The Bluest Eye

THE BLUEST EYE
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THE BLUEST EYE
The Bluest Eye is a novel published in 1971 by Toni Morrison. She published this novel while working at Howard College as a teacher. At this time, she was a single mother of two. The theme of the novel ranges from incest, prostitution, violence, and racism and child molestation. The novel talks about a black young girl named Pecola, who finds herself alienated from the society because of her eye and skin colour. The writer employs the first person that is Claudia MacTeer and third person perspective in presenting the experiences of this girl. According to the author, the motivation to write the novel developed as a result of a moving childhood conversation, which she could not forget. The conversation was about Claudia MacTeer who wanted her eyes exchanged with blue ones. This irritated Morrison a lot and by the instigation of the various black revolution movements in America during the 1960s, she decided to write the story, “the bluest eye” to depict on how racism had impacted upon the lives of black girls and women (Morrison, 1970).
Among the major themes in this novel by Morrison is the racial subjugation of black women. The characters, who are mainly black, are doing and using archaic tactics to achieve the goal of fitting into the western society, otherwise if they held to their African culture, they would be delineated by the society. Claudia Macteer, a character in the novel narrates her encounter with Pecola Breedlove and her childhood experience at the hands of a white father. She recollects on her abuse and also her perception of the society’s view on the black race. She brings to light her reflection on how the prevalent western culture influenced her life through music, blues and literature. Morrison also depicts the eloquence of her black characters in the novel by using a western accent as a means of communication, whereas in actual sense, they could have used their own language. It is also evident through the novel that the black characters used to sing “the blues”, which are a western type of songs, instead of African songs. This depicts that they were really entrenched in the western culture. Claudia’s mother, Mrs. Macteer, is also occasionally seen singing the same type of songs, which she suggests are a means of reducing boredom. The three harlots, China, Mrs. Marie and Poland also occasionally sing blues as a means of luring their male clientele. Though they find this absurd, they suppose that this is the only means by which they can receive recognition in the white man society; otherwise, their business would be jeopardized. In addressing their experience of racial injustices, gender biasness and clas...