Term Papers on The Bluest Eye

Term Paper Title	The Bluest Eye
# of Words	2896
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	11.58

The Bluest Eye

After World War I, many new opportunities were given to the growing and expanding group of African Americans living in the northern part of America (Encarta). The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison takes place during this time period.  A main theme in this novel is the search for individual or personal identity and the influences of the family and community in this search.   This theme is present throughout the novel and evident in many of the characters.  Pecola Breedlove, Cholly Breedlove, and Pauline Breedlove are all embodiments of this search for identity, as well as symbols of the search of many of the Black northern newcomers of that time.
Almost 500,000 African Americans moved to the northern states between 1910 and 1920.  This was the beginning of a continuing migration northward.  More than 1,500,000 blacks went north in the 1930's and 2,500,00o in the 1940's.  Life in the North was very hard for African Americans.  Race riots, limited housing resulting in slum housing, and restricted job opportunities were only a few of the many hardships that the African American people had to face at this time. Families often had to separate, social agencies were overcrowded with people that all needed help, crime rates increased and many other resulting problems resulted (Encarta).  The Breedlove family is a typical Northern African American family of this time.
The Breedlove family is a family by name only. They are just a group of people under the same roof.  Cholly (the father) is a constantly drunk and an abusive man. His abusive manner is apparent towards his wife Pauline physically and towards his daughter Pecola sexually. Pauline is a "mammy" to a white family, who she favors over her biological family. Pecola is a little black girl with low self-esteem. The world has led her to believe that she is ugly and that the epitome of "beautiful" requires blue eyes.  Therefore every night she prays that she will wake up with blue eyes.
        Brought up as a poor unwanted girl, Pecola Breedlove desires the acceptance and love of society. The image of "Shirley Temple beauty" surrounds her (Morrison 19). In her mind, if she were to be beautiful, people would finally love and accept her. The idea that blue eyes are essential for being beautiful has been imprinted on Pecola her whole life.  "If [I] looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they would say, `Why look at pretty eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty  [blue] eyes'" (Morrison 46).
Many people help imprint this ideal of beauty on Pecola. Her classmates have an enormous effect on her.  They seem to think that because she is not beautiful; she is not worth anything except as the focal point of their mockery. "Black  e mo. Black e mo. Yadaddsleepsnekked. Black e mo black e mo ya dadd sleeps nekked. Black e mo..." (Morrison 65). Shouted by her classmates on such a regular basis, this scorn seems not to hurt anymore. As if it were not bad enough being ridiculed by children her own age, adults also tend to mock her. Mr. Yacowbski as a symbol for the rest of society's norm, treats her as if she is invisible. "He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant storekeeper... see a little black girl?" (Morrison 48).
Geraldine, a colored woman, who refuses to tolerate "niggers", happens to walk in while Pecola is in her house. "`Get out,' she says in her quiet voice. `You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house'" (Morrison 92). By having an adult point out to Pecola that she really is a "nasty" little girl, it seems all the more true. Pecola is never able to get away from this kind of ridicule.
        At home she is put through the same thing, if not worse because her family members are the ones who are supposed to love her. Her mother is not able to conceal her obvious affection towards the white girl over Pecola. One day as Pecola is visiting her mother at the home where she works, she accidentally knocks over a blueber...

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