"The Bluest Eye" Speaks to a Nation

Paper Summary:

This paper is a critical analysis of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" and its social commentary on racism and being African American in America. The paper also touches on issues of women's perception of beauty and how societal demands for physical perfection can adversely affect the individual psyche. The paper specifically discusses how the writing style of the book is used as an effective literary vehicle for propounding these themes of prejudice and racism towards the African-American community.

From the Paper:

"Morrison uses Claudia's perspective as a way to relay her view on society and what it can do to an individual's psyche. Pecola's life becomes an image for readers of a destroyed soul that has been driven to madness because of something she cannot control. Like any other human being, Pecola did not choose what she would look like or what racial background she would belong to, yet she is punished for it by a society that fails to accept her for who she is. Morrison uses Pecola's story to investigate the standards of beauty in America that blacks have been somehow forced to assimilate into. According to the story that she tells in The Bluest Eye, this forced assimilation has made it nearly impossible for blacks to have their own identity that is shaped by what it means to be black, not white."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davis, Cynthia A. "Self, Society, and Myth in Toni Morrison's Fiction." Contemporary Literature 23.3 (1982): 323-42. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
• Douglas, Christopher. "What The Bluest Eye Knows about Them: Culture, Race, Identity." American Literature 78.1 (2006): 141-68. Duke Journals. Web. 17 Oct. 2009.
• Mckay, Nellie, and Toni Morrison. "An Interview with Toni Morrison." Contemporary Literature 24.4 (1983): 413-29. JSTOR. Web. 17 Oct. 2009.
• Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
• "Reading with and without Dick and Jane: The Politics of Literacy in c20 America." A Rare Book School Exhibition. 2003. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

More papers on "The Bluest Eye" Speaks to a Nation:

• Analytical Essay # 138419 : "Power and Impotence in "The Bluest Eye"
• Book Review # 95825 : "The Bluest Eye"--A Review"
• Book Review # 98164 : "The Bluest Eye"

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