Bluest Eye :-

Bluest Eye :-

Introduction :-

The Bluesteye Published in 1970, The Bluest eye came about at a critical moment in the history of American civil rights. Morrison began Pecola's story as a short piece in1962; it became a novel-in-progress by 1965. It
was written, as one can see from the dates, during the years of some of the most dynamic and turbulent transformations of Afro-American life.

Before discussing novel i'll discusses about introductory characters :

• Pecola Breedlove: One of the main characters of the novel, Pecola is a young African American girl who comes from a financially unstable family. The title The Bluest Eye refers to Pecola's fervent wishes for beautiful blue eyes. Her insanity at the end of the novel is her only way to escape the world where she cannot be beautiful and to get the blue eyes she desires from the beginning of the novel.
• Cholly Breedlove: Cholly is Pecola's father. Abusive and an alcoholic, Cholly's violent and aggressive behavior reflects his troublesome upbringing.
• Pauline "Polly" Breedlove: Pecola's mother. Mrs. Breedlove is married to Cholly and lives the self-righteous life of a martyr, enduring her drunk husband and raising her two awkward children as best she can.
• Sam Breedlove: Pecola's older brother. Sammy, as he is more often referred to in the novel, is Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove's only son.
• Auntie Jimmy: Cholly's great aunt, who takes him in to raise after his parents abandon him.
• The Fishers: The rich, white couple who employ Pauline as their servant and as the caretaker of their little girl.
• Maureen Peal: An African-American girl Pecola's age, who considers herself and other people "of color" to be above black people. Frieda and Claudia mock Maureen, calling her "Meringue Pie."

About Novel


Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is a novel that contains many rhetorical arguments and logical fallacies. However, before going into detail about what they are, here is a brief synopsis of what The Bluest Eye is about. The Bluest Eye depicts the tragic life of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who wants nothing more than to be loved by her family and her schoolmates. She surmises that the reason she is despised and ridiculed is that she is black andtherefore, ugly.

Consequently, Pecola sublimates her desire to be loved into a desire

to have blue eyes and blond hair; in other words, to basically look like Shirley Temple, who Pecola thinks is adored by all . Pecola, soon after entering

young womanhood, is raped and impregnated by her father, Cholly.

Her mother, Pauline, finds haven, hope, life and meaning as a servant

to the white, blond, blueeyed, clean, rich, family to which she

dedicates her love and her respect for an orderly life that poverty

does not afford.

Pecola goes quietly insane and withdraws into a fantasy world in

which she is the most beloved little girl because she ends up having

the bluest of all.

The novel's focus, however, is on a girl named Pecola Breedlove. Pecola, we are told in the prelude, will be raped by her father by novel's end. The prelude frames the story so that the reader knows from the beginning that Pecola's story ends tragically. The Breedloves are poor, unhappy, and troubled. Their story seems in many ways to be deterministic, as they are often the victims of forces over which they have no control. Their situation is a powerful contrast to the MacTeers, who are of slender means but have a strong family unit. The MacTeers also seem to have much stronger agency, and are never really passive victims in the way that the Breedloves are.

In conclusion, the social identities in place in The Bluest eye provide excellent examples of how social identities are created and then replicated.

Furthermore, the novel renders hard evidence of how hard social and group identities are to break. Morrison’s writings are truly an exemplary display of

the difficulties involved in obtaining a positive social identity.