The bluest eye discussion questions and answers. Study Questions for Morrison’s The Bluest Eye 2022-10-19
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The Bluest Eye, written by Toni Morrison, is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of racism, self-hatred, and the damaging effects of societal beauty standards on young girls. Through the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young African American girl living in 1940s Ohio, Morrison delves into the deeply ingrained biases and prejudices that shape the lives of people of color in America.
One question that arises while reading The Bluest Eye is how Pecola's experiences with racism and trauma contribute to her internalization of white beauty standards and self-hatred. Pecola's father, Cholly, is deeply affected by the racism and trauma he has experienced, and he takes out his pain on his family, including Pecola. Pecola is also subjected to racism and abuse from her peers and the larger community, leading her to believe that she is inherently inferior and unworthy. This internalization of negative beliefs about herself and her worth leads Pecola to yearn for blue eyes, a symbol of whiteness and beauty in her community.
Another important question raised by The Bluest Eye is the role of media and societal expectations in shaping beauty standards. Throughout the novel, Morrison shows how the white, mainstream beauty ideal is constantly reinforced through media and societal expectations, leading people of color to internalize these standards and feel inadequate when they don't meet them. This is particularly damaging for young girls like Pecola, who are still developing their self-esteem and self-image.
A third question that emerges from The Bluest Eye is the impact of trauma on the development of identity and self-worth. Pecola's experiences with abuse and trauma have a profound impact on her sense of self and her ability to form healthy relationships with others. Her self-hatred and internalized racism lead her to seek validation and acceptance through her desire for blue eyes, rather than finding value in her own unique identity and worth.
Ultimately, The Bluest Eye raises important questions about the ways in which racism, trauma, and societal beauty standards can shape and harm the development of identity and self-worth in young girls. Morrison's powerful and poignant novel offers a thought-provoking exploration of these themes and encourages readers to consider the impact of these issues on their own lives and communities.
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Buy Study Guide Published in 1970, The One of those transformations was a new recognition of Black-American beauty. The Bluest Eye enjoyed some but far from universal critical success on its first publication, but the novel was also a commercial failure. What was happening in 1941? Describe each character in The Bluest Eye and explain how four or five of them function in the novel: 6. Morrison includes many details of material, bodily life: 1939 Buick, Nu Nile Hair Oil, Black Draught Laxative, roaches, mice, puke, and "ministratin". What becomes the focus of their quarrels? But I don' The problem with her narration is this: She details the history of almost all her characters. How do Claudia and Frieda feel about Pecola? Why is this inclusiveness important? Trace the history of Cholly Breedlove. Life there is not the American norm.
November 1941 Thursday 06: World War II : Soviet leader Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet Union for only the second time during his three-decade rule. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Friday 14: World War II : The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sinks due to torpedo damage from U 81 sustained on November 13. By seeing how teachers, peers, and people in general treated a black girl with some white features, Pectoral begins to see what she is not and why she begins to hate herself. To what extent is it a novel about race? Unlike Pectoral, who is called ugly and made fun of, Maureen is treated well at school: She enchanted the entire school.
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Another character that rejects her black stereotype because she thinks she is better is than the other black girls is Maureen Peel. GradeSaver, 27 August 2019 Web. What does she represent to Pecola? Morrison, who by the way is a woman! I always thought it was also significant that blue is a color typically associated with depression and unhappiness, something Pecola is closely acquainted with. Wednesday 19: World War II : The Royal Australian Navy cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen. Attorney General rules that the Neutrality Act is not violated when U.
Her back hunched that way; her head to one side as though crouching from a permanent and unrelieved blow. Would it surprise you to know that The Bluest Eye has been used in an alternative sentencing program for changing the lives of prisoners? What sort of isolation do they suffer? And what do you make of their reciprocal need for each other 41-3? Why does Pecola drink three quarts of milk all in one day? I believe the third example and all the subsequent ones represent the differences between the supposed real world and the world of the characters living in Loraine. What does the doctor say about Pauline and black women in general? Friday 22: World War II : German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the siege of Leningrad Saturday 30: Siege of Leningrad begins. In fact, I guarantee you, the vast majority of all those kids were gettin whooped at home. The Publication and reception After several rejections, The Bluest Eye was published in the U. What do you know about that voice right away? The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material.
. The beauty is not the point; it is there to symbolize how oppressed and molded black people were because of white society. Does she present any examples of such beauty in the novel? Then, upload the assignment in eLearning. What might she represent to Maureen Peal? Claudia would appear to. Three versions of the simulated text appear at the beginning of the novel. What are the advantages of telling Pecola's story from a child's point of view? Cholly is pleased when he finds out that she is pregnant. They wanted to be accepted.
Discuss the significance of no marigolds blooming in the fall of 1941. Why might Morrison have chosen to present the events in a non-chronological way? The girl, whose wish for the eyes of a white girl revealed her contempt for her own racial identity, raised troubling questions about beauty and oppression. The rest of the examples in the story are much like the third one, with one addition: words are simply cut off when the line ends, leaving them dangling. What has been lost? The novel also set up many of the issues with which Morrison has been concerned ever since. He states that even though 350,000 troops were killed in German attacks so far, that the Germans have lost 4.
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Get your paper price 124 experts online One of the cornerstones of our modern society is the value of human beings along racial nines; the most prominent that people would see during that time period is that blackness is despised and so are the features that go along with it. Origin and analysis Questions of race and gender are at the centre of The Bluest Eye. How do these different characters influence Pecola's life, feelings, and journey throughout the novel? Betty Grable and Hedy Lamarr join the list indicating a fairly wide range of reference. What might the milk represent in this story? Name the groups and organizations of which Pauline is a member. On the other hand beauty is considered to be in the eyes of beholder but society and environment can change the standards of what is viewed as beauty. Claudia tells the reader what her mother, Mrs.
The truly horrifying thing was the transference of the same impulse to little white girls. Nonetheless, in the ubiquitous Dick and Jane series there was never a nod, much less full inclusion, in a single paragraph about or illustration of any kind of family but the one described above. What do you see as her defining attributes? Saturday 15: SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders the arrest and deportation to concentration camps of all homosexuals in Germany, with the exception of certain top Nazi officials. . Yet in 1940, 12% of the US population was not white and the divorce rate was 22%. Geraldine is used by Morrison to illustrate the people who in the time period help keep others of their race down in a way that they could not come back from without a major societal change.
How is Pauline surprised by Cholly when she tells him she is pregnant? Monday 29: The Babi Yar massacre begins. Saw the dirty torn dress, the plaits sticking out on her head, hair matted where the laity had come undone, the muddy shoes with the wad of gum peeping out from between the cheap soles, the soiled socks, one of which had been walked down into the heel on the shoe. Soaphead forms a plan to trick Pecola. How does the novel end? Claudia felt comfort in her own skin and did not conform to the white vision of beauty that everyone else accepted. This new standard was meant to be racially inclusive, allowing blacks to see black as beautiful, but the need to argue for this new standard reveals how firmly the white standard of beauty was entrenched.