My review is on the short story “The Bluest Eye” written by Toni Morrison. I am evaluating how the story was put together and how it made me feel as a reader. This review will be about how well I feel it did on making me feel what the character would have felt in the circumstances she was in, in the story.
This was a story about a little girl and her struggle with being a colored person in 1941. Her name is Pcola and she wishes for her eyes to turn blue so she could be pretty like all the blond haired blue eyed girls. It is about her struggle with her father raping her and getting her pregnant as well. The author goes into details about the childhood of children in that time and how they spent their days and how they were treated by other children and adults. It goes into great detail on how a child in general struggles to be a child while having their race being an issue as well. It shows that children understand more than adults think they do and how children can be misunderstood as well. Adults are busy with their lives that they don’t notice all things going on around them especially in that time.
This story begins with a kid’s story saying” Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane.” (Morrison), as though she is trying to show us how the books of Dick and Jane were so we could compare latter on in the book. This is confusing at first but then it makes sense later on when it shows how jealous the children are of white children because of how they are treated. This then makes sense because Dick and Jane have a perfect life and that is completely the opposite of what they have. It goes into 2 little girls and how their family had to make money by letting a man room there. It shows how this man was nice to them right off and treated them nice. Later in the book it reveals that he was a little too nice to them and touches one of them inappropriately. This part of the book also introduces Pcola because she had to come stay with this family as well because she had nowhere else to go right then. Their house caught fire and they had to send her somewhere for a bit. This is a great start to the book because it introduces the main character while still showing how a normal childhood in this time should be. Showing a caring father and hard working mother taking care of their children like they should. It also shows that even parents who do what they can to keep their children safe is still not in control of other people and the bad things they decide to do.
This story goes into telling how the mother offered the girls a glass of milk and Pcola got to drink from a glass with Shirley Temple on it which made her day. She was so excited because she loved Shirley Temple while the youngest girl hated her because she was jealous of her being white. It also goes into detail on how Pcola drank more milk than she should have and the girls mother started ranting about how someone could drink so much milk. This shows how much stress is on the mother at this time. She doesn’t take it out on the girls just vents to herself to make her feel better.
It then goes on to tell how Pcola started her period but they didn’t want to tell their mother because she would just rant some more so they decided to take matters into their own hands. They go behind a bush around the hous and help her take the panties off. Meanwhile a little girl from down the road spies on them and tell the mother they are doing bad things which infuriates the mother. She whips her children and then the mother sees the panties lieing there with blood on them and that’s when they get to explain. It shows she is remorseful for jumping to conclusions but she can’t completely give in because she will lose the control she has over them. It also shows that the girls are going through changes. I think this is important because this is a big time in these girls’ lives and by knowing that
Actions and Reactions Toni Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye, writes about a young girl, Pocola, who goes through a rough childhood experiencing abuse, being ignored, racism, and early and unwanted motherhood. InThe Bluest Eye, Morrison discusses different family societal ideals in relation to their children's depiction of self worth. In the beginning of the novel reader is introduced to the main family the Breedloves. With a father, mother, and two children the Breedloves have a very hostile environment in their home…
Literature is often used as a tool to raise awareness of social problems. The novel The Bluest Eye, written by Toni Morrison, portrays the life of an eleven-year old, Pecola Breedlove, which appears as a delicate and fragile character, who has been victim of racism and violence. During the course of the novel, the author displays the main character problematic family life, full of suffering and pain from which it derives her fascination for white girls by seeing herself in a derogatory way. In this…
Blue eyes, blonde hair, white skin. This being what most African American girls desired in the 1940s. This was considered “beautiful” to African American girls in the 1940s. In Toni Morrison’s first novel and national bestseller The Bluest Eye, eleven year old Pecola Breedlove grows up as an abused and unloved daughter. One of the first events that happen in the story is when Pecola begins to menstruate and is told that she can now have babies and that she is starting to grow as…
rather unusual, considering that she did incorporate some of these ideas into her work. It sounds as though in this quote that by using such characteristics in a work, it somehow loads it down with extraneous details. However, in Morrison's The Bluest Eye, it only enhances the reading and furthers the reader's understanding of the timherself In accordance with the understanding…
Toni Morisson's novel The Bluest Eye details the life of the Breedloves and African American family of Lorain, Ohio during the 1930’s. The focal point of the novel centers around the 11 year old daughter Pecola who is deeply struggling internally to overcome a bout of self hatred. Each day she faces racism not only from white people but mainly from her own race. In their eyes Pecolas dark skin translates as ugly and inferior. By obtaining blue eyes, she feels as if she can overcome this ugliness…
The Bluest Eye Love is something that can never be defined. The thought of just that one word, love, can make one feel happy, sad or even angry. A 4 letter word that is so powerful it can make or break your life. In the book The Bluest Eye love was represented in the worst way, violently. Violent love is love that is shown in a harsh, aggressive way. This is usually because the person showing this violent love doesn’t know how to show love any other way. Violent love is a never ending cycle that…
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is a brilliant novel that shows the struggling life of a young black girl named Pecola Breedlove. It takes place during the 1940s in Lorain, Ohio. This book is seen through the eyes of Claudia MacTeer describing the interaction between society and Pecola. This novel shows how people believed that only one skin color was considered beautiful, white. Toni Morrison depicts how the beauty of white girls is overpowering the images of black girls and women through subliminal…
Eyes Full of Color KalanitKnackstedt The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison is a novel that contrasts an ideal white family, with black families from the mid-1940s, Lorain Ohio. Pecola Breedlove is a young black girl from a very troubled family who is on a mission to find love; in her search she inevitably stumbles on her society’s dangerous concept of physical beauty. Morrison uses the seven literary elements to convey horrible truths about love and the harm of accepting racism. The central idea is…
Fatima Santamaria Ms. Anderson AP Literature 14 December 2012 “The Bluest Eye” Beefy Paragraph Toni Morrison composes a novel with themes of the standards of beauty including isolation experienced by many of the characters throughout the story. Morrison, by means of symbolism, uses dolls to illustrate Claudia’s frustration about why they are adored by everyone. Unlike Pecola, she does not see why these insignificant dolls possess such beauty symbolizing a misunderstanding…
Meredith Ewen Life Stories Reflection I really enjoyed reading these stories. From my experience with Special Education both in and out of the classroom, I have gained a very negative view of the system. IEPs are never done correctly; correct services are rarely provided, the kids themselves hate being classified as Special Ed and the parents are less than involved or educated in the process (whether this is by choice or by design). The stories provided a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak…