The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison

I selected Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel, The Bluest Eye because I was curious why it has sparked the censorship debate. Toni Morrison’s novel is so rich with implied meanings that my first reading only glimpsed its depth. Moreover, my initial impressions naturally were based on sensorial impressions. The experiences of sight, sound, taste, feel and smell, which Morrison skillfully recreates through her characters in her novel, elicit strong emotional responses. Particularly with explicit details, a would-be censor can react as ‘too graphic.’ Actually, I felt self-conscious as if a would-be censor was looking over my shoulder when I could identify controversial passages. I decided to reread and explore thematic meanings, from a teacher’s point of view.

Morrison, through the eyes of her characters, explores the dark side of the Black experience during World War II era. Preteen African-American female protagonists bear witness to the devastating effects of racism and sexism. Peroca, a major character, adores the blue-eyed Barbie, which is the white culture’s ideal of beauty. She internalizes the society’s hatred of her dark color as ‘ugliness,’ and her self-rejection intensifies, as she ardently desires blue eyes. Her dehumanizing experience becomes more complicated when her father rapes and impregnates her. She ends up ostracized from her Black community.

According to Werrlein, Morrison creates distinctive female African-American voices through her characters. These characters encourage readers not to condemn the Black children but think critically how their families and the nation created their misery. Trapped within a Black character, Pecola’s preteen voice suggests an innocent desire to be a beautiful child but her family and the racist society have shaped her ugliness. Pecola still idolizes Shirley Temple, the Hollywood ideal of innocence and beauty, and she silently becomes victimized with her internalized racial hatred. A separate African-American voice is expressed through Claudia, a character that survives through resistance. The contrasting voices challenge readers’ preconceived notions of innocence. In effect, Morrison uses their voices to raise critical questions about the reality of innocence.

Elizabeth Becker believes that teaching The Bluest Eyes helps high school students connect literary characters to their lives. Powerful, emotional scenes can elicit their responses to racism and sexual abuse. Then, she guides these students to appreciate Morrison’s use of her literary work to raise awareness that hatred and sexual abuse are not inborn human tendencies. In The Bluest Eyes, Pauline and Cholly are Pecola’s parents and their behaviors are learned through harsh environments imposed by the racial society. They eventually commit child neglect and abuse. Through reading, the students understand that when no one cares enough to prevent them learning to hate and abuse their own people, the cycle of hatred and abuse continues.

Amy Garret, a high school teacher, also believes that this novel is an important literary work worth exposing to her students even though a parent can find it too graphic. She suggests that a teacher can plan carefully for insightful classroom discussion, which leads to positive results. Students may experience disgust, anger, or sadness when they read about a particular group of Americans, however, the novel can initiate discussion about child abuse affecting all not just African-American females.

Both teachers share the similar purpose of teaching the novel: they want their high school readers exposed to the hatred and abuse so they can prevent them in their own lives. They can make connections to Pauline and Cholly as human beings whose learned behaviors make Pecola a victim. They can understand why some human beings commit abuses and how these actions can be prevented from happening again. If these issues are not addressed, then who will? Like those teachers have accomplished, a classroom can be a place where adolescents think critically about these issues through reading a literary work, even including Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes.