Book Review: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Every day, Pecola Breedlove prays to be beautiful. She knows what makes her ugly is her dark skin, curly hair, and dark eyes. Beautiful is bright blond hair. Beautiful is brilliant white skin. Beautiful is beaming blue eyes. Pecola begs God for blue, blue eyes so that she will be beautiful enough to be loved.
Claudia MacTeer, Pecola’s classmate, is utterly baffled as to why beautiful is blond hair, white skin, and blue eyes. Why can’t beautiful be dusky velvet skin, plush dark lips, and fathomless ink eyes? Why is one classmate beautiful enough to hold everyone under her sway, while another is deemed so ugly even teachers avoid looking at her?
In her first book, Toni Morrison explores the meaning of beauty, and how destructive attempting to conform to beauty standards can be, with lyrical language that grips the soul.
-
First off, the language is so pretty I want to drown in it. I love Morrison’s vivid descriptions and the way it contrasts so sharply with the subtly layered dialogue. The dialogue is beautiful in its own way as Morrison manages to capture some of the rhythm of Black speech patterns while differentiating the ways men, women, and children speak in their own groups.
Additionally, Morrison closely examines parenthood: the complex dynamics between parent and child, how parents think about and act toward their children, and how children integrate what they learn from their parents into their lives. She questions how someone parents when they have no reliable example of what good parenting looks like. Furthermore, she questions whether and to what degree parents truly see their children, not just their and society’s expectations for children.
The text also probes into the marital relationship. What happens when a husband wants his wife to depend on him, but not need him? What happens when a wife uses imagination and employment to construct a sanctuary outside of her home? What happens when his feelings of emasculation and her unfulfilled dreams manifest as rage that allows them to commit any violence upon each other besides murder?
All in all, it could be argued that the central question of the book is how does one stand tall, grow strong, and feel beautiful if the world demonizes the very color of one’s skin?
5 stars! Recommended for anyone fascinated by family dynamics and examinations of social norms.
Follow me for more content like this! If you’d like to support me and my writing, buy me a coffee!
