The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, is about an eleven year old girl, Pecola,

who is abused by almost everyone in her life. Every day she encounters

racism, not just from the white people, but also from the African American

people. In her eyes, her skin is too dark, and the color of her skin

makes her inferior to everyone else. The color of her skin makes her

think that she is ugly. She feels that she can overcome this if she can

get blue eyes. Pecola thinks that if she can be like the blue eyed Shirley

Temple, everyone will love her. Pecola wishes to have blue eyes because

she feels they will make her loved and accepted by the people in her

life.



Pecola is abused almost by everyone in her life. One day, she goes to

Geraldine's house. Geraldine is a middle-class African American woman.

Junior, Geraldine's son, harasses Pecola by throwing his cat around and

eventually kills it. When Geraldine walks in, she says, "Get out. You

nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house"(93). Geraldine thinks

that her son does not kill the cat. She trust him more than Pecola. Pecola

thinks that Geraldine called her "nasty" because of her appearance,

dark skin. Also, calling an eleven year old girl a "bitch" is like killing

committee a crime. A little girl does not really know what that word

means, but she know it's horrible. Being called a "black beach", by

an African American person hurts even more than being called by a white

person because they are the same race. They go through the same types

of things because of their skin color. They are suppose to support each

other. This makes Pecola feel more ashamed of herself and want to change

her appearance to be accepted and trusted by Geraldine's .



Her family treated her the same way. Pecola's dad raped her. Mrs. Breedlove,

her mother, did not pay attention to her. One day, Pecola decides to

visit her mom at work. Mrs. Breedlove was a nanny for this white girl.

Pecola accidentally knocks over a blueberry pie. Mrs. Breedlove says,

" Crazy fool... my floor, mess... look what you... work...get on out. Hush, baby,

hush. Come her. Oh, lord, look at your dress. Don't cry no more"(109).

After Pecola drops the pie, she burns her hands. Geraldine does not care

about her daughters hands. She cares about the floor that she will have

to clean. But, she hears this little white girl with blue eye and blonde

hair cry, so she gets upset. The most important thing for a little girl

is to feel like her mom loves and cares about her. Pecola thinks that

her mom does not love her because she does not have blonde hair and blue

eye.



Pecola is treated the same way in school by not only white kids her age,

but by African American kids, as well. She is always made fun of and

teased about her appearance. The narrator says, "she also knew that when

one of the girls at school wanted to be particularly insulting to a boy,

or wanted to get immediate response from a boy, she could say 'Bobby

loves Pecola Breedlove'. It has occurred to Pecola some time ago that

if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if

those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she would

be different. If she looked beautiful maybe Cholly would be different,

and Mrs. Breedlove too"(46). This quote sums up what Pecola has been

going through. She is constantly used as an insult to people. Which is

horrible because Pecola must feel like she is worse than everyone else.

Also, she is talking about how she thinks that if her eyes were different

her life would be different too. She thinks that Cholly and her mother

would treat her differently. This is very unfair because Pecola's parents

are not supposed to treat her by according to her appearance.



Pecola is constantly abused by everyone in her life. Growing up in a

society that values blue eyes and blonde hair, she thinks that she is

mistreated and abused by everyone because she does not have those things.

Growing up, she is always called bad things like, "nasty black bitch".

Her mom does not pay at much attention to her. She cares more about the

little with white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Girls use her

name when they want to insult boys. Pecola wishes to have blue eyes because

she feels they will make her loved and accepted by the people in her

life. Everyone is told not to judge people by their appearance, but I

think Pecola is abused and mistreated because of her appearance. Everyone

in her life mistreating her, makes her believe that it was her fault.

That is why she thinks that if she will have blue eyes this will all

change.