"The Bluest Eye"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the issue of racism and segregation in 1940s America as depicted in Morrison's novel. The writer discusses the plot which takes place before the civil rights movement, while also delving into the character of Pecola Breedlove, a young black woman living in the south. This paper analyzes Pecola's perception of beauty as it relates to men and women in the African-American community. This paper explores Morrison's depiction of discrimination and sexual biases within the black community regarding one's physical appearance which is rooted in negative conceptions of beauty which ultimately seal the fates of the female characters in the novel. The writer contends and explains that although Morrison's novel was written in 1970 and is set in 1940s America the issues of racial discrimination and inequality still resonate today.

From the Paper:

"Morrison wrote her novel in 1970, but the divide between the real and the false worlds of life and film is sharply expressed in terms of identity, that still resonates today. The lack of affection these Black girls receive from the depressed and impoverished parents of their world, in contrast to Shirley Temple on the screen, makes their envy of the White girl's beauty doubly poignant, and also highlights that what individuals expect from mass culture--either to be a part of it through mimicking it, like Pecola, or wishing to insert one's self in Shirley's place like Claudiadoes not satisfy the real appetite for identity such longing expresses. Rather than smothering one's hunger in consumption, one must seek satisfaction from more culturally validating images. The central significance of Shirley Temple in the Depression Era world lastly underlines how beauty and the consumption of beauty is not something of importance only to Black, fully sexualized women, but even to young girls--both then, and now."

More papers on "The Bluest Eye":

• Analytical Essay # 138419 : "Power and Impotence in "The Bluest Eye"
• Book Review # 95825 : "The Bluest Eye"--A Review"
• Book Review # 67487 : "The Bluest Eye" and Racism in America"
• Analytical Essay # 4028 : "Discrimination in "The Bluest Eye"

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