THE BLUEST EYE (Excerpts)Toni Morrison

Background InformationAbout the authorToni Morrison (born in Lorain, Ohio on February 18, 1931) is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters.

NovelsThe Bluest Eye (1970) Sula (1974) Song of Solomon (1977) Tar Baby (1981)

Beloved (1987)Jazz (1992) Paradise (1999) Love (2003) A Mercy (2008)

About the novel The Bluest EyeI. The Story The Bluest Eye is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl who is regarded ugly by everyone, including her parents, even herself. Her parents ignore her, other school children bully her, and she is raped by her drunk father and gets pregnant, later she gives birth to a stillborn child. Finally Pecola loses her mind and spends the rest of her life as a mad woman believing that she has the bluest eyes of the world and she is beautiful, happy and all the problems are gone.

Primer Story

Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? The kitten goes meow-meow. The kitten will not play. See Mother. Mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile. See the dog. Bowwow goes the dog. Do you want to play with Jane? See the dog run. Run, dog, run. Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, Play.

Back Cover

"Each night Pecola prayed for blue eyes. In her eleven years, no one had ever noticed Pecola. But with blue eyes, she thought, everything would be different. She would be so pretty that her parents would stop fighting. Her father would stop drinking. Her brother would stop running away. If only she could be beautiful. If only people would look at her."

II. Theme

Source of the tragedy: black people accepted and internalized white values and developed self-contempt and self-hatred for themselves or other black people, making some of their own people victims and scapegoats. The impact of mainstream white culture upon black people, which make them victim of the circumstances. "Beauty, love actually, I think, all the time that I write, Im writing about love or its absence.I thought in The Bluest Eye, that I was writing about beauty, miracles, and self-images, about the way in which people can hurt each other, about whether or not one is beautiful." -------Toni Morrison

Useful Links:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/morrison/index.html

http://www.gradesaver.com/bluest-eye/

http://lz.book.sohu.com/serialize-id-4131.html

Detailed Analysis of the Text

Structure

Part 1 (Paras.1-9) About those brown girls.I. (1-5) General analysis of these brown girlsII. (6-9) Distorted personality because of their hiding their nature.

Part 2 (Paras. 10-53) What happens to Pecola in the house of such a brown girl.

Detailed Analysis of the Text

Discourse analysis (Para 1-5) Question: There is a central idea in each of the five paragraphs. Can you point them out?

In paragraph 1, the author refers to a character type resulting from the brown girls hometowns.In paragraph 2, the author gives a general picture of who these brown girls are, what they are like, and how they live.In paragraph 3, the author shows the brown girls school education.In paragraph 4, the author shows that the brown girls have not only assimilated the way of life but also the ideology of the white middle-class.In paragraph 5, the author shows the brown girls skills in keeping a household.

Para. 1Questions on content:

1.Who are they described in Paragraph 1 to 5? "They" refer to a type of black people here: brown-skinned people, they have brown skins, which are lighter than those of the normal black people.

2. Paraphrase a white butterfly glance off a fence with a torn wing glance off: hit a surface at an angle and move away from it in another directionHere the author uses a butterfly with a torn wing as a metaphor, meaning fragile beauty.

3. How do you understand "The sounds of these places in their mouths make you think of love."

Para. 2

In this paragraph the author gives a general picture of who these brown girls are, what they are like, and how they live. The descriptions show that they are thoroughly assimilated into the white, middle-class way of life.

Read the first eight lines and pay attention to the following expressions.1.The sound of it opens the windows of a room like the first four notes of a hymn.

2.sly affection

3.But these girls soak up the juice of their home towns, and it never leaves them.

4.They have the eyes of people who can tell what time it is by the color of the sky.

Para. 2

5. Next several sentences tell us that in the black neighborhoods, everyone has a good and steady job, things are arranged for leisure, and many plants are grown to make a pretty house.Read the part "Such girls live in quiet black neighborhoods where everybody is gainfully employed. and NO ICE on the fourth."and pay attention to the following expressions.

porch swings hanging from chains: Rooster CombBleeding heartMother-in-law Tongue

6. What is the cardboard sign like? What is the use of the sign?

Para. 2

Read the rest lines of this paragraph, and answer the following questions.

7. "These particular brown girls are not like some of their sisters." How are they different?

8. The following part talks about how these brown girls try to imitate the middle-class whites and to make themselves clean and pretty according the standards of beauty set by the dominant culture.

9. Why did they always sing the second soprano? Why they call sex "nookey"?

Para. 3&4In these two paragraphs the author shows that these brown girls have not only assimilated the way of life but also the ideology of the white bourgeoisie/middle-class. They receive more formal school education than their poorer sisters, as a result they are more alienated from their black cultural heritage and try to get rid of the funkiness of nature, the funkiness of the wide range of human emotion.

Land-grant colleges:Normal school: Home economics:

So what is the meaning of "funkiness"? Note 12Funky has several meanings. It is associated with a jazz style having an earthy quality derived from early blues or gospel music. It may mean unconventional, eccentric, offbeat, etc.. It also may mean very emotional, informal, relaxed, casual, etc.. Funk is associated with spontaneity and sensuality.

Para. 3&4

Para4 shows how the brown girls try hard to repress their emotions and passions. Some vivid verbs: erupt- wipe it away crust- dissolve it drip, flower,cling-find it and fight it

How did they fight it? details: laugh not too loud enunciation not too round behind not to sway too free gesture not too generous worry about their lips and the edges of their hair

Para. 6-9

What does the author tell us about the brown girl in Paragraphs 6-9? Para.6 : The brown girl will make her home her own inviolable world against any outsider, even against her husband. She runs the house in her own way. Although she keeps the house clean and tidy, she does not give it any warmth.

stick by stick: little by little, by and bystand /mount guard over: guardA sidelong look will be enough to amoke on the back porch.Nor do they know that she will give her body sparingly and partially.

Para.7-9: Usually she would have distorted personality. She denies herself of normal sensual experience and therefore can only find occasional sensual delight in a cat, who is first even to her own son.

Para. 6-9How did she become such a distorted woman?

"When the intruder comes home..." Who is the intruder? Her husband.

Several words to describe the cat: settle and caress her with his eyes; back paws struggle for footing on her breasts, forepaws cling to her shoulders; preen, stretch, open his mouth; writhe beneath her hand, flatten his eyes; circle about her shanks;

soft hill of hair: hair like a soft hillNote: of is used between two nouns, with the first describing the second e.g. a tyrant of a father that palace of a house In rushed a giant of a French officer.She was a mere slip of a girl.

Part 2 (Para.10-53) I. (Paras. 10-14): About Mrs. Geraldine and her son Junior. II. (Paras. 15-53): What happens to poor little Pecola.Para. 10 What is the function of Paragraph 10? This paragraph serves as a transition of the brown girls in general to focusing on one particular brown girl Geraldine.

Para. 11 What does a baby need to grow up healthily?Physically needs: comfort and satiety; brushed, bathed,oiled and shod.Emotional needs: talk to him, coo to him, indulge him in kissing bouts, let them cry.

What is Junior's feeling towards his mother? Do you think Junior also has a distorted personality?

Para. 121.Sport Facilities at school campus: swing: slide: smooth slope, track or chute down on which children can play at sliding Monkey bars: an arrangement of horizontal and vertical bars erected as in a playground for children to climb on, swing from, etc. seesaw: long plank, balanced on a center support, and with a person sitting at each end, which can rise and fall alternately

2.ways to address a black:Nigger, Negro, the black, African-American 3."His hair was cutas clost to his scalp as possible to avoid any suggestion of wool, the part was etched into his hair by the barbor." to avoid any suggestion of wool: part: n. etch: to make a drawing, design, etc. on mental, glass, etc. engrave; here used metaphorically to refer to the action of the barbers scissors

Para. 13Question: What kind of boy Junior used to be? What change has taken place in Junior in his relationship with other boys? What has caused such a change in him?

Several details about the former Junior: He liked the game King of the Mountain: a game in which each player attempts to climb to the top of a mound of earth and to prevent all others from pushing or pulling his/her off the top. smell their wild blackness: He wanted to sit with them on curbstones and compare the sharpness of jackknives, the distance and arcs of spitting.

Present Junior: play only with white children who are good enough for him; bully girls; lie; throw gravel at others

pick on (infml.): to tease or bully; choose for punishment, blame, or an unpleasant job, esp. repeatedly and unfairly e.g. Why are you always picking on me? beat him witless: beat him dead

Para. 15-34

Expressions

when the mood struck him(para.15)at recess(para.15): a pause from doing something (as work)/ break.smile his encouragement(para.33)

Questions:

1.How to explain Juniors alternately bored and frightened at home? He is frightened of what? 2. Why Pecola kept her head down? Why no one ever played with her?

Para. 35

Main content: When Pecola stepped into the house, she was amazed at its beauty, suddenly Junior threw a cat in her face.

Q: Whats the symbolic meaning of the description of the Bible and the picture of Jesus Christ? A: The Bible, containing all the important teachings of Jesus Christ, is a symbol of Christian faith. However, the big red-and-gold Bible placed on the most conspicuous place in the room had become a showpiece. For the same purpose of showing off, a color picture of Jesus Christ hung on a wall with pretty paper flowers. It is easy to see the irony here because Jesus Christ teaches love of one another, love of your neighbors, but what Junior and his mother did to Pecola later before the picture of Jesus is just the opposite. They have nothing but hatred for this little black girl.

Para. 36-39This part shows how Junior took delight in torturing Pecola.DescriptionJunior was laughing and running around the room clutching his stomach delightedly.(para.36)"You can't get out. You are my prisoner,"he said. His eyes were merry but hard..(para.37)Pecola's banging on the door increased his gasping, high-pitched laughter.(para.39)

Para. 40-44 Can you retell this part in your own words? Para. 45-481. Translate the following sentences describing Pecola. She looked at Pecola. Saw the dirty torn dress, the plaits sticking out on her head, hair matted where the plaits had come undone, the muddy shoes with the wad of gum peeping out from between the cheap soles, the soiled socks, one of which had been walked down into the heel of the shoe.

Para. 48

2.In the sentenceshe had seen this little girl all of her life, doesthis little girl refer to Pecola specifically? 3. Paraphrase: "Eyes that questioned nothing and asked everything." 4. Paraphrase:"The end of the world lay in their eyes, and the beginning, and all the waste in between." Para. 49In this paragraph, Geraldine listed things these black girls did to prove that they had no manners and were not nice and quiet like brown girls.

Pay attention to the following sentences: The girls grew up knowing nothing of girdles, and the boys announced their manhood by turning the bills of their caps backward. Grass wouldn't grow where they lived.Flowers died. Shades fell down. Tin cans and tires blossomed where they lived.

Para. 50-53 The end of the story.

1. "You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house."(para.51) ----very strong swearword. What does it show?

2. "Pecola backed out of the room, staring at the pretty milk-brown lady in the pretty gold-and-green house who was talking to her through the cat's fur."(para.52)

This picture is created in contrast with the picture depicted in the primer at the beginning of the novel, and an ironic effect is achieved. In the pretty and green-and-white house, Jane lives happily with her mother and father, a kitten and a dog. The lovely kitten goes meow meow. A friend comes and will play with Jane.

3. ...Jesus looking down at her with sad and unsurpriesd eyes...(para.52)

4. Do you think the concluding paragraph is loaded with meanings into the description of how Pecola walked away from the house?

The Bluest Eyewritten by Toni Morrisonpowerpoint by Risa Chavez

Important Characters

Pecola Breedlove: narrator; a young ugly black girl who lives in an old store with her parents and brother

Claudia MacTeer: narrator; Pecolas friend.

Frieda MacTeer; Claudias older, braver sister. She also becomes friends with Pecola.

More Important Characters

Cholly Breedlove: Pecolas violent, alcoholic father.

Pauline Breedlove: Pecolas mother; she is also a servant to a white family.

Soaphead Church: the town psychic; he has an abnormal fascination for young girls.

Before you read you should know ..The Bluest Eye was written in 1970.The author, Toni Morrison, was born during the Great Depression and had a rough childhood.During this time, racism was a major issue, especially in the South.The narrator changes throughout the book, so pay close attention.There are some very graphic scenes in the book.

The Authors ObjectiveThe Bluest Eye is inspired by a real girl that Morrison met when she was younger.

The book came from a last minute story that she had to write for a literary discussion group.

Toni Morrison wanted to write a book in which black girls were center stage.

SettingThe Bluest Eye is set in Lorain, Ohio.

The Great Depression has just ended and many families are hard for money.

The book takes place in various places depending on which character is narrating and whose story is being told.

Summary of the BookPecola Breedlove is a young, black girl with a very difficult life. Her father is a drunk and her mother just ignores all the problems at home. Pecolas brother runs away a lot, so she spends most of her time alone, dreaming of a different life.

No one likes Pecola. They think she is dirty and nasty. Boys make fun of her, girls mock her and adults look past her.

However, she does make two friends. Claudia and Freida MacTeer get to know Pecola when she comes to live with them due to her rough home life. They sympathize with her and when she moves back with her parents, they keep an eye on her to make sure she is okay.

Summary continuedPecolas life takes a drastic turn when her father loses control. One day when he comes home and she is there alone, he gets a strange feeling, the same feeling he had the first time he met his wife. The consequences of her fathers actions deeply impact Pecola and her future. Claudia and Freida sacrifice all the money they have to save the little black girl who dreams of blue eyes.Most of the book is composed of events from the pasts of the main characters. These events are used to explain the actions and personalities of the people involved.

Main ThemesJudgingA lot of the feelings between characters are the product of quick judgement. No one took the time to get to know the Breedloves. They saw they way they lived and judged them, without looking farther into the situation, without really knowing how little Pecola felt.

Whiteness is BeautyPecola thinks the only way she can be pretty is to be like the white girls. She admires Shirley Temple with her golden locks and sky blue eyes. Instead of excepting who she is, dark skin and all, she wastes away dreaming to be someone she can never be.

& more main themesAbuseAlmost every character is somehow abused throughout the book. Mrs. MacTeer yells at her daughters constantly, Pauline Breedlove ignores Pecola when she tries to tell her about the things her father has done, and Cholly Breedlove beats his wife and abuses his daughter.ConnectionsSomehow, every character in The Bluest Eye is connected. Through the flashbacks you learn that events that may have happened a long time ago still have an affect on people. The actions of one affect the lives of many. Things dont just start and stop with one person. They travel and change through the many different relationships gained and maintained throughout the novel.

The bad ..For me, The Bluest Eye was kind of difficult to follow. You have to remember details from the beginning of the book to piece together events alluded to in the end of the book.I didnt realize certain things had happened until after I finished the novel. The narration was tough to keep straight. I didnt know whose perspective I was reading by.

.. & the goodAside from some confusion, The Bluest Eye was a really good book.It took a world that most of us dont know about and made it real. It really makes you think how others might live, how others might think and how your judgments can affect the lives they live.Toni Morrison has a great way with words. Her language is very appropriate for the time period and place. It makes the setting feel more real and modern. Morrison also has a great way of organizing her work. It kept me intrigued and I didnt want the book down until I knew what happened.

Should you read it ?I would recommend this book to anyone. It has a good story and the characters and their situations really open your eyes.

The Bluest EyeBy Toni MorrisonWritten in:New York: 19621965First 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 eyesShirley Temple eyeswhich 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 minute, some tragic and overwhelming.

Historical Context: the effects of poverty felt by so many families, especially poor black families during the Depressionthe effects of racism and segregationdistortion of self-image encouraged by media depictions of beauty and happinessthe 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?Pecolas 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 characters 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 childrens 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.

Themes: Satisfying Appetites vs. Suppressing Them A number of characters in The Bluest Eye define their lives through a denial of their bodily needs. In contrast, when characters experience happiness, it is generally in viscerally physical terms.

Consider what the novel suggests about human desire: How does one achieve true happiness and redemption?

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 Pecolas associations match your own? Why or why not?

Motifs: Whiteness and Color Consider the duality of what whiteness represents in the novel. What do various colors represent? Are these soft or vibrant colors? What do these symbolic motifs suggest about race and happiness?

Motifs: Eyes and VisionEyes and vision (or lack thereof), both externally and internally, literally and metaphorically, are another important, recurring motif in this novel. What messages are conveyed to the characters, and in turn to the reader, by this motif?

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 HouseThe Bluest Eye(s)Marigolds