Themes: Beauty

Morrison has consistently expressed criticism of various elements of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In several interviews, she has stated that the "Black is Beautiful" slogan was a major influence for her novel The Bluest Eye. Although set in the 1940s, the novel explores the pressure Black individuals face to adhere to the beauty standards of white society, intertwined with the larger issue of racism. It becomes clear that several...

Themes: Romantic Love

If ideas of physical beauty are destructive, so are ideas of romantic love. Once Pecola starts to menstruate, she knows that physically she is ready to have a child, but Frieda tells her that first she must get someone to love her. Pecola’s tragedy is that she does not know how to do that. She is aware of the choking sounds and silence of her parents’ lovemaking and the commercial sex of the three prostitutes—China, Poland, and Marie—who live...

Themes: Physical Beauty

The principal themes of the novel are summed up in the spring section, when the narrator speaks of the ideas of physical beauty and romantic love as “probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought.” In this novel with no single major white character, white ideas about beauty still exert their power upon the lives of Black people, creating within the Black community a strict caste system based on shades of blackness. Black...

Themes: Endurance and Destruction

Morrison has stated that “all of the books I have written deal with characters placed deliberately under enormous duress in order to see of what they are made.” The stuff of Claudia’s character endures; Pecola’s is destroyed.

Themes: Maturation

The division of the novel into sections that reflect the seasons—from autumn to the following summer—suggests maturation as another important theme. Claudia’s maturation process contrasts with Pecola’s. Claudia’s ninth year provides her with knowledge of the larger world that includes isolation, rejection, pain, and guilt. Her experiences bring her to an acceptance of responsibility, not only for herself but for others in her community as well....

Themes: Perverted Relationships

Morrison shows how the pressures created by white-defined values as reflected in American popular culture and in America as a whole pervert the relationships within African American families as well as among individuals in the Black community. In a 1978 interview, Morrison explained that Cholly “might love [Pecola] in the worst of all possible ways because he can’t do this and he can’t do that. He can’t do it normally, healthily, and so on. So it...

Themes: Beauty and Self-Image

Toni Morrison has stated, “I was interested in reading a kind of book that I had never read before. I didn’t know if such a book existed, but I had just never read it in 1964 when I started writing The Bluest Eye. ” Elsewhere, she has observed, “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.” In this novel,...

Themes: Race and Racism

Pecola, Pauline, and Claudia struggle with the pressure of not conforming to white society's beauty standards, a reflection of the racism that has affected Black people since their forced arrival in America. While Morrison explores this facet of white racism, she also examines the complexities within Black communities and the influence of white attitudes on Black individuals.

Initially, Morrison portrays white characters who display racist...

Themes: Coming of Age

The Bluest Eye is often characterized by critics as a bildungsroman, a novel that explores the journey of characters growing into adulthood. Critic Susan Blake has noted that the book is "a microscopic examination of that point where sexual experience, racial experience, and self-image intersect." For Pecola, this transition is deeply troubling. When she begins menstruating, Morrison uses this pivotal moment to underscore the absence of love in...

Themes: Family and Dysfunction

The central themes of The Bluest Eyefocus on the most essential social unit: the family. Apart from the notably dysfunctional Breedlove family, Morrison introduces various family groups throughout the story. Each family demonstrates different methods of dealing with alienation and the misleading cultural values imposed on minorities. Ideally, a family should serve as a fundamental support system, even more so than the community, to help...

Themes: Dysfunctional Families and Societal Pressure

Without a doubt, every family in The Bluest Eyeis dysfunctional. They cling to illusions and pass down a legacy filled with anger, hopelessness, frustration, and deceit. Although the Breedloves are shown as the most unfortunate of the families Morrison describes, the novel's grim theme is that families struggle to create a future free from the harmful influence of Euro-American value systems. These systems dangerously affect African-American...

Themes: Assimilation and Identity

Another aspect of the family theme in the novel centers around the Whitcomb family, represented solely by Elihue, also known as Soaphead Church. This family has tried to assimilate into Euro-American culture literally. The Whitcomb ancestors took pride in their white lineage, attributing their successes to their Caucasian roots. This obsession eventually led to inbreeding, symbolizing an excessive preoccupation with social status to avoid...

Themes: Cultural Standards and Alienation

Geraldine, similar to Pauline, is a Southern emigrant who strives to adopt white cultural norms. However, unlike Pauline, she completely embraces and internalizes these standards. This results in her becoming alienated from the African-American community, along with her son, Junior, whose father is notably absent from both the story and their lives. Geraldine raises Junior to reflect the image of Dick from the reading primer and instructs him on...

Themes: Assimilation and Internalized Racism

Other families also embody the themes of insufficient familial support and the perpetuation of cultural images of despair. Maureen Peal, a light-skinned newcomer who embraces Euro-American styles and culture, initially expresses sympathy for Pecola. However, when other children begin to ridicule Pecola, Claudia, and Frieda, Maureen realizes the social repercussions of associating with Pecola and begins to validate the insults aimed at her....

Themes: Charity and Exploitation

Charity is a key virtue within the community, as demonstrated by the MacTeers, who care for Pecola while her father is incarcerated. The daughters feel a responsibility toward this troubled girl and are shocked by the disarray in the Breedlove family. However, when the news of Cholly's assault on Pecola spreads, the MacTeer girls' good intentions begin to waver. As Pecola's humiliation becomes public and the Breedloves' tragic situation becomes...

Themes: Rebellion Against Cultural Norms

A particular family strives to achieve an ideal lifestyle, with Pecola's story largely narrated by Claudia MacTeer, a member of this family. The MacTeers aim for the quintessential Dick and Jane lifestyle but are inevitably set to fall short. As a child, Claudia harbored a rebellious dislike for Shirley Temple, who "danced with Bojangles, who was my friend, my uncle, mydaddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing and chuckling with me."...

Themes: Cultural Ideals and Alienation

Several chapters begin with different versions of the "Dick and Jane" story, each adapted to fit the chapter's central theme. Overall, Dick and Jane's existence illustrates a cultural ideal, portraying the ideal American family life: affectionate parents, amiable neighbors, joyful pets, white picket fences, roomy houses, and plenty of resources. If this lifestyle is an unattainable goal for the Euro-American middle class, it becomes even more...