The Bluest Eye

There seems to be two ongoing points to take note of in Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. The first employs and shows a certain cognizance that people possess, allowing them insight into what they are experiencing in society. The second theme is the exact opposite, showing that if a person is submerged in enough oppression, they will eventually view it as just and fitting. In the context of this novel, we find that it these two themes deal with racism and how two seemingly (physical) similar sides will diverge when it comes to dealing with it.

1 Cognizance.

Claudia and Frieda are representatives of the cognizant side of the black community. Though they are just children, they seem to be well aware of injustices that go on in their society. Even the smallest instances such as their encounter with Maureen Peal, a privileged white girl, and their reaction to her rudeness to Pecola gives significant insight as to what they knew about their society.

They knew that they did not actually fear her, but the “Thing that made her beautiful” and made themselves “ugly” (74). The two girls were well aware of what was going on in society. However, they did not choose to cave into the idea that they were inferior. Instead, they sought comfort and accepted themselves: “We felt comfortable in our skins, enjoyed the news that our senses released to us, admired our dirt, cultivated our scars, and could not comprehend its unworthiness.”

(74)

The second point that Morrison shows through her story-telling is that when a person is exposed to enough racism, he or she will yield to it, accepting points of view that have been thrust upon them. An obvious example of this is the Breedlove family, who are accepting of what society has branded them as. They are “ugly.”

“ ‘You are ugly people…’ ‘Yes,’ they had said. ‘You are right.’ And they took the ugliness in their hands, threw it as a mantle over them, and went about the world with it.”

(39)

I could not help but pity Pecola’s situation. At the same time, I disliked her for her helplessness. I don’t blame her for what society forced upon people during that time though. Like Garrison and Brad, the “suffering” that we always talk about in class is fed by one’s insecurities with oneself. The only way to rid ourselves of it is to embrace and explore ourselves.