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What is the role of male power in Morrison's The Bluest Eye?
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Male power is a major theme in the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It is important to note that male power can be described as both physical and patriarchal power. Sometimes, these types of power are used together to increase their effect on the people around them. Male characters in the novel use both types throughout the story, but each one does so for different reasons.
There are a few examples of male power throughout Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.
First, Pecola's brother, Samuel, is able to run away from their family violence because he is a boy. Pecola, on the other hand, is unable to do the same thing.
Another example of male power is Cholly's rape of his own daughter, Pecola. Not only does this illustrate man's physical power over a woman, but it also illustrates the patriarchal power over the family. Girls should not go against their fathers, even when they (the fathers) are deeply wrong. Although Cholly does flee after raping his daughter, this event still illustrates the power of the male in the novel and alludes to historical violence against women nand girls in the home.
Mr. Henry's character also illustrates male power. Although the girls see him as a nice man, he uses this to get close to...
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them because of his attraction to young girls. He purposely misleads the girls around him through the use of a friendly and understanding demeanor. Yet, he uses this to simply get closer to them with ill intent.
One final example of male power is found in Junior. He does not have many friends, and the only children who play with him are the ones he is able to scare. He demands respect, although he does not deserve it. His entitlement even makes him feel like he owns things which are not his, like the playground.
It's important to understand that although race is one of the most defining factors in the novel, gender is significant as well. As the previous poster explained, white males dominated the cultural idea of "beauty", leading to the popularity of such iconic white females as Shirley Temple. However, this is not singular to the white males. Females of all ethnicities helped perpetuate this stereotype of beauty, as evidenced by the desire of all women in the novel to comform to one of those standards.
There's a hierarchy here, with white males at the the top. They, in turn, oppress and abuse black males. Consider the scene of Cholly's first sexual experience. He and his partner are discovered by two white hunters, who force him at gunpoint to continue, mocking him as he does so. There is a sense that these men have ultimate control over other individuals and their lives. At this time in history, these men could also control who can get a job, a home, where someone could go in public...they truly had the power of authority in society.
Black men, in turn, held power over black women. That is why Pecola suffers so greatly: she lives her entire life at the bottom of this hierarchy of race and gender and class, where the humiliation suffered by her father is forced upon herself and her mother. The scenes of horrific abuse and violence are incredibly visceral expression of this cycle of power. Even Soaphead Church, who exists near the bottom of the social scale himself, holds power over Pecola as an adult male. This is one of the reasons this novel is so powerful: we live through the eyes of the ultimate victim in society.