Enlightened by Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye :: Bluest Eye Essays

Enlightened by Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye   Over the course of our study of the American novel, we have experienced a kaleidoscope of components that overhaul define it. We traveled back in time to learn what kinds of novels were being written and how they were being written. We were introduced to the likes of Harold Frederics Theron Ware, Henry Jamess Dr. Sloper and Catherine, and Nathaniel Hawthornes Blithedale Romance. We saw, done these novels and characters, how literature of the past affects literature of today.   We too read novels from various regions of North America. We had a glimpse of northern writers and their culture such as Alice Munro, and her stories of Canada. We sampled Willa Cather who gave us a taste of the early southwest through Fathers Latour and Vaillant.   We read about different religious ideals, from Therons Methodism to Father Latours Catholicism, to Hazel Motes The Church of Christ without Christ, to Jonahs (futuristic) Bok ononism each religion, in its own way, reflecting a different aspect of American religious zeal. And we have heard from a number of southern writers like OConnor, Faulkner, and Porter. We begin, through characters like Miranda and Anse, to glimpse a southern language and way of living.   It seems entirely fitting now, that we be introduced to another element of the American novel ethnic culture. The addition of Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye is the perfect choice. Through the voices of her depressed characters, she reveals a broad spectrum of black culture during the 1930s and 1940s.   We get a glimpse of the middle class through Claudia and her family, who maintain a sense of dignity and pride. In the first chapter, she tells us, Being a minority in both caste and class, we moved about anyway on the hem of life, struggling to consolidate our weaknesses and hang on, or to creep severally up into the major folds of the garment (17).   We encounter the desp erately poor through the Breedlove family, Cholly, Pauline, and Pecola, each choosing a different means to escape the harsh reality of their lives. For example, Pecola dreams of having robust eyes, then she would be accepted, loved, respected, and beautiful.