“ The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison is a African- American Literary
work that dives deep into the African Americans and their struggles
of racism, the novel was published in the year 1970, the novel was set
up in the time when the united states were recovering from The
Great Depression period, I choosed this novel cause it highlights on
societal oppression, knowing your self worth, and beauty standards.
The main plot contains the story of a African American girl and her
hardships to be accepted, as a black woman, and the urge to be
loved, and noticed by the society. The book explores Racial Identity,
beauty standards, poverty, self doubt. The Bluest Eye is set in
Lorain, Ohio, a small town, when the united states were recovering
from The Great Depression period, this setting reflects the societal
issues of the time, that includes racism, societal oppression, and
beauty standards. The main characters in the novel are Pecola
Breedlove the protagonist and a African American girl who thinks
that is ugly cause she is black, and the societal standards of beauty
that white people and beautiful and black are ugly, she struggles her
whole journey with self doubts. Claudia Macteer is a strong nine
year old girl, she resists societal pressures to conform to white beauty
standards, Frieda Macteer is a ten year old girl, she is claudia
macteer’s sister, and she is braver than claudia. Puline breedlove is
the mother of Pecola Breedlove and she also thinks that she is ugly
thats her own narrative, her bad treatment of pecola and her own
thought of racism contribute to pecola and her suffering. Overall I
feel the novel’s pacing can be uneven at certain areas, the characters
could have been more explored, the novels non linear structure and
many point of views could be challenging for some readers, rather
than that I feel the themes were good and thought provoking, the
novel has a emotional connection that connects the readers to it,
making the readers feel racism and avoidance for being black,
coming to the end, the novel is a exploration of the harsh truth of the
African American’s in a racial society envoking the black people and
their struggles. The novel is a good one realating the lives of the
black people, taking the readers to the reality of the struggles that
black people go through, the way the black people are treated is
shown in the novel, the novel is very informative, and knowledgable
for the readers. The readers feel the pain that the characters are
going through by reading the novel. I would recommend this novel to
everyone to read it. As it teaches us about life and its challenges. This
is one of my favourite novels, the theme is good, its has a good story
line, its got a life message, and I feel it is a go to novel, and a novel
that must be read, as it carries a great significance about the life of
black people. The novel has a sad ending but it leaves behind a great
message to the readers enlightening their thoughts, and making them
aware about the reality. So I recommend this novel as a realistic good
novel.