Free Sample Essays > Literature
The Bluest Eye
book is one causal argument with all of the events resting on the initial idea that society influences the individual. Society’s standard of beauty at that time was white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. The Shirley Temple’s of the world were adored and cherished, many sought after their beauty. Baby dolls with these blue eyes and blond hair were all the rage. However, Pecola didn’t meet the standard, she was ugly. Soon, Pecola began to realize this and began wishing for beautiful blue eyes. She was no longer satisfied with herself and became consumed with the idea of beauty and what it meant to be beautiful. Each night before she went to sleep she would fervently pray for blue eyes. After getting the Mary Janes she looks at the pale yellow wrapper with a picture of little Mary Jane, for whom the candy is named. Smiling white face. Blond hair in gentle disarray, blue eyes looking at her out of a world of clean comfort. The eyes are petulant, mischievous. To Pecola they are simply pretty. She eats the candy, and its sweetness is good. To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane (Morrison 50). Poor Pecola thought that only if she had those beautiful, blue eyes she would no longer be thought of as “ugly” or “dirty”, but rather as “pretty” and “beautiful”.
Many people looked down on Pecola, treated her differently. This led to her isolation. Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike. She was the only member of her class who sat alone at a double desk. The first letter of her last name forced her to sit in the front of the room always. But what about Marie Appolonaire? Marie was in front of her, but she shared a desk with Luke Angelino. Her teachers had always treated her this way. They tried never to glance at her, and called on her only when everyone was required to respond (Morrison 46). This is also a good example where Morrison is again appealing to the reader’s pathos. How terrible it must be for Pecola to have to go to school and know that her teachers (young children’s most influential adults) despise her and do not care for her in the least. In addition, we see how the children mocked Pecola. She also knew that when one of the girls at school wanted to be particularly insulting to a boy, or wanted to get an immediate response from him, she could say, ‘Bobby loves Pecola Breedlove! Bobby loves Pecola Breedlove!’ and never fail to get peals of laughter from those in earshot, and mock anger from the accused (Morrison 46). In addition, after school one day, a group of boys circle around Pecola and begin making fun of her chanting, ”Black e mo. Black [next page]