Novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

In Toni Morrison’s historical fiction novel, The Bluest Eye, the internalization of Eurocentric standards of beauty and how they damage the lives of African American girls and women are closely depicted. Through her carefully crafted chapters, Morrison also illustrates the effect a discriminatory social system can have on a race of people and how it may wear down their minds and souls often inclining them to hate their culture, heritage, and even their own appearances. I believe that The Bluest Eyes was the perfect novel to inform a study on the topic of colorism because it directly relates to young people of color wanting to change their physical appearances to match those that European standards of beauty uphold.

It also highlights the internalization of self-hatred in children of color because of the lack representation of people of color in the media which is what Morrison's novel is primarily about.

African-American author, editor, college professor and winner of both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize, Toni Morrison, obtained worldwide recognition for addressing the disturbing results of racism in the United States.

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During an interview, Morrison was asked about her motives behind composing The Bluest Eyes and as a response claimed that she “wanted to speak on behalf of those who didn't catch that [they were beautiful] right away' and desired society to be aware of how harmful racism truly is. She explained that many are 'apologetic about the fact that their skin [is] so dark.' As witnessed throughout the entirety of the novel, the struggle to see the beauty within oneself is depicted through the perspective of many different characters.

The biggest example of this would be the protagonist Pecola wishing to attain blue eyes as a way to escape the oppression that emerges from having a darker complexion. As the story continues the reader also comes to observe that Morrison seeks to demonstrate the negative impact discrimination can have on one's self-worth and their perception of others.

The Bluest Eyes, now considered to be an American classic, was published in 1970 and was Toni Morrison’s first novel. Set in the early 1940s in the author’s childhood town of Lorain, Ohio Morrison tells the story of young African-American Pecola Breedlove. It does not take her too long to realize that if she wants to be successful, happy and accepted in the America she lives in, she too would have to look like everyone around her: blond, light-skinned and blue-eyed. This later results in Pecola wishing to be beautiful, wishing to be seen and wishing for a new reality. The novel showcases Pecola’s yearning to change her eye color but also reflects the horror at the fulfillment of her wishes. Told through the perspective of Claudia MacTeer, the daughter of Pecola's foster parents, the story itself highlights the root of what fuels people but more specifically children’s need for self deterioration and hatred.

The book and the way in which it was written, accurately represents what life for African American’s used to be like. It clearly illustrates how white was and still is correlated with cleanliness, moral excellence, and purity while being black was associated with filth, depravity, and corruption. She also demonstrates the effects of the internalization of these ideas and how it ultimately leads to self-determination leading to the production of numerous dysfunctional situations in the characters' lives.

Below are two of what I believed to be the most relevant and important quotes that have strengthened my understanding of the topic of colorism. The first one reads, “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspaper, window signs—all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured” (21). Another outstanding quote Morrison wrote is, “It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights—if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” (46). Morrison’s quotes stood out to me because in them she highlights the true effects of permitting Eurocentric features to be the only traits that make someone beautiful. Because this way of thinking was so forcefully ingrained into society, Morrison’s characters do not even dispute them and therefore submit to the belief that anyone else with different characteristics cannot be beautiful.

Toni Morrison’s book is a heart-wrenching story of an aggrieved young girl who’s only desire is to gain the racial mark of whiteness, blue eyes. I recommend, The Bluest Eyes to anyone who is interested in knocking down the belief that is causing all African Americans to believe the stereotypes about themselves and begin to imagine that they are inferior in virtue, beauty, and worth. This novel is incredibly important because it shines a light on the little girls of today’s society that like Pecola Breedlove, are 'broken-winged birds that cannot fly.'