Essay on Self-Hate in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye

At a time when blue-eyed, pale skin Shirley Temple is idolized by white and black alike, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove desperately seeks out beauty for herself. In order to attain beauty in her culture, Pecola must do the impossible: find white beauty. Toni Morrison shows the disastrous effects that colorism and racism can have on a whole culture and how African- Americans will tear each other apart in order to fit into the graces of white society. The desire to be considered beautiful in the white world is so compelling, that the characters in The Bluest Eye loathe their own skin color and feel shame for their culture. These feelings of self-loathing and contempt pass on from the adults to their children, creating a†¦show more content†¦The first phase is described as an extended period of â€Å"imitation of the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition, and internalization of its standards of art and its views on social roles† (Hamilton, 114). White Western society plays the dominant role here, and Pecola exhibits longing to imitate white society. Her desperation to have white beauty is so strong that she eats Mary Jane candies, fantasizing that the candies will make her white: â€Å"Smiling white face. Blond hair in gentle disarray, blue eyes looking at her out of clean comfort†¦To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane† (Morrison, 50). Claudia Macteer is the only character that seemingly has distaste for white beauty. She is not at all impressed with it and does not understand why she is not considered beautiful like other white children. Readers get a snapshot at the beginning of The Bluest Eye of Frieda and Pecola discussing their fondness of Shirley Temple. The only one who seems to have a disdain for Shirley Temple is Claudia: â€Å"I couldn.t join them in their adoration because I hated Shirley. Not because she was cute, but because she danced with Bojangles, who was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with me† (Morrison, 19). Claudia cannot comprehend why Bojangles, anShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Toni Morrison s The Bluest Eye1232 Words   |  5 Pagesbulimia, and self-hate. There is clearly a need for re-self-identification within the Black female community. With focus on self-hate one can see that this problem particularly becomes apparent in African American communities, author Toni Morrison in her novel The Bluest Eye not only highlights this self-hated within the Black community but also displays an urgent need for feminism within the black community, through her characterization of Pecola, and Claudia. One indication of Morrison’s intentionsRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison2069 Words   |  9 Pagesnovel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, Toni Morrison draws upon symbolism, narrative voice, setting and ideals of the time to expose the effects these standards had on the different characters. With the juxtaposition of Claudia MacTeer and Pecola Breedlove, who naively conforms to the barrie r of social classes, we are able to understand how African American’s in 1940’s America, specifically Ohio, had to adapt to the white ideals/standards of beauty, which subsequently caused self-hatred. Morrison’s novel exploresRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison956 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Slavery Influenced the Characters of The Bluest Eye Unlike so many pieces of American literature that involve and examine the history of slavery and the years of intensely-entrenched racism that ensued, the overall plot of the novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, does not necessarily involve slavery directly, but rather examines the aftermath by delving into African-American self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye who are African American are dominated by the endlessRead MoreToni Morrison: the Bluest Eye and Sula Essay2313 Words   |  10 Pagestook the place of pamphlets, poems, and novels. Themes such as the quest for freedom, the nature of evil, and the powerful verses the powerless became the themes of African- American literature. In a book called Fiction and Folklore: the novels of Toni Morrision author Trudier Harris explains that Early folk beliefs were so powerful a force in the lives of slaves that their masters sought to co-opt that power. Slave masters used such beliefs in an attempt to contro l the behavior of their slaves(HarrisRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison944 Words   |  4 Pages The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, does not necessarily involve slavery directly, but rather examines the aftermath by delving into African-American self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye who are African American are dominated with the endless culturally-imposed concepts of white beauty and cleanness to an extent where the characters have a destructive way of latently acting out their own feelings of self-hatred on others, especially other African-Americans. Toni Morrison’sRead MoreStruggling through the Great Depression in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye1347 Words   |  5 PagesToni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. Morrison grew up with a love of literature and received her undergraduate degree from Howard University. She received a master’s degree from Cornell University, she taught at Texas Southern University and then at Howard, in Washington, D.C., where she met Harold Morrison, an designer from Jamaica. The marriage lasted six years, and Morrison gave birth to two sons. She and her husband separated while she was pregnant with her secondRead MoreRacism in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye Essay1955 Words   |  8 Pagesequal.† In fact, Americans are praised for the so-called equality they possess. However, renowned author Toni Morrison sheds light on the sheltered and unspoken truth that everyone—to some extent—is racist. â€Å"Home† is a reflective essay in whic h Morrison explains that her triumphs against racist ideologies are evident throughout her various novels (â€Å"Home† 3). In Morrison’s first novel,  The Bluest Eye, instead of establishing a home where race does not matter—a home which she dreams of in her essay—sheRead More Morrisons Sexual Depictions Essay examples2203 Words   |  9 PagesMorrisons Sexual Depictions Toni Morrison incorporated vulgar sexual depictions into her novel with distinct literary intentions. Although many challengers of the novel contest that these scenes contain no value, Morrison composed these depictions with specific intent and purpose. It was not for shock value or merely to be obscene, but to illustrate to her audience the damaging effect society can have on its most vulnerable members. She spoke through the silence to lobby the destruction ofRead MoreThe Search for Beauty in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Essay1218 Words   |  5 Pagesthey could be beautiful so they would be accepted at school, as well as loved and acknowledged more. Pecola Breedlove in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye is no different than any other little girl. She too wants to be beautiful. America has set the standards that to be beautiful one must have quot; blue eyes, blonde hair, and white skinquot; according to Wilfred D. Samuels Toni Morrison (10). This perception of beauty leads Pecola to insanity because just as society cannot accept a little ugly blackRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison2396 Words   |  10 PagesDevin West AP English 11 Mrs. Mariner â€Å"The Bluest Eye† Unlike so many works in the American literature that deal directly with the legacy of slavery and the years of deeply-embedded racism that followed, the general storyline of Toni Morrison’s novel, â€Å"The Bluest Eye†, does not engage directly with such events but rather explores the lingering effects by exploring and commenting on black self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in †The Bluest Eye†, by Toni Morrison who are African American are