Claudia and Pecola's Perceptions

So far in reading this, I've noticed similarities and differences in the way Claudia and Pecola perceive and respond to the world, especially society's standards. Both girls' views are marked by false conceptions and a degree of naivete. For example, Claudia, accustomed to hearing her mother's songs of hard times, forms "a conviction that pain was not only endurable, it was sweet." She associates the singing with happiness, as it is a break from the fussing and accusing, and therefore does not get a realistic conception of "hard times, bad times, and somebody-done-gone-and-left-me times" (Morrison 25).

Pecola naively believes that having blue eyes would be some miracle-- a remedy to all of the problems in her life. Her conviction is that is she had beautiful eyes, she would be beautiful and experience beautiful, happy things rather than scarring, depressing things that are her reality. Furthermore, if she had beautiful eyes, people would act differently towards her: "Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty eyes" (Morrison 46). I find interesting that, although her logic seems absurd and childish, it presents a hint of truth. If she had blue eyes (and was white rather than black) then, realistically, she would experience better sights and people would probably notice her-- and with adoration rather than the mild distaste she is accustomed to.

The girls react similarly to society's standards of beauty. They both fail to completely understand it, yet respond with frustration and anger, that turns into shame and is ultimately covered up by longing and adoration. What I mean by this is, for example, Claudia's hate for the baby doll she receives. It's appeal is lost on her; she fails to see its beauty, and destroys it in order to find something lovable. She comes to hate the doll. Yet, her hatred for the doll, which translates into a hatred for actually living white girls, gives way to a shame: "my shame floundered about for refuge. The best hiding place was love. Thus the conversion from pristine sadism to fabricated hatred, to fraudulent love" (Morrison 23).

Pecola's reaction to this ideal is less angry (in general, she seems to be less fiery than Claudia, who often expresses violent urges). She comes to see her color as an ugliness, which she uses as a veil to hide behind. Her conception of ugliness is closely linked with her longing for beautiful eyes. She feels that her eyes are ugly because she has seen so much ugly, so much that is horrifying and upsetting. So she tries to see the beauty in inanimate objects, such as the cracks in the sidewalk and the dandelions that everyone hates: "They were the codes and touchstones of the world, capable of translation and possession" (Morrison 47). Yet, this is not enough to change her reality. Still, she is completely ignored by the man who is working at the candy shop. Their interaction, (on his part) is marked by "The total absence of human recognition-- the glazed seperateness" (Morrison 48). This reinforces her negative feeling; she believes he ignores her, with distaste, because of her blackness and ugliness. Pecola is angered by this, but the anger quickly becomes shame.