wrote it in. It was very powerful in conveying those long histories of pain and torture African Americans went through. Morrison herself obviously lived at a better time period than those women but she vividly expressed those sorrows and pains African Americans went through under slavery and discrimination times. This passage occurred during the part in which Cholly’s aunt passed away, and I think the whole part gave readers an insight into why Cholly behaves certain ways and explained to us why he treats others the way he does.
November 5, 2009 at 5:54 am
“Only a musician would sense, know, without even knowing that he knew, that Cholly was free. Dangerously free. Free to feel whatever he felt-fear, guilt, shame, love, grief, pity. Free to feel to be tender or violent, to whistle or weep” (159).
Aunt Jimmy’s death changes Cholly’s life, but it was his father’s reaction to Cholly’s arrival that shattered his hope and changes him completely. Cholly wants to find his father who he can possibly live with in replacement of Aunt Jimmy; however his father’s indifference causes him to loose hope and as a result makes him feel foolish. The life that Cholly goes through, from being an orphan at a young age to loosing Aunt Jimmy at an adolescent age, shapes his values on family and children. Cholly probably never understands what a true loving family feels like, and that is why he is not able to deliver that fatherly love to his own children. The way he is raised and the way he gets treated by his father cause him to treat Pecola and Sammy the way he does. At this point we came to understand the origin of Cholly’s angers and problems and view him in a more sympathetic way. Maybe readers shouldn’t fully blame Cholly for his flaws we should take into consideration of his unpleasant childhood and how he is mistreated.
November 5, 2009 at 5:54 am
“As Pecola put the laundry bag in the wagon, we could hear Mrs. Breedlove hushing and soothing the tears of the little-and-yellow girl” (109).
I don’t think Cholly should take the full blame for Pecola’s problems Mrs. Breedlove’s indifference towards her daughter also causes Pecola to change and develop several mental and physiological problems. The fact that Pecola calls her own mother “Mrs. Breedlove” shows their distanced relationship. Pauline even calls her own daughter to be ugly and this greatly undermines Pecola’s self-esteem. The great contrast between the ways Pauline treats her own daughter and the “little-and-yellow girl” adds more burden to their distanced relationship. Having Pecola see the way her mothers treats a white girl makes her want to be like her. Pecola probably thinks that if she were to look prettier, with blue eyes and blond hair, then her mother would’ve probably loved her more. Unlike Cholly, who tortures Peocola physically, Pauline tortures Pecola physiologically. Her indifference makes Peocla feel incompatible.
November 5, 2009 at 5:58 am
I think racism and sexism both are a treat to the children in this novel. Racism is felt by the way white people treat them and even in school they hate each other and fight. Even when it seems that they have some respect for each other like the white family where Mrs. Breedlove works say that “she is an ideal servant” (128) , they don’t see her as a person but rather as someone who is useful for them. But even among blacks there are differences between themselves and mothers tell kids not to visit with some of them. The childen envy and hate the whites who are better off , but at the same time they hang out with them because they can share some of the good feelings that come from beign white. Sexism is also felt by the way women have to work to keep their homes and how the men look down on them. As Pauline explains: ” white women said “Do This” and then at home black men said ” Lay down” (139). It was easier for black boys to run away to escape the hate and abuse, but the girls stayed home to suffer and wished to “dissapear”. The children are abused by everyone and only told what to do and they grow up doing the same things and abusing each other.
November 5, 2009 at 6:09 am
4. To what extent is Cholly to blame for his violence against his family? Which other people or circumstances may also be to blame? What is the novel’s position on blame?
Cholly must take at least half of the blame for his violence against his family. I understand that some things in the past has messed him up psychologically but it was also partially his fault for choosing to have public sex. I don’t get how seeing people watching him have sex actually affected him for life because if he is to have public sex, then mentally, he should be prepared for people to watch. The two white hunters who watched him have sex are also responsible because it was their fault that he became violent and they were wrong. His drinking addiction is also a problem too because he was the one who got his wife fired since he went in and demanded for money.
November 5, 2009 at 6:13 am
“Nobody answered our knock on the front door, so we walked around to the side door. As we approached, we heard radio music and looked to see where it came from” (102).
This quote reminds me of the time when people used to walk up to my door and preach religious teachings. They used to preach about how our malicious deeds would lead to a bad life in heaven and the only way to save ourselves is to convert into Christianity. I never really payed much attention to them. Whenever they approached my front door, I would always pretend that I am not home, even though the radio is at maximum volume. This forces them to leave a little pamphlet with a little except of the Bible. I think that these people are preaching an idea that does not have proof because there is no definite way of finding out if we really converted to Christianity, that “our souls would be cleansed.” I think it is just a scam to make money.
November 5, 2009 at 6:18 am
“A little black girl yearns for the blue eyes of a little white girl, and the horror at the heart of her yearning is exceeded only by the evil of fulfillment” (204).
Pecola sees herself through the eyes of others and defines beauty based on skin color and as result brought her into insanity. At such a young age, Pecola is not able to fully understand herself and only believes in what other people said. I think Pecola is devastated by her racial appearance and having it labeled as “ugly.” She longs for a pair of blue eyes in which she defines beauty to be. Having to face the pressure and discrimination from adults and the community Pecola feels left out and wants to fit in. She is so naïve that she believes she can do it through a pair of blue eyes. I can totally connect this to our society and how girls are going insane to fit the standard of beauty our society and the media has imposed upon.
November 5, 2009 at 6:25 am
“Anger is better. There is a sense of beign in anger. A reality and presence. An awareness of worth. It is a lovely surging” (50).
I find this quote explains a lot of what happens to all the people in this story. They are all fighting their poverty, the abuse and the discrimination, but they can’t fight back, instead they are angry and take it out on each other and the children. Husbands hit their wives and then the wives hit the kids, who in turn torment each other and the white kids. Louis Junior, takes his anger out on the cat because his mother loves it better than him and then on Pecola because she is an easy target just passing through the shool yard he claims as his own.
November 5, 2009 at 6:37 am
Racism and Sexism play a huge role in the lives of the children in The Bluest Eye. In my opinion I think that they correspond to each other. I think that racism in womanhood is a greater threat for the children. Not only are they expose to racism, the children gain hatred for their own sexuality, and other races around them. Racism does affect their way of living but it does play a role with sexism because the children also view sexism as a negative issue they have encountered with. Claudia as a female, pressure by the idealistic view of beauty for society deals with her sexuality being questioned. She lives in a world where a certain type of beauty is the only type. Society makes people, especially women believe they should be like these beautiful doll and have white skin with blue eyes. Claudia is trouble by this notion, and is upset with her baby doll. I relate this situation with sexism because the doll is a female that is white and is “pure” according to the adults in society. This affects Claudia because she a black female who doesn’t see herself in the expectations of the beauty in society. Its sexism because females are oppressed to become the idealistic view of beauty, people want women to be beautiful and Claudia doesn’t see that beauty of white skin in the baby doll. Pecola is an example of a negative responds toward her sex, she as a female doesn’t feel pretty and is oppressed by the society’s views for females. This situation relates to racism because the baby dolls aren’t black and dark skins with regular dark eyes are the idealistic view of beauty. This makes Pecola feel very insecure with her appearances. She doesn’t feel comfortable in her own skin. I think as women, we usually tend to please everyone around us but ourselves and that Pecola main issue, she wants to be accepted. It shows the sexism because they don’t accept all women; they only accept those whose beauty is worthy. Claudia doesn’t understand who create the idea of this doll to be beauty and to be wanted to imitate. I think that she knows the truth of the lies of her society and sees the sexism and racism. She hates the dolls because she abuses them because she knows the false statements that create these baby dolls. In the novel, pecola meets a white girl who is highly respected from everyone and dosen’t has the same things as the black females. Mageen is a white female who is the idealistic view of the society and is highly respected unlike, Pecola. This shows how being a black female was truly the biggest threat.
November 5, 2009 at 6:38 am
“The songs caressed her, and while she tried to hold her mind on the wages of sin, her body trembled for redemption, salvation, a mysterious rebirth that would simply happen, with no effort on her part” (113).
This quote reminds me of “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck. Throughout the book, the motif of the songs is shown as one of the many influences that guide Kino to do the actions he does. Songs plays a strong role in his character because each song correspond with a different type of feeling or instinct. For example, when Kino hears the song of family, he feels mirthful to be with his family. Likewise, in “The Bluest Eye”, this quote refers to Pauline using songs from Church to stimulate her fantasy. Music is an influence on a person’s life because it stimulates the mind.
November 5, 2009 at 6:38 am
“Pauline kept this order,this beauty, for herself, a private world, and never introduced itno her storefront, or to her children”(128).
I think Pauline is also to blame for the way things were at her own house. She beat her chidren, maybe in response to the beatings she got from Cholly, and she kept to herself the feeling of accomplishment she got at the home of the white people she worked for as a maid. She cleaned, organized and took care of the little girl better than she ever took care of her own children. Her son only wanted to run away from them, and did many times. Her daughter felt ugly and unhappy. Her husband did not understand what happened to them and drank to forget because he did not care anymore. Her own deams of having a nice and happy home died and the ony place where she felt like doing something was at her work, even there she felt she was in control over the white people.
November 5, 2009 at 6:41 am
4. We should not fully blame Cholly for his violence behavior; a lot of factors cause Cholly to behave the way he does. If we go back to Cholly’s past we will come to understand his reasons for is violence against his family. Cholly’s parents should be blamed for his aggressive behavior. When he was little his mother brutally left him in an unkind way and never comes back to find him. Luckily Cholly is left with Aunt Jimmy who tells him about his father. Cholly always hopes to find his father. When he does find him after Aunt Jimmy’s death, his father’s reaction is “F’out here!” This devastates Cholly and all his hopes are ruined. After years of misery and isolation Cholly becomes a brutal man. He has high hopes for his father and having it to be shattered like that breaks his own fatherly love for his children. Since he never really gets the kind of fatherly love he longs for, he is not able to pass on that same love to his own children.
November 5, 2009 at 6:51 am
“He closed his box, eased himself out on the bed, and slipped into an ivory sleep from whhich he could not hear the tiny yelps of an old lady who had come out of her candy store and found the still carcass of an old dog named Bob” (183).
Soaphead Church is another sad character in the novel. His craziness also started from the way he had been treated by his father, a violent and controlling individual who tried to teach his son
how to be perfect. His wife Velma, abandoned him making him him even worse. When Pauline comes to ask him for her blue eyes he instead makes her poison the old dog and then writes a ong letter to God to explain his actions. He is also a child abuser, specialy little girls, and is one more person that Pauline asks for help and instead gets abused.
November 5, 2009 at 6:55 am
2. Between racism and sexism, racism is a bigger threat to the children. The whole book focuses on racial image and how the society’s standard of beauty undermines the self-esteem of those who doesn’t acquire those qualities. The children are constantly being compared to white dolls with blue eyes and blond hair. At that time being pretty means being white and having blue eyes. Adults and the media are all attracted to the same stereotype, and they deliverer the same message to their children. Pecola is going through a devastation of racial image in which she thinks her appearance is not superior to those of a lighter skin with blue eyes. The children are taught to judge others and themselves base on a white doll and being dark skin is labeled as “ugly.” Having to set standard of beauty base on a white doll undermines the confidence of young black girls. They probably think that because of their skin color they are not considered to be pretty. At such a young age they don’t fully understand sexism but racism definitely has a bigger threat to them.
November 5, 2009 at 6:57 am
“Aunt Jimmy’s funeral was the first Cholly had ever attended. As a member of the family, one of the bereaved, he was the object of a great deal of attention” (141).
This quote reminds me of the first funeral that I attended. As a young first grader, I was ambivalent of what was happening with my family. The only thing on my mind, at the time, was that I was lucky to skip a day of school. I did not know the person in the coffin very well, but when I saw my grandfather purge tears like Niagara Falls, I knew that the person meant a great deal to him. This quote also reminded me of myself. As the oldest, I am looked as an example for my siblings. Sometimes it is hard to be the eldest because most of the responsibility lies with me. For example, my brother breaks a valuable vase. I get blamed at for not watching over him properly. As the eldest, I am looked as a leader to guide my siblings towards the better path.
November 5, 2009 at 7:15 am
“So when I think of autum, I think of somebody with hands who does not want me to die”(12)
In spite of how her mother treats her and talks to her, Claudia remembers that she cared for her. She feels “humiliated” by the way her mother yells about how being sock is a problem. How she soild the bed and how she rubs the Vicks on her chest so hard that Claudia almost fainted. She thinks that all that pain and yelling was “a productive and fructifying pain” and in spite of it all she felt love in their house. At least Claudia sees through her mother’s yelling and rough hands that she really cared for her and her sister. But then she destroys the white dolls she gets for Christmas and hates the way little white girls get the attention she does not get. She notices how people react to black women and begins to feel and react to discrimination.
November 5, 2009 at 7:16 am
“When Mama got around to Henry Ford and all those people who didn’t care whether she had a loaf of bread, it was time to go” (25).
This quote reminds me of the Great Depression and the lines of people waiting for food. Back then, people did not have enough money to pay for food. They had to line up to get a small loaf of bread which would probably last for a few days, if rationed properly. It was definitely a time of crisis because unemployment rose dramatically, and everything was too expensive to afford. People barely had enough to pay off the huge dept owed from credit. This relates somewhat to the economy today. Although prices are not that high, the unemployment rate rose in the past year and the economy is in a recession. We probably need a job hiring line to get out of this recession.
November 5, 2009 at 7:28 am
“And Pecola is somewhere in that little brown house she and her mother moved on the edge of town”(205).
This quote reminded me of the Scarlet Letter. A very different ending to the story. In that novel the mother and the daugther end up beign part of the community and respected by all. The mother works hard without anger and eventually is accepted by the same people in the town who convicted her. She also takes care of her baby from the time she was born and never let anybody abuse her. She makes sure her daughter is educated and gets a good husband. In The Bluest Eye, only the mother and the daughter remain, but Pecola loses her mind and her mother continues to work as a servant. They never had any hope or tried to get out or get better.
November 5, 2009 at 7:32 am
“He smiled a lot, showing small even teeth with a friendly gap in the middle. Frieda and I were not introduced to him- merely pointed out” (15).
This passage reminded me of a time when I barely smiled in school. It was a depressing year of school because I barely had enough time to sleep. I always had a grumpy face as if I had just woken up from a exhausting day. It wasn’t until the Principal noticed that I was the only one with such a serious face. He noticed my behavior and took me in for counseling. He taught me to look at the better side of life. He also lectured me on how important it is to have an adequate amount of time to sleep. At the end of the school year, he gave me a mirror. I think it was to look everyday to see a smile every morning. I might of had a missing tooth when i first looked into it.
November 5, 2009 at 8:37 am
4. Although Cholly seems like a selfish character, we have to have show some sympathy for him. He has experienced some genuine suffering. As a baby, he was abandoned in a junk, and he faced humiliation because of his skin color. It is true that what he has done to his family is wrong but being forced to rape his own daughter is immoral. He has suffered greatly to become who he is. If he did not endured as much pain or even humiliated when he was young, he probably would not have done the malicious deeds he has done to his family.
November 5, 2009 at 9:01 am
2. Sexism has a greater threat to the children than racism because discrimination motivates people through voice. Sexual abuse is evident throughout the book because men seems to be superior than women. An example would be then two white men forces Cholly to rape Pecola, his own daughter. Many people would see this as racism because it involves a race demeaning another. It is true; however, this shows more of sexual abuse because it humiliates Cholly’s sexual preferences. Racism is not the only thing that distorts a child’s life. Sexual abuse ruins a child’s future.
November 5, 2009 at 10:23 am
On pages 89-93 Pecola goes to Junior’s house; an action she thinks is safe because she thinks she’s only oing to see kittens. On the contrary Junior wants to play a cruel trick and use Pecola as his prisoner but gets upset when his trick is put to the end when Pecola becomes acquainted with the black cat. Junior abuses the cat just as the mother comes home and blames Pecola when the cat appears to be dead. Junior’s mother looks at Pecola and looks down onn her then tells her to “get out, you nasty little black bitch.”
I find this very disturbing. Junior’s mother knows Junior abuses the cat frequently due to the lack of attention and affection he gets from his mother. She shouldv’e known he was lying, however, thats not the part that is most disturbing. Junior’s mother judges Pecola based on what she sees when she sees her in the street and her appearance in front of her. Pecola is known for being well acquainted with the prositutes in town and has an appearance of a ragged, dirty child, but this is no reason for her to talk to her like this. Clearly she comes from a less fortunate family and isn’t able to afford the schooling she received that taught her etiquette. Instead of dismissing her so cruely she shouldv’e given her clothing that was laying around the house that she no longer needed or if her morals were so uptight she couldv’e dismissed her in a mature, adult manner.
November 5, 2009 at 10:38 am
“Pretty eyes. Pretty blue eyes. big blue prety eyes. Run, Jip, run. Jip runs, Alice runs. Alice has blue eyes. Jerry has blue eyes. Jerry runs. Alice runs. They run with their blue eyes. Four pretty blue eyes. Blue-sky eyes. Blue-like Mrs. Forrest’s blue blouse eyes. Morning-glory-blue-eyes. Alice-and-Jerry-blue-storybook-eyes.”
Blue eyes is a big symbolism in Pecola’s life. It’s similar to what we discussed in class. Some classmates stated that Barbie dolls cause some sort of emotional distress towards girls who are either told by their parents “look at how pretty her face is” or others who naturally have problems with self esteem and their bodily image. In Pecola’s case, its more realistic. The people she envies are those in society who look down on her race. Some are verbal abuse that constantly reminds her of her ugliness. Others are vivd comparisons between herself and others in higher society, for instance, Maureen. It caused the girls and other black children to find little reasons to dislike her, but never physically harm her. For Pecola, comparing herself to the whites in society is detrimental.
November 5, 2009 at 10:52 am
Sammy screamed, “Kill him! Kill him!” This is when Cholly has come home drunk, once again, and there is a physical altercation between him and his wife, Mrs. Breedlove. Sammy became upset and hit is father as he was hitting his mother. When Mrs. Breedlove got the advantage Sammy wanted his father dead. I found this very extreme, and some what surprising. In a family there is supoosed to be love for those who made you and nursed you into the child/young adult you are today. In Sammy’s case there was nothing but extreme hate. He must be suffering from some mental anguish due to his father. One cause could be the reputation Cholly holds in society. People knows he goes to bed “naked and ashen” and in society that is frowned upon. Another cause could be the desire SAmmy wants to bond with his father. At that age fathers should be teaching sons the in’s and out’s of life. However, Sammy knows nothing of becoming a man and clearly cannot use his father as a role model. Over the years he has probably gained more repect and love for his mother and to see Cholly disrespect her the way he does cause Sammy to be heated and want his “father” dead.
November 5, 2009 at 11:06 am
Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
Sexism is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye. In the book, both elements are present. The way I came to the conclusion that sexism is a greater threat was to omit one element at a time and see if times would be worse with the element that was there. First I omitted racism. If racism was no longer a factor in their lifes, their lives would be alot more better. Their parents would no longer be bitter, they could eat any place they pleased and go to any place in town if they wanted to. They would no longer be looked down upon. Now if you omit racism and have sexism stand alone, then you will see that sexism is more of a threat. If racism was no longer there, sexism would still prevail. The blacks would not come together as a whole to ensure that each and every person receives an equal opportunity in society. It’ll go to man first and, if there’s anything left, distributed among the women. We could look at our society. Racism was abolished first but sexism took a while to be addressed. It took over 50 years for women to receive equal rights. Sexism was more detrimental to the children in the book than racism.
November 5, 2009 at 11:16 am
To what extent is Cholly to blame for his violence against his family? Which other people or circumstances may also be to blame? What is the novel’s position on blame?
Cholly is blamed to a high degree for the violence against his family. Constantly he comes home drunk ad when this happens, the in an erruption in the family. If there is no argument or words exchanged when he comes home the night before, then the steam boils over into the morning and there is a volcanic erruption. The mother picks a fight and then begins the physical altercation. Though it is not stated directly, Cholly is not to blame fully. The wife is somewhat blamed for his violence. In terms of her physical appperance, she is not the wife a man would want to come home to every night. In those days, African Americans loved there wives but wanted them to stay fit and pretty to some extent. They are both the blame also. If you no longer love someone, you divorce them. They paint this fake image in their head that thy need each other to survive. Mrs. Breedlove says that Cholly’s drunkenness makes her closer to Jesus. She thinks she has a job to do for Jesus so in a way, without Cholly, Jesus would not be present in her life. The novel’s position on blame is interchangable. Everyone has, in small ways or big ways, a blame against them.
November 5, 2009 at 12:22 pm
“A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes.”
To me, the blue eyes seem like some type of eye covering. Now, I know that sounds weird, but it seem like those who want them are seeing the world in a way they hate. The blue eyes are almost a solution to that. They feel that if they have blue eyes things would be this way, things would be that way.
November 5, 2009 at 12:23 pm
“Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window sign – all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. ‘Here,’ they said, ‘this is beautiful, and if you are on this day “worthy” you may have it.’”
This reminds me of the conversation we had n class about the Barbie dolls. It is not the doll its self that promotes an ideal girl, it is the parents and the people who promote the doll. If you tell someone at such a young age to look like something that is really going to stick. Young women have now and days have problems beyond Barbie, but sometimes that cause of their issue remains the same. People should monitor what they say to their children because every word is influential.
November 5, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Cholly should have been blame completely for his violence against his family, but because of his childhood circumstances we as the readers can acknowledge different reasonable factors why Cholly use violent behave. His aggressive behavior comes from his parent’s attitude toward raising a child. The circumstance of his childhood should be the blame for Cholly’s violence behavior, but Cholly should have grown up and not react to these violent ways. He stills use alcohol and having public sex and doesn’t try to turn his life around. He should have learned from his circumstances and tries to want to be a better person by gowning from that experience. I agree that he shouldn’t be blame as much for his violence attitude but he should be blame for his violence behavior towards his family. He shouldn’t follow the same footsteps of his parents did by making mistake because it shows he doesn’t know how to learn from it. His parents abandoned him and its unfair how his father doesn’t appreciate him even-tough he been looking for him for so long. I feel very sad about his childhood and hope that wasn’t the way he was raised but it was. Cholly behavior now is a violent brutal man because of his past: he doesn’t know how to let it go. His lack of father love, contributes to his lack of love to give to his children because he’s never receive that love so for him it’s different. Cholly has gone through sufferings that is hard for him to deal with and move on from. This explanation shows how the novel’s position on blame is to blame others on their circumstances. It seems to me there varies of blames why Cholly is the way he is but we can’t blame Cholly for his own behavior. Few of the blames is his father, his wife, the white males. A lot of things have mess him up mentally, but he should still be the blame for his own life if he takes responsibilities in trying to make it better.
November 5, 2009 at 3:32 pm
“There I was, five months pregnant, trying to look like jean Harlow, and a front tooth gone. Everything went then. Look like I just didn’t care no more after that. I let my hair go back, plaited it up, and settled down to just being ugly.” (121)
Pauline is an example of how women try to follow the beauties of others. In our class discussion, I believe we were talking about how magazines and other materials from the media makes people want to have this certain type of look. She’s the main reason for Pecola’s insecurities because she herself has insecurities and calls her and her daughter ugly. This quote shows the careless of Pauline she doesn’t care about her own appreance but of those movie stars that her fantasies. She’s the blame for Cholly’s violent behavior because isn’t happy in their relationship and she constantly see her life as terrible. She wants her life to be like the movies, magazines like the white folks that they advertise with a happy family. She also tries to be something other than herself. I think that’s wrong for her to do that because she needs to love herself in her own skin and treat her daughter with the motherly support she needs.
November 5, 2009 at 3:51 pm
“I could not love it” (21).
This quote stood out a lot to me becuase it made me realize how much racism affected the kids. Claudia could not and did not want to play with a doll that she received becuase it was white with blue eyes and didn’t look like her. it made me realize how much race was factor because she did not even want to play with a doll that didn’t look like her.
November 5, 2009 at 3:59 pm
“please,God, she whispered into the palm of her hand. “please make me disappear” (45).
This quote made me sad. it made me sad because I felt like Claudia was just helpless and really disliked herself. there are some times where I feel like I just want to disappear but it is not becuase of my looks it would probably be because I am just feeling down that day. I feel that Claudia should not feel down on herself or feel that she is ugly just becuase people tell her that she is.
November 5, 2009 at 4:14 pm
“Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike.” (45).
This quotation along with the other one made me feel sad because she really feels that she is ugly. I feel that everyone should love themselves and not feel that they are ugly or dislike thenselves. I do not feel that it is right for one person to put dwn another person to the point where they feel that they have no purpose living. I don’t thinnk I can put someone down like that becuase it shows that you have no morals. it also makes it worse becuase she is black and black was not “pretty” back in those days.
November 5, 2009 at 4:18 pm
“By the time this winter had stiffened itself into a hateful knot that nothing could loosen, something did loosen it, or rather someone. A someone who splintered itself into a hateful knot that nothing could loosen, something did loosen it, or rather someone. A someone who splintered the knot into silver threads that tangled us, netted us, made us long for the dull chafe of the previous boredom” (62). This certain someone is Maureen Peal, she the ultimate perfect girl. She gets treated differently from the black girls in school. The boys don’t tease her and is respected from everyone. The winter begins jealously for the other girls. Frieda tries to makes a way to make fun of her and see flaws that Maureen might have. I think that winter is the time of rebirth, trust happiness and togetherness. Through this season, Pecola father rapes her and she gets beat up by boys while she meets Maureen for the first time. Winter shows the hardships and difference between the white and blacks. It shows how the respect Maureen gets other than Pecola gets. It shows how rich Maureen is when she offers to buy ice cream to Pecola and how better she thinks she is when she tells stories.
November 5, 2009 at 4:26 pm
“Besides, I don’t care if she sees her father naked. She can look at him all day if she wants to. Who cares” (72)?
this made me think about how sex was also a factor in this bool along with racism. it isn’t normal for a young child to see her father naked becuase it is inappropiate. I don’t understand how someone can say that it is ok for a child to see her father naked annd say who cares?. in my opinion that shows poor parenting and I feel that is somewhat child abuse because the children in the book got abused like scholly’s daughter. a young child seeing her father naked is also just tempting for the father to do something with her.
November 5, 2009 at 4:32 pm
“Get out,” she said, her voice quiet. “you nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house”(92). I feel so bad for Pecola, I think her life has to deal with a lot picking, bullying towards her. I couldn’t believe the way Junior had lied to save himself in such a selfish way. He hurt pecola for his selfish needs of wanting attention and affection. I think he deserves to be the one who had been kicking out. I found it ironic that Ms. Geraldine would say that to a black lady because she’s black as well. She seem to think that she is as well black women. She was being rascist and sexism. She atomically believer son Junior and docent let pecola explain herself. She believes in the male, while as a black woman she should had have sympathy for Pecola and understand what happen. Her only true love is the cat and it shows how people will sometimes treat animals with more respect than regular humans.
November 5, 2009 at 4:34 pm
“You’re just jealous” (194).
This quote made me very disappointed in Pecola. In the beginning of the book I felt sorry for her and hoped that one day she would feel comfortable in her own body. I hoped that she would be able to see herself as beautiful. But when her eyes turned blue her attitude changed. She became vain, and started to treat Claudia the way other people in society once treated her. She insists that Claudia is jealous and talks down to her, as though Claudia is not as good as her. What Pecola fails to realize is that she is still an outcast, even with blue eyes. This is evident when her mom takes her out of school. She has lost who she is and is also completely isolated from her community, although she has conformed to what is considered beautiful.
November 5, 2009 at 4:45 pm
“for some reason Cholly had not hated the white men, he hated, despised, the girl”(42).
after Cholly was sexually embarrased and abused by some white men. As a result of this Cholly had difficulty trusting women. He showed hate towards women and even harmed his family. Cholly has a daughter and he sexually abused her but Toni Morrison did not want to portray him as a bad person. instead she wanted us to feel sympathetic towards him which I did. I felt sorry for him about his past because I know someone who can relate to him.
November 5, 2009 at 5:09 pm
“Had any adult with the power to fulfill my desires taken me seriously and asked me what I wanted, they would have known that I did not want to have anything to own, or to possess any object. I wanted rather to feel something….” (21-22)
This basically explains what she felt growing up, surrounded by a society, that emphasized that appearance is the most important factor in being beauty.
November 5, 2009 at 5:13 pm
“The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll….[A]ll the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured.” (19-20).
It shows that society, only manufactured these dolls with blue eyes, and yellow hair, that was praised by all little girls, as being the symbol of being something precious. It emphasizes something that should be kept, because it has meaning.
November 5, 2009 at 5:21 pm
“Adults do not talk to us—they give us directions. They issue orders without providing information. When we trip and fall down they glance at us; if we cut or bruise ourselves they ask us are we crazy. When we catch colds, they shake their heads in disgust at our lack of consideration.” (11)
Toni Morrison wants to show the vast seperation, between Children and Adults. I believe she is also saying that it is imperative that Adults explain to children the, different aspects of life including beauty, happiness, and love.
November 5, 2009 at 5:27 pm
“We stare at her, … wanting to poke the arrogance out of her eyes and smash the pride of ownership that curls her chewing mouth. When she comes out of the car we will beat her up, make red marks on her white skin, and she will cry…. ” (9)
It came to a point where self pride, and dignity is lost. Jealousy, made the girls believe that life is not worth holding on to. They plan to harm those who remind them of what society says is beautiful.
November 6, 2009 at 3:02 am
“Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs- all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haird, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured.” (Pg. 20)
This quote brings me back to a time when I went to ToysRus with my father to buy dolls. I wanted a Cabbage Patch kid so badly, but the only conflict was that I wanted a different doll than my father wanted to buy. For some reason I wanted the doll with the darkest skin they had. My dad wanted me to buy the white doll with the blonde hair, but I was just not interested. This quote stuck out to me because now I could understand that some people truly believe that blonde hair and blue eyes are some how more superior and ultimately prettier than anyone else. I honestly feel bad that Pecola doesn’t love the way she looks and is literally praying for Blue eyes.
November 6, 2009 at 3:40 am
“We stare at her, wanting her bread, but more than that wanting to poke the arrogance out of her eyes and smash the pride of ownership that curls her chewing mouth” (9).
This quote summarizes the envy that the girls have throughout the entire novel. There need to be beautiful. The shirley temple figurine symbolizes the beauty that society wants to except which discourages the girls making them feel “ugly.” The fact that even black people are either light midclass people or “dirty niggers” lowered Pecola and the girls self esteem because they felt so low in society. Claudia develops this hatred towards the white doll, which sortof leads to her jealousy and hatred of light skinned girls like Maureen. This goes to show that society can their “beauty” can take away from a young girls confidence.
November 6, 2009 at 3:48 am
“It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” (46).
Pecola believes, that if her eyes were beautiful then her life would be different. She feels that by looking like the white blue eyed curly hair girl on her cup that she will be beautiful and that society will finally except her. When soaphead gives her blue eyes that only she is able to see gives her this confidence in which she feels she has finally achieved her “beauty” I honestly do not consider it beautiful because it is not her, it is artifical because she is changing who she is to become someone she is not. Pecola seems like a beautiful young girl inside who has faced many hardships in life from being poor, ridiculed and riped from her innocence. All these factors have made insecure of herself physically and mentally.
November 6, 2009 at 3:55 am
“Her simplicity decorated us, her guilt sanctified us, her pain made us glow with health” (205).
Morrison uses this quote to express how Pecola’s pain and guilt made other people around her feel superior to her. This is due to the fact that she has endured so much pain throughout her lilfe that when compared to others her life looks bad. I chose this quote because so many people looked into other’s flaws for there own comfort. They seek to find someone who has bigger problems than they do to give themselves a confidence boost. I feel that society has become so judgemental that we have come to a point where we can not be self satisified unless we are better than the next. Pecola has no confidence because she has not met anyone who is in a bad perdicament like she is, therefore she has all these insecurities, similar to Cholly.
November 6, 2009 at 4:02 am
“I even think now that the land of the entire country was hostile to marigolds that year. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruits it will not bear” (160). The implication is that Pecola, like so many other African-Americans, in the fact that she never had a chance to grow and succeed because she lived in a society that was inherently racist, and would not nurture her. She had so many setbacks in life which left her in a drought not allowing her to grow into an adult and prospering in life.
November 6, 2009 at 4:05 am
Another indication of flower, the dandelion, is important as a metaphor because it represents Pecola’s image of herself. As Pecola passes some dandelions going into Mr. Yacobowski’s store, she wonders, do people call them weeds? She thought they were pretty.While in the store, Mr. Yacobowski humiliates Pecola, and on her way home she again passes the dandelions and thinks, “They are ugly. They are weeds” (43). This is because she has transferred society’s dislike of her to the dandelions. She was brainwashed into changing her own opinion of beauty, she no longer considered the flower beautiful nor herself. This to me show the manipulation that racism and sexuality had over the minds of many people like Pecola, it showed that they were able to dictate what was beautiful and what was not. This still eexists today in movies, models etc. it shows how society will always set these “it” people to make others insecure for not looking liek these idols.
November 6, 2009 at 4:16 am
To what extent is Cholly to blame for his violence against his family? Which other people or circumstances may also be to blame? What is the novel’s position on blame?
I don’t completely blame Cholly for his violent behavior towards his family. There are many factors in his life that led to his psychological problem, this inner rage he has towards white people, his parents, sex and the death of aunt Jimmy. All these factors had a major role in the person he became. He never had a father figure in his life, and the fact that his mother left him when he was four shunned him for life. It made him feel not wanted and as though he was trash. He feels loved after Aunt Jimmy dies because he sees the attention his family gives him and the comfort he is recieving. He like Pecola loses his innocence of intercourse when he has sex with Darlene and is forced to continue while the whitemen watch, he goes on this rage because he bottles up all his emotions. By having no one in his life he loses respect for women and developes a profound hate towards white people. I also blame him because he could of used these challenges he faced to grow as a person, to become a strong indivdual, father and husband unlike his parents. His violence was an outcome of a combination of others and himself.
November 6, 2009 at 4:17 am
“But the dismembering of the dolls was not the true horror. The truly horrifying thing was the transference of the same impulses to little white girls. The indifference with which I could have axed them was shaken only by my desire to do so. To discover what eluded me: the secret of the magic they weaved on others. What made people look at them and say, “Awwwww,” but not for me? (Pg.22)
I can see how feeling like this can truly be emotionally detrimental to a young girl. Claudia could not help but to feel hatred at one point against the white girls whom received everyone’s attention. She’s right, why couldn’t she get awwwww’d just as any white skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed girl get? It made me sad to read this because I began to think of the girls who have extremely low self-esteem, and its small things like this that can really make you truly depressed. Being called ugly is a horrible thing, but even worse than being called ugly is never ever being told that you’re beautiful.
November 6, 2009 at 4:29 am
Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
Morrison describes both as a threat to the children in the Bluest Eye. A combination of both racism and sexism has threathened the children. Racism is addressed more throughout the book making it a greater threat.The fact that Claudia is a young black girl makes her powerless in her society. This is mostly because light skin is predominately prefered in society making the girls insecure and jealous of others. The entire book mainly focuses on racial image and how the society’s standard of beauty undermines the self-esteem of those who do not have those qualities,such as Pecola and the girls. This is makes them compare themselve to this “perfect” girl who everyone should look like, she has big blue eyes blonde curly hair and is white. Sexism also threathens children lives because their innocence was lost, which disables them from “nuturing” in life. This relates to Pecola, Cholly and even Frieda. Morrison emphasises the way racism and sexism and damage a child’s mind and innocence which can be a setback in their life.
November 6, 2009 at 4:42 am
I feel that Cholly is completely to blame for his violence toward his family and his raping of Pecola. His hardships are excuses to justify what he has done. His experiences only give him the power to fulfill and go through with such hideous acts. But I could see how Pauline could have influenced him. Their relationship is torn, completely different from how it started. It’s as though they’ve allowed their frustrations with the world to impact their relationship. Their abusive home effects both their attitudes. Thus, this may have helped push Cholly to doing such disgusting things. But my problem with Cholly, is that he doesn’t realize what he did to Pecola was wrong. While molesting her he still thought that he was protecting her and being fatherly, which is extremely disturbing. I personally can’t sit here and try to make excuses for a character to sexual abuse his own child. His life is complex, but right is right and wrong is wrong. Only Cholly is to blame.
November 6, 2009 at 4:52 am
In the Bluest Eye I feel that racism may have effected the children more harshly then sexism. Although, I consider myself a slight feminist I can more clearly see the effects of racism on these young girls, especially Pecola. She is forced to live in a society where other black people consider her ugly because of her skin. Her insecurities help drive her mad along with all her other problems. She would continuously pray for blue eyes in order to feel pretty like other girls. She is comparing herself to something that she could never be, but unlike Claudia she fails to realize that. The racism also evokes slight jealously and hatred for white people. For example, Claudia hates her blond haired blue eyed dolls and destroys them, which she says transfers over to living white girls. Also, the girls are jealous and skeptical toward Maureen, the pretty light skin mixed girl in school.
Racism had more of an effect on Pecola because it made her hate herself. Her life may have been better if she didn’t look the way she did, and this idea hunts Pecola till the end of the book.
November 6, 2009 at 5:00 am
“He wanted to break her neck-but tenderly” (161).
This was the most disturbing part of the book. I can not understand how a person could ever do such a thing to a child. what was so surprising was that although he was molesting her, Morrison didn’t make Cholly seem perverted. And I don’t understand how that could be possible. This section reminded me the book PUSH. But the writing styles are completely different. In PUSH the author is explicit and she intends to make the father and mother (both molesters) seem creepy and disgusting. While Morrsion makes Cholly seem that it’s not his fault for what he’s doing and that some kind of outside force has caused to do this to Pecola.
For me this was harder to read then PUSH because at least in push I can be mad and upset at the parents. It’s difficult to understand why Cholly choose to do this and that’s what’s hard to accept.
November 6, 2009 at 6:05 am
“We were so beautiful when we stood astride her ugliness. Her simplicity decorated us, her guilt sanctified us, her pain made us glow with health, her awkwardness made us think we had a sense of humor” (205).
I think that this quote is significant because it shows how people need Pecola. She’s makes people feel superior to her. She’s the only person that lets her personality be a downfall and use it to benefit others. This also shows how Pecola is an example of other people’s insecurities; they realize that she had bigger insecurities so they use her as a shield to hide away from there. I think this is pathetic but it’s understandable why people use her as a shield of ugliness because she’s the victim of her hatred of herself.
November 6, 2009 at 6:12 am
“it had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” (46).
The obsession with eyes shows how Pecola is just using the eyes factor to make her self feel better. I don’t think if she had different eyes she would be different physically. But I do think if she had different eyes in a psychological way that she no longer saw what she seen as Pecola but as a strong woman with respect from others, that receives love she is probably the type of eyes she wants. I think that the different eye she may want is from a different woman with a love for herself and hasn’t gone through the pain and sufferings of Pecola’s past. The eyes changing from different colors isn’t going to make her beautiful, she needs to see herself as beautiful first and changing the eyes to any different color or shape wont change her perceptive of herself unless she realize that her inner beauty comes within the mind of oneself.
November 10, 2009 at 3:26 am
2. Which is a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye: racism or sexism?
There are numerous incidents that occur throughout the book because of racism. Not only is there racism with in the community between blacks and whites, there laid an issue between light skinned blacks and dark skinned blacks. Racism was a greater threat to the children in The Bluest Eye.
Many of the characters are racist against different ethnicity, but Mrs. Geraldine finds a barrier within her own race. She tells her son, Junior, that there is a “difference between colored people and niggers”. (87) She made the distinction between the two very clear, “colored people were neat and quiet; niggers were dirty and loud”. (87) Her belief clearly effects Juniors behavior on the play ground. Junior only plays with light skinned children like Ralph Nisensky although he “[longed] to play with the black boys.” This shows that the racism effected who he played with and why he became a bully. Since he was not allowed to play with many kids because of their race, he lacked communication skills with other children his age.
Another incident that shows how racism effected the children is when Claudia and Frieda get into an argument with Maureen. I believe this argument shows that race is an issues with the children since Maureen yells to Claudia that they are “Black and ugly black e mos” and that she is cute (73). Maureen believes they are ugly because they are black, on the other hand she refers to herself as “cute” since she is “high-yellow”. Both issues show how racism has become a threat to children in The Bluest Eye.
November 10, 2009 at 3:28 am
5. The novel includes a number of secondary story lines, such as Geraldine’s and Soaphead Church’s histories, with the main story line of the Breedlove family. Select one of these secondary stories and explain how it relates to or comments upon the main story line.
Pauline Breedlove’s secondary story shows why she decided to marry Cholly and how she became “ugly”. It also shows how she began to “neglect her house, her children, and her man…” (127) This blends into the main story line about Pecola because it shows her mothers background and why her mother chooses to fight with her father, and why she chooses to beat her.
When Pecola is accused of dropping the blueberry pie her mother, Pauline, beats her in front of Claudia and Frieda. After beating Pecola she soothes the little white girl because she believes “the meaningfulness of her life was in her work.” (128) She puts her work before her family because she feels it is actually recognized.
Pauline’s secondary story also shows why she fights with her husband so much. After she looses her tooth and becomes “ugly”, her husband begins to tease her. Her stays out late drinking and doesn’t show her much affection. Cholly’s alcohol addiction creates a huge issue with in their relationship. It also angers Pauline since she remembers a time when Cholly treated her with respect and spent time with her.
November 10, 2009 at 3:31 am
“Frieda and I were not introduced to him— merely pointed out. Like, here is the bathroom; the clothes closet is here; and these are my kids, Frieda and Claudia; watch out for this window; it don’t open all the way.” (15)
This quote stood out to me because it shows how adults didn’t consider their children to be equal to them. Instead of thinking of them as humans, they looked at them as property. They told the children what to do, when to do, and to never talk back. This reminds me of when my dad says he was taught to be “seen and not heard”. I don’t think children should be treated like property in order for their parents to feel like they are being respected.
November 10, 2009 at 3:32 am
“Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes.” (46)
This quote stood out to me because it shows how Pecola interprets what beauty means. She believes that blue eyes can make her beautiful because white kids who have blue eyes are seen as cute. Her infatuation with beauty is obvious when she drinks 3 quarts of milk just to drink from the Shirley Temple cup. She enjoys seeing Shirley’s blonde hair and blue eyes because she views it as true beauty and wishes that she too could be beautiful. I find this sad since she should view herself as beautiful despite her complexion and the color of her eyes and hair. Its sad that the children in the society put themselves down as well as others because of racism.
November 10, 2009 at 3:33 am
“Girl, when I found out I could sell it—-that somebody would pay cold cash for it, you could have knocked me over with a feather.” (55)
I found this part interesting since Marie was talking about selling her body for money in front of a child. I didn’t think adults would speak about sexual things in front of kids since they usually spoke down to them. I also thought is was rude and disrespectful to herself and Pecola. She is degrading herself and sending Pecola the wrong signals.
November 10, 2009 at 3:34 am
“My sister and I both suspected that we were secretly prepared to be her friend, if she would let us, but I knew it would be a dangerous friendship, for when my eye traced the white bored patterns of those Kelly-green knee socks, and felt the pull and slack of my brown stockings, I wanted to kick her.” (63)
I found this part interesting because it was ironic how both Claudia and Frieda despised Maureen, yet they longed to be her friend. They let their jealousy keep them from revealing the truth about wanting to be Maureen’s friend. Its also funny that both sisters feel this way, and instead of admitting it they make fun of her by pointing out her flaws. They call her “six-finger-dog-tooth-meringue-pie” behind her back after finding her flaws.
November 10, 2009 at 3:34 am
“The blue eyes on the black face held her.” (90)
This quote stood out to me because it was a really interesting part. For the first time Pecola saw what she desired most. The blue eyes on the black cat captured her attention since her wildest dream came true, only it didn’t come true for her. The blue eyes on the black cat symbolized beauty to her. The cat had the blue eyes that she wanted, and wore the black skin that she has.