During those times, Jimmy learned not all of those relationships are great. Jimmy ‘s relationship with his parent is not like everyone expected. Father plays a significant part in the development of children. They play an essential role to help their kid to be successful from economic to emotional feeling. Unfortunately, Jimmy lack of this family relationship at a young age. Although Jimmy did have a father, however their relationship is being ruined his dad’s alcoholism and inability to remain calm after being drunk. He describes “When he was drunk, he became vulgar and abusive, reducing himself to a pitiful phantom of the man he was when sober” (11). According to Jimmy, he was only five year old but already went to prison to visit his father, “ I was five year old the first time I ever set foot in prison” (1). This is a shocking moment of the reading when the author introduced the story with this statement. In contrast to the ideal of a nuclear family, in which a father and a mother were together and experience a family stability. Despite being afraid of his father abusing when he was drunk, Jimmy did not succumb to the same fear as his older brother, Mieyo and sister Martina, “When he would stagger in drunk, Mieyo and Martina would hide under the bed or in the closet , but I wasn’t afraid of him. I would hold…
As old as he is… I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me. I'm the only one he has to see that he takes care of himself" (45). Clearly, Chona is torn between her duty as a good daughter who would take care of her father and an independent woman who wishes to pursue her own dreams. However, She is unable to fulfill both desires so she must chose the decision society has deemed correct. The great tragedy with this conundrum is that Chona must sacrifice her aspirations in order to appease the men in her life. Another case of tragedy is found in the marriage of Dolores. When inquiring about Juan’s mother’s marriage, Juan hears, “she always hated Pedro Paramo. Dolaritas! Did you tell them to get my breakfast? Your mother was up every morning before dawn. She would start the fire from the coals…” (18) which indicates that Dolores was used as a house “slave” by Pedro. She was forced to work hard in order to appease her “master” and this is most likely why she left Pedro. Ultimately, these women have no control over their lives and this makes breaking traditional gender roles an impossible…
values abolished the poor Breedlove parents who fail to shelter their children, Pecola and Sammy,…
The theme of the story, “The Bluest Eye” written by Toni Morrison, demonstrates the connection between the self-esteem of African-American people (beauty and ugliness), racism and hate. The reason why this theme is discussed was because, we can go back to the origins of African-Americans, it relates to the African diaspora, Jim Crow era, and how people negatively look at blacks today in society, and white supremacy destroyed black imaginary. But before this goes on furthermore, the audience needs to understand the importance of the dominant society which strongly removed the identity of African-American. Claudia and Maureen play perfect roles during the story. They show…
One reason critics praise Toni Morrison’s, The Bluest Eye is because of the way the novel accurately portrays the way society views itself and others (Hoffman). She precisely shows in her work, that mankind is flawed in this aspect. Similar to that, Toni Morrison asks the novel’s readers “to think about perspectives of all types” (Hoffman). With the book’s inclusion of racism and self loathing the author wants the readers to connect with the protagonist, on an emotional basis, and try to first-hand understand Pecola’s perspective. Perhaps the most significant reason critics cite in favor of the novel not being banned is the story’s potential to incite analyzations about self-esteem and body image (Lalami). Readers and educators alike could read the book in detail, and have discussions about the author’s…
To begin, "The Bluest Eye" is Toni Morrison's first novel. This novel tells a story of an African American girl's desire for the bluest eyes, which is the symbol for her of what it means to feel beautiful and accepted in society (American). In the novel, women suffer from the racial oppression, but they also suffer from violation and harsh actions brought to them by men (LitCharts). Male oppression is told all throughout the story, but the theme of women and feminity with the actions of male oppression over the women reaches its horrible climax when one…
Freud introduces the Oedipal Complex, or the Oedipus drama in his works. Little boys undergo such excitement and seek love for their mothers, alluding to Oedipus. Since he perceives that his mother already has his father, he desires to kill his father and obtain sexual relations with his own mother. Buñel then cross-cuts to a hand lying in the street, representing the protagonist’s hand, which is the source of his masturbatory shame. When he beings to sexually assault his mother, she resists at first, then gradually gives in, showing the aggressive-submissive nature of human sexual relationships in general. “As his eyes roll back in his head, symbolizing both the blindness aspect of the Oedipal myth and the more modern myth that masturbation causes blindness” (Stead, 2011). The opening scene of the eye slicing foreshadows to…
The Bluest Eye, written in 1970, is novel by Toni Morrison. It is Morrison's first novel and was written while she was teaching at Howard University. The Bluest Eye tells the tragic story of Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl growing up in Morrison's hometown of Lorain, Ohio, during the hard times following the Great Depression. In this novel, Toni Morrison addresses a timeless problem of white racial dominance in the United States and points to the impact it has on the life of black females growing up in the 1930's.…
Morrison uses these figures who show how they are admired for their cleanliness and whiteness. These characters parallel Pecola, Cholly, Pauline, Claudia, Frieda and Mrs. MacTeer, who are all reflections of “blackness” which is perceived as dirty and undesirable. These characters all show how everyone in the community is a victim of racism and in return set out to change themselves, developing body dysmorphic disorder. These characters all wish to change their physical appearance and look and act more like the mixed race characters, only to gain acceptance from their community. Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye tells the story how racism and societies standard of beauty leads to body dysmorphic disorder and the demise of a village when they fall to the pressures of what is accepted by…
The author of The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison uses a number of literary elements in order to illustrate Pecola’s desperation to try and become beautiful and thus improve her life. One of the most important literary elements used is setting. The setting of the novel as stated earlier is Lorain, Ohio during the 1940s when discrimination for being black was rampant. Located in the Midwest, Pecola grew up knowing that she was not beautiful, because she was black. Everywhere she went everyone looked down upon her and mocked her and her entire family.…
His parents neglecting him arguably resulted in him neglecting his family. He was abandoned by both his mother and father when he was born. Cholly endured a prolonged, and unpleasant train ride in a search to find his long lost father. When he finally finds his father, he is struck with aggressive language and is told to get out of his face. Once again, he is rejected by an important figure in his life, presumably resulting in Cholly to neglect his own family. Since he was always rejected by his parents, he grew up not knowing how to express his love for people he cared…
Although it may seem unrealistic, many of us strive to be the best of the best. But at what cost would it take for one to attain such a distant goal? In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison offers commentary on the detrimental effects of black people in a society imposing them to adhere to white standards. Shown through Geraldine, Soaphead Church, and Pecola, each character believes that they need to rid themselves of their black lives in order to be obtain power in a pro-white society, but results in a destructive mentality.…
The Bluest Eye provides numerous examples that show the idea that white is beautiful and black is ugly. These white beauty standards deform the loves of black women. There are many examples that white is superior like the white baby doll that was given to Claudia, the idea of Shirley Temple, how the light-skinned Maureen is cuter than the other black girls, and Mrs. Breedlove's preference for the white girl over her own daughter, Pecola. The adult women learned to hate their black bodies, but they take their hatred out on their children. The parents of the children in the Bluest Eye have a strong influence over their children that black is ugly. Pecola is aware that she is ugly and she believes if she has blue eyes that will fix everything.…
During her childhood, Mrs.Breedlove never has felt any positive emotions from her two parents. Since this is the case, Mrs.Breedlove has nothing to prepare for parenthood.Most of the time, she would just beat her daughter, Pecola for any mistake that she makes.Mrs.Breedlove also takes care of a white child who calls her by the name “Polly.” Mrs. Breedlove treats this child better than her own.“Mrs.Breedlove entered with a tightly packed laundry bag. In one gallop she was on Pecola, and with the back of her hand knocked her to the floor. Pecola slid in the pie juice, one leg folding under her. Mrs. Breedlove yanked her up by the arm, slapped her again.” Mrs.Breedlove is relentless whenever it is time to beat her children, especially Pecola due to the fact that she can’t do anything to fight against it. Cholly and Pecola were both abused by the ones they love. But Cholly would both give and take abuse towards himself and his loved…
Finding a self-identity is often a sign of maturing and growing up. This becomes the main issue in Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eyes. Pecola Breedlove, Cholly Breedlove, and Pauline Breedlove are such characters that search for their identity through others that has influenced them and by the lifestyles that they have. First, Pecola Breedlove struggles to get accepted into society due to the beauty factor that the norm has. Cholly Breedlove, her father, is a drunk who has problems that he takes out of Pecola sexually and Pauline physically. Pauline is Cholly's wife that is never there for her daughters.…