Perceptions

When Pecola’s parents fight, she wishes to be invisible. She simply does not want to be anywhere near any sort of malice. Pecola believes that because she has ugly eyes, she can only see ugly things. As the story progresses, Pecola believes that because her eyes are ugly, people can only see her as ugly and worthless. An excellent example is found on page 48. The general store clerk feels that Pecola is not worthy of his respect or even acknowledgement since not only is she a young girl, but Pecola is a young, ugly, black girl.

“Slowly… he looks at her. Somewhere between retina and object, between vision and view, his eyes draw back, hesitate, and hover. At some fixed point in time and space he senses that he need not waste the effort of a glance. He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see.”

Pecola wants blue eyes so that she can be pretty and be recognized by the world as an actual human being. She could just have easily wished for lighter skin. Gaining lighter skin is just as impossible, and in those times being white generally means being beautiful. But Pecola not only wanted to be seen differently, but she wanted to see the world differently. Pecola believed that if she had eyes like a white girl, then she would be treated like a white girl and see the world from a white girl’s perspective. She would not have to be subjected to her parent’s abusive behaviors, degraded, or want for pretty materialistic things. In order to gain her new perspective, Pecola must lose her current perspective on the world. At the end of the novel, Pecola does gain a new perspective; however, she loses the essence that is Pecola. By changing her view on life, Pecola loses herself and her connection with reality.