Throughout history, the highly contested concepts of race and gender have adversely shaped the lives of millions of people. In the United States it is most notably Native Africans and African Americans who have been victimized on the grounds of their skin color. Women of African descent have suffered a double jeopardy due to the intersection of race and gender. For a great many of African Americans, men and women alike, literature has become an “important vehicle to represent the social context, to expose inequality, racism and social injustice.” In The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison explores the issue of African American female identity. The female Bildungsroman scrutinizes the problem of growing up black and female in a society which equates beauty with blue-eyed whiteness. Consumer goods, the media, adult approval and a dismissive attitude towards her mislead the protagonist Pecola Breedlove to internalize white beauty standards. With the story of Pecola, Morrison points out how the internalization leads to racial self-loathing and eventually to self-destruction. Nonetheless, the negative tone of The Bluest Eye is in part counteracted through Claudia MacTeer, whose narrative is juxtaposed to Pecola’s anti-Bildung and thus turns the novel into a double Bildungsroman with one girl “growing up” and the other one “growing down.”
The following thesis will focus on the issues of race and gender in The Bluest Eye. The topic can be considered of particular relevance as it addresses a theme which remained unexamined until the 1970s, a theme which many have not wanted to know about and which others have been in denial about. Morrison, though, faces the truth about the intersection of race and gender by exploring in her novel how racism and sexism function, as well as the devastating consequences that can occur. Her debut further underlines that the search for culprits is complicated since the perpetrators in the crimes against Pecola are often victims themselves.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Race and Gender in the African American Literature
3. Socio-historical Context of The Bluest Eye
4. Aesthetic Form of The Bluest Eye
5. Racism in The Bluest Eye
5.1 Anti-black Racism
5.2 Internalized Racism
5.2.1 Black Femininity
5.2.1.1 Black Girlhood
5.2.1.2 Black Womanhood
5.2.2 Black Masculinity
5.3 The Tragic Outcome
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Core Topics
This thesis examines the issues of race and gender in Toni Morrison’s debut novel, The Bluest Eye. It explores how systemic racism and internalized white beauty standards contribute to the psychological fragmentation and eventual destruction of the young African American protagonist, Pecola Breedlove, while contrasting her experience with other figures in the novel.
- The intersection of race and gender in African American literature.
- The socio-historical setting of the 1940s and its influence on the novel’s narrative.
- Literary techniques, such as the use of the Dick-and-Jane primer to subvert white hegemony.
- The manifestation and devastating impact of internalized racism on black identity.
- The role of the black community and family structures in either fostering or hindering individual well-being.
Excerpt from the Book
Aesthetic Form of The Bluest Eye
It is generally accepted that form and content in a novel are equally important. In The Bluest Eye Morrison has aptly coordinated form and content in a way that conveys and reinforces her message. Stream-of-consciousness, multiple perspectives, overall fragmentation, to name but a few, are literary means she has skillfully used to achieve underlying messages of her novel. Unlike ordinary novels, The Bluest Eye presents a complex and fragmented structure; the novel is not divided in mere chapters but in a Dick-and-Jane narrative, a separated prologue, seasonal sections, sections headed with lines from the Dick-and-Jane primer, and an epilogue emerging from the last primer section. Thus, this section will scrutinize the novel’s aesthetic form as well as comment on possible ulterior motives for employing these forms.
The novel opens with lines that appear to be taken from a Dick-and-Jane primer. Dick and Jane were the protagonists in a schoolbook series which was used to teach the vast majority of American children to read from the 1930s through to the 1970s. The extract used in The Bluest Eye reads as follow:
Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? See the cat. It goes meow-meow. Come and play. Come play with Jane. The kitten will not play. See Mother. Mother is very nice. Mother will you play with Jane? Mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile. See the dog. Bowwow goes the dog. Do you want to play with Jane? See the dog run. Run, dog, run. Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the thesis focus on race and gender in The Bluest Eye, introducing the core problem of internalized white beauty standards and the novel's structure.
2. Race and Gender in the African American Literature: Discusses the social construction of race and gender, tracing their representation in African American literary history and setting the stage for Toni Morrison’s perspective.
3. Socio-historical Context of The Bluest Eye: Examines the cultural and historical background of the 1940s, including the impact of the Great Depression, school segregation, and autobiographical parallels in the novel.
4. Aesthetic Form of The Bluest Eye: Analyzes the novel’s innovative structure, particularly the use of the Dick-and-Jane primer to mirror and undermine the hegemonic white cultural standards.
5. Racism in The Bluest Eye: Explores the multifaceted nature of racism, distinguishing between anti-black institutional/personally mediated racism and the devastating, internalized self-hatred of the characters.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes the novel’s indictment of a society that values physical beauty over human worth and reflects on the persistent challenges to African American identity formation.
Keywords
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, African American Literature, Race, Gender, Internalized Racism, White Beauty Standards, Pecola Breedlove, Bildungsroman, Identity Formation, Social Construction, Fragmentation, Dick-and-Jane, Socio-historical context, Black Masculinity
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this academic study?
The study primarily focuses on the concepts of race and gender in Toni Morrison’s debut novel, The Bluest Eye, and how these factors shape the identity of the characters.
What are the central thematic fields explored in this paper?
The paper explores themes of internalized racism, the impact of white beauty standards on African American children, the role of family and community in psychological health, and the deconstruction of the "white ideal."
What is the central research objective?
The main objective is to analyze how the intersection of race and sexism leads to the psychological destruction of the protagonist, Pecola Breedlove, within a society that promotes white whiteness as the only standard of beauty.
Which scientific approach does the author use?
The author employs a literary analysis approach, utilizing historical and sociological context, as well as an examination of the novel's aesthetic structure and narrative form.
What content is covered in the main section of the work?
The main body investigates the various forms of racism (anti-black and internalized), analyzes the experience of black girlhood and womanhood, examines black masculinity, and explores the tragic outcomes of the protagonist's life.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The most important keywords include Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, internalized racism, white beauty standards, identity formation, and African American Literature.
How does the use of the "Dick-and-Jane" primer contribute to the novel’s narrative?
The author argues that Morrison uses the primer as a tool to contrast the "ideal" white childhood with the harsh, painful reality experienced by African American children, thereby exposing the exclusionary nature of the white dominant culture.
Why does the author consider Pecola’s wish for blue eyes so significant?
The blue eyes represent the impossible goal of matching a white standard of beauty; the author highlights that this wish is not just about physical appearance, but about Pecola’s hope that having these eyes would change how the world sees her and, in turn, how she sees herself.
- Citar trabajo
- Kathrin Rosenbaum (Autor), 2009, Race and Gender in Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/310537
