I’m not a middle aged black woman, in fact, I’m not a black woman at all, but realizing that this book was written to target that demographic made it easier to recognize the key issues the author was attempting to tackle.
Toni Morrison’s first book, The Bluest Eye, tells the tragic story of a young girl in Lorain, Ohio during the 1940s, Pecola Breedlove. Pecola’s trials throughout the book question power, love, and beauty, and show the difficulty her family has trying to survive in a white society.
Pecola could not find love at school or at home. The students and teachers at school do not treat her well or fairly, her father is an alcoholic and abusive, and her mother has fallen into the idea of “white privilege” by showing more love for the white girl she takes care of than she does for Pecola.
She also deals with self esteem issues. Like other black girls and boys, she has been taught from the society she grew up in that she is inferior and ugly. For these reasons, she is hates herself and believes she is ugly. Throughout the book Pecola can only speak of having blue eyes because she believes that would make her beautiful. Claudia, her best friend, challenges this and sees beauty in a black baby. The final lesson is that beauty, on the outside, does not bring happiness.
The illustrations of the society where Pecola grew up, the pressures and treatment from the majority group, and the ways in which they influence the lives of minorities are very vivid in this book. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye was written with the intent to tell a story, and it does so in a very interesting way. In order to appreciate the book, the reader must realize the messages that Morrison was attempting to get across; the struggles minorities in our country face both internally and externally.
1 comment:
It's obvious why this is a good and powerful read for women. But how do you sell it to men? Besides making them read it in a class.
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