The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Written in: New York: 1962–1965 First published in 1970

Setting: Set in 1941 in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison's novel centers on a particularly difficult year in the life of eleven year old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola comes from a poor and poorly adjusted black family. Pecola feels ugly and unaccepted by the world around her, and longs for blue eyes— Shirley Temple eyes— which she believes will make her beautiful, happy and finally accepted.

Exigency: In the Afterword to The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison writes that the novel came out of a childhood conversation she could never forget. She remembers a young black girl she knew who wanted blue eyes, and how, like Claudia MacTeer in the novel, this confession made her really angry. Surrounded by the Black Is Beautiful movement of late 1960s African-American culture, Morrison decided to write a novel about how internalized racism affects young black girls in a range of ways – some petty and small, some tragic and overwhelming.

Historical Context: the effects of poverty felt by so many families, especially poor black families during the Depression the effects of racism and segregation distortion of self-image encouraged by media depictions of beauty and happiness the struggles of rural families who moved north to find work in industrial areas. Yet Pecola's story encompasses much more:

Themes: Whiteness as the Standard of Beauty The Bluest Eye provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of black girls and women. Consider the effects this has on the characters in novel, and the overall societal result of such a standard.

Critical Reception: Due to its unflinching portrayal of incest, prostitution, domestic violence, child molestation, and racism, there have been numerous attempts to ban the book from libraries and schools across the United States, some of them successful.

Themes: Seeing vs. Being Seen What do black women in the novel ultimately have to sacrifice in order to see themselves as beautiful? Pecola’s desire for blue eyes, while highly unrealistic, is based on one correct insight into her world: she believes that the cruelty she witnesses and experiences is connected to how she is seen. If she had beautiful blue eyes, Pecola imagines, people would not want to do ugly things in front of her or to her.

The Power of Stories The Bluest Eye is not one story, but multiple, sometimes contradictory, interlocking stories. Characters tell stories to make sense of their lives, and these stories have tremendous power for both good and evil. Consider each character’s motives for telling their individual stories, what it reveals about them and what they get out of telling the story.

Themes: Sexual Initiation and Abuse To a large degree, The Bluest Eye is about both the pleasures and the perils of sexual initiation. In the novel, parents carry much of the blame for their children’s often traumatic sexual coming-of- age. The prevalence of sexual violence in the novel suggests that racism is not the only thing that distorts black girlhoods. Consider the connection between racism and sexism in the novel as well as the role that parents play in perpetuating views about race and gender.

What is a Motif? Motif and Theme In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image, sound, action or other figures that have a symbolic significance and contributes toward the development of a theme. Motif and theme are linked in a literary work but there is a difference between them. In a literary piece, a motif is a recurrent image, idea or a symbol that develops or explains a theme while a theme is a central idea or message.

How is a motif different from a symbol? Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly identified as examples of symbols. Symbols are images, ideas, sounds or words that represent something else and help to understand an idea or a thing. Motifs, on the other hand, are images, ideas, sounds or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme. Moreover, a symbol may appear once or twice in a literary work, whereas a motif is a recurring element.

Motifs: The Dick-and-Jane Narrative The novel opens with a distorted narrative from a Dick- and-Jane reading primer. The chapter headings throughout the novel are excerpted from this primer. What is the significance of this reference? What inferences are embedded in the alteration of the primer? What is the inherent irony of this motif?

Motifs: The Seasons and Nature The novel is divided into the four seasons. As you read each section, consider both societal associations and your individual associations with each season. Does the plot match societal expectations for each season? Do Pecola’s associations match your own? Why or why not?

Motifs: Dirtiness and Cleanliness What are the cultural implications of each? What is judged as dirty or clean? What are the characters’ relationships with cleanliness and dirtiness? What does this reveal about them, what they value and what they are seeking?

Symbols: These symbols are embedded with layers of meaning, some which contain an intentional duality. Consider their developing meanings as we progress throughout the text. – The House – The Bluest Eye(s) – Marigolds