Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Term Paper

That shows the same thing, that Morrison is showing racism even exists in the black community. This book shows that white society controls everything, from how people feel about each other to how they see themselves and what they think is beautiful. Pecola is black, but she wants to be white, and that means she does not understand who she really is and why it is not bad to be black.

Pecola becomes so desperate for blue eyes that she goes to a crazy old black man who thinks he has the power of God, and asks him for blue eyes. It is one of the most touching and sad parts of the book. Morrison writes,

Here was an ugly little girl asking for beauty. A surge of love and understanding swept through him, but was quickly replaced by anger. Anger that he was powerless to help her. Of all the wishes people had brought him - money, love, revenge - this seemed to him the most poignant and the one most deserving of fulfillment. A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes (Morrison 138).

Pecola will not ever see the world with blue eyes, although she believes she does, and that contributes to her madness. She believes the faith healer really did give her blue eyes, and that is the final thing that drives her over the edge into madness.

Her father will rape her, she will have a baby that does not live, and eventually, she will just go crazy. Not all of her dreams come true, and that is really the point of this story. Many books end with a happy ending, and the characters all find what they are looking for. Real life is different. For many people, real life is what Pecola faces, and her life can never be happy or complete. She has too many things against her, from her family, to her race, and the way she sees herself. She is a sad character, and Morrison makes her even sadder by making her so real and convincing. She could be any poor black girl in any town in the country, and that is the saddest part of this book.

Toward the end of the book, Morrison writes, "A little black girl yearns for the blue eyes of a little white girl, and the horror at the heart of her yearning is exceeded only by the evil of fulfillment" (Morrison 162). This quote shows how horrible it is to want to be something you are not, and not be happy with what you are. Pecola spends the rest of her life in a make-believe world of madness.She lives with her mother, and the MacTeers never see her again. She can never understand how important she was to Claudia and Frieda, who say, "All of us, -- all who knew her - felt so wholesome after we cleaned ourselves on her. We were so beautiful when we stood astride her ugliness" (Morrison 163). This quote shows that she touched people and their lives, and she never knew it. That is sad, and it just shows how out of touch with reality Pecola really was. She could not see herself the way others saw her, and she could not see the goodness inside of her.

In conclusion, "The Bluest Eye" is a touching story about a young girl growing up. Her life is tragic because she cannot see the beauty in herself. Toni Morrison said in an interview that the word "beautiful" should be eliminated from our vocabulary. She said everyone should read this book because we tell children the wrong things when they are young, and it colors how they feel about themselves. She says we say, "Oh, you're so beautiful. Oh, you're so pretty. Oh -- that's not really what we really ought to be saying. What do you tell a child when you want to say, 'You are good, and I like that. You are honest and I like that. [Y]ou are courageous. I really like that. I really like the way you behave'" (Morrison). That is why everyone should read this book. It has something important to say to everyone, and it shows that beauty is inside, not on the outside. That is an important lesson for anyone to learn.

References

Author not Available. "Toni Morrison." Western Washington University. 1995. 3 Nov. 2006. http://www.az.com/~andrade/morrison/start.html

Bloom, Harold, ed. Toni Morrison's the Bluest Eye. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999.

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Jazz. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1998.

Why Everyone Should Read 'The Bluest Eye.'" Oprah.com. 2000. 3 Nov. 2006 http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_2000/tows_past_20000526_b.jhtml;jsessionid=C4UBDNAZAHQGTLARAYGB3KQ

Stanford, Ann Folwell. "The Bluest Eye." New York University. 8 May 2006. 3 Nov. 2006. http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1086.....