Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s first novel, The Bluest Eye , is a challenging work. It is a complex novel with multiple themes each of which is interwoven with all others creating an intricate texture. The title reveals the dominant theme: dissatisfaction with one’s self and longing for something that can make the self appear better. Pecola longs for the bluest eyes. She is a Black girl in America. It is not only the complexion of her skin that bothers her but also the ugliness of her appearance. It is a perceived ugliness, to some extent. Everybody in her family thinks that he or she is ugly. Every one of them “wore their ugliness, put it on, so to speak, although it did not belong to them,” says the narrator. One’s environment – social, cultural and also the family – shapes one’s character as well as perceptions to a great extent. Living with a man like Mr Cholly Breedlove, Pecola’s father, the family cannot but see t...
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