Morrison Blog#2

1. "It had 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 herself would be different. Her teeth were good, and at least her nose was not big and flat like some of those who were thought so cute. If she looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they'd say ' Why,look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty eyes."(46)

Just before this passage Morrison describes Pecola's relationship with the other kids at school. Pecola is often made fun of and ignored. This quote introduces Pecola's desire for blue eyes, which is brought up though out the novel. It is clear that Pecola does not only wish for blue eyes so she can be "beautiful" but because she believes having this trait will change her life. Pecola blames herself for the hardships in her life. She describes other features such as her teeth and nose but finds fault in her eyes. Morrison uses these blue eyes to show white ideals. Morrison includes Shirley Temple and Mary Jane in the novel because they have this trait and are representative of the white ideals. This is not the only time Morrison focuses on the eyes. Bob, the dog Soaphead tricks Pecola into killing, is "disgusting" because of its runny eyes. Morrison stresses the eyes to evoke sympathy from the reader. This is because the eyes are often seen as a the most personal part of a person so we connect with the character.

2. "Each pale yellow wrapper has a picture on it. A picture of little Mary Jane, for whom the candy is named. Smiling white face. Blond hair in gentle disarray, blue eyes looking at her out of a world of clean comfort. The eyes are petulant, mischievous. To Pecola they are simply pretty. She eats the candy, and its sweetness is good. To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane."
(50)

In this passage Morrison describes not only Pecola's ideals but society's as well . It is the physical description of the girl that show the ideals of society.It is the "world of clean comfort" that represents Pecola's. In The Bluest Eye Pecola believes the "perfect" life goes along with beauty. Pecola can never become what she believes to be beautiful, because she is of a different race. Morrison will show later the effect of these racist ideals on the individual.

3."The birdlike gestures are worn away to a mere picking and plucking her way between the tire rims and the sunflowers, between Coke bottles and milkweed, among all the waste and beauty of the world—which is what she herself was. All of our waste which we dumped on her and which she absorbed. And all of our beauty, which was hers first and which she gave to us."(205)

The birdlike gesture refers to Pecola after she has gone crazy. At the end of the novel Pecola believes she has blue eyes. She becomes consumed with herself escaping reality. Claudia reflects on Pecola's tragic fate, claiming that it was the community's fault. Claudia mentions that the town dumped their waste onto Pecola.By calling Pecola ugly the town has made themselves feel better in comparison. Morrison shows the affect of having unrealistic standards of beauty on the individual in both the passage and the novel.

4."Cholly, moving faster, looked at Darlene. He hated her. He almost wished he could do it - hard, long painfully, he hater her so much. The flahslight wormed its way into his guts and turned the sweet taste of muscadine into rotten fetid bile. Her stared at Darlene's hands covering her face in the moon and lamplight. They looked like baby claws."(148)

This passage is important because it is representative of an important chapter about Cholly's life. Morrison sets up the novel so at the beginning we make our own judgments of Cholly as well as the other characters. For most Cholly has a negative impression because of his actions. This is especially because he rapped his daughter. This chapter makes the reader understand Cholly's actions if not justify them. We learn that two white men watched Cholly have sex. Instead of placing his anger on the men he hates women, as evident by this quote. The descriptive language Morrison uses like "rotten fetid bile" and "baby claws" brings us into the scene and makes us better understand Cholly's emotion.

5."Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover’s inward eye"(206)

The love of a free man refers to Cholly. In this book Morrison wants us to judge the actions of the characters. After we have made these judgments she provides more information about the characters lives so that we may feel more sympathetic for them. Although Morrison does not justify Cholly's actions she does try to explain them. In this passage Claudia suggests that Cholly was the only one who ever loved Pecola. His way of showing love was abusing Pecola because of his life experiences. Claudia states that "love is never any better than the lover". At the beginning of the novel Morrison tells the reader to focus on the how rather than the why. This passage gives explanation for why there is a lack of love in the community.