The Bluest Eye

I honestly was not a huge fan of this book. Although I could appreciate the themes Morrison was trying to convey.


ReRead: I'm still not the biggest fan but I appreciate the little details that weave this story together.

This is not a happy, uplifting book. If you want some happy reading, then this book is not for you.This book is about “a little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes.” It begins with a narrative about Dick and Jane just like you might find in a reading primer. I believe this book is entirely about race, so I don't think it's far-fetched to say that the Dick and Jane is meant to reflect this typical white household, and really what children should aspire to be.The lyrical language of Toni Morrison makes it easy for an average reader like myself to pick up on and understand all kinds of symbolism in the book. I do not have a degree in literature, and sometimes, I just don't get a book. The Bluest Eye is very straightforward in many of its messages, but there are still underlying themes for a reader to uncover.There is an incredibly painful passage in the book describing the rape of a 9 year old girl by her father. It's awful. At the beginning of the story, the narrator (Claudia) says, after explaining that Pecola (the 9 year old girl) has her own father's baby, “There is really nothing more to say–except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.” And then the rest of the book consists of lots of background information including some other important events. Thankfully, the reader knows what they will eventually have to read about.I think the book suffers from what author [a:Daniel Abraham 134 Daniel Abraham http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207149629p2/134.jpg] has called on his blog “The Curry Rule”, which basically says that if you include a violent sexual assault or rape in a story, it will overshadow anything else in the book. I think this book has become a book about a young girl getting raped, when the point the author is trying to make is much broader. Unfortunately, the big takeaway for a lot of readers seems to be the rape, and not that Pecola wanted more than anything to be white instead of black. So in a way, I don't think the rape needed to be in the novel to get its point across to the reader. Here's a link to the blog post describing The Curry Rule: http://www.danielabraham.com/2012/02/21/malice-rape-and-the-curry-rule/This is an amazing book about racism, and at its core, I think the book is all about racism and not rape. It's lyrical, but not happy or hopeful. And there are several cringe-worthy passages, but I recommend this book to any readers that are OK reading about difficult topics. It's a fast read, and well worth the time you'll spend reading it.

Toni Morrison's debut novel is both haunting and beautiful. Right from the beginning, she tells of the tragedy that will take place and doing so certainly helps the pieces come together throughout the novel.

The story is told through various viewpoints which adds significant credibility. Had Morrison stuck with the viewpoint of Pecola, the victim, the novel would've felt like it was asking for pity. Had it feel on her attacker, it obviously would've been much darker–without heart. A townsperson would've made it too distant. And so forth. Morrison chose wisely by going into all these characters' point-of-views.

The language, as in any piece Morrison writes, is gorgeous. She can just write words on a page without a story and it will get published. Language, however, is probably the biggest problem with The Bluest Eye: it doesn't fit. Some characters in this book are clearly more eloquent, and I'll give the benefit of the doubt that they would use such language; however, there are many in this novel who are portrayed as barely being able to read and yet their narratives are laced with the author's silver-tongue. It doesn't make the novel any less beautiful; but it certainly makes it less effective. Taken in context however–her first novel, written as a 30-something black woman in 1960s America–I'm guessing there was great pressure, internally and externally, to create a work of greatly literary value.

While Morrison doesn't quite match the power in this novel as she does with later works, The Bluest Eye is nevertheless a wonderful start to what was to become an exceptional career.

[b:Toni Morrison 6149 Beloved Toni Morrison http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165555299s/6149.jpg 736076] is a great author who really wrote a compelling novel called The bluest eye. I thought it was really sad to see how ugly one girl could be; and becomes an outcast to society.When in actual life, it is the people who viewed her as ugly,were the ugly ones themselves. Pecola Breedlove is the protagonist in this book who was raped by her father and had to go through changes as a little girl, from getting her first period, to getting bounced from house to house, to getting pregnant. She wishes for blue eyes because during the 1940's, white little girls and boys with blue eyes and blond hair were percieved as beautiful and others are not beautiful. So she prays to God everyday for blue eyes just so she can fit into society. And what is so good about this book is the fact that there are some actual facts that can/could happen in real life, so you have more of a visual image as well as a deeper connection/understanding with the book.