The Internalization of Pecola in the Novel the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Internalizing Blue Eyes

When we think of clean, white is the color that usually comes to mind. Sadly, this can also be the case with race. Toni Morrison takes white beauty standards in her novel, The Bluest Eye, and examines how they affect people and the black community. Not only does it attack the mental state of individuals, but puts ugly thoughts in the mind of the whole community as well.

Morrison's novel mainly follows the MacTeer children and Pecola Breedlove, wrestling with the white standards thrust upon them in popular culture and their everyday lives. Claudia, for one, can hardly stand the sight of babydolls or Shirley Temple, while Pecola truly internalizes what she sees around her. Claudia sees the adoration that everybody has for the white girls, and she questions it. She does not see or understand the difference that makes them more pretty and cute than she is. Pecola, sadly, looks at these figures and wants to be them instead of hating how they are cherished. Pecola truly believes she is ugly and unloved because of her blackness. Believing that she is black and, therefore, ugly is the reason she feels so unloved; Pecola craves something that will make people want to provide her with the love she has never experienced. Her heart craves for blue eyes as much as the love she is sure will come with them. The white girls, who are perceived as cute, have blue eyes and love. In Pecola's mind, achieving this white beauty standard will fix her perceived ugliness and that "if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different" (Morrison 46). Not only her looks, but her living situation also show to be opposite of what is presented to her. In media and books, these children are shown beautiful picket fence houses and families, like the ones in Fun with Dick and Jane books. Those in the black community often found it difficult to rise above the ranks of poverty and owning your own house was considered impressive. The Breedlove's are even farther outside of the community than the typical level of poverty. They are outcasts, not because of how they live, but due to the way they carry themselves. Pecola internalizes this as well, believing she will never reach a place where she will receive love from anyone.

Pauline Breedlove, Pecola's mother, is just as affected by white standards as her daughter. Since moving to Ohio, she has yet to feel like she belongs in their community. She has no friends, an unlivable home, and a family without love. When she and Cholly begin to settle, Cholly finds a job and is gone often, leaving Pauline alone. She feels unwelcome in her new community; her hair, clothes, and appearance were all wrong. To try and get money to buy the things she wanted, she began working for a white family. When Pauline sees the expectations of cleanliness in the home with shining new appliances and furniture, it causes her to become more attached to the family and home she works for instead of her own. The way they call her Polly, have her keep things clean, and cared for makes her feel like she belongs there instead of her house with her children. The importance of this place is shown when the MacTeers go to see Pecola while she is with her mother. When Claudia sees Pauline, she describes how her "skin glowed like taffeta in the reflection of white porcelain, white woodwork, polished cabinets, and brilliant copperware" of the home (107). Pecola spills hot blueberries in the clean kitchen, disrupting Pauline's dream home. The little white girl who lives in the house was frightened and began crying, while Pecola was suffering from a fall and the hot berries. Instead of comforting her daughter, Pauline beats her and goes to sooth the other child. Mrs. Breedlove is trying to push away her label of poor, black, and ugly by immersing herself in the opposite world, making her hate herself and blackness.

Lines between black and white tend to be clearly visible, but we also have characters that blur them in an attempt to cross over. Geraldine, a middle-class black woman, is one of these characters. She so badly fears blackness that she hates it. When Pecola enters her home, she sees that Geraldine has a beautiful and clean home, like those in the movies and Fun with Dick and Jane books. Geraldine is disgusted by the sight of the little black girl in her home, swearing at her until she leaves. Maureen Peal also crosses the racial lines. She is a combination of black and white that people believe is cute, not dark and ugly. This amplifies Pecola's want to have light eyes; people think lighter is prettier. Not only is Maureen interracial, but she has more money than the others as well.

White standards are strongly internalized by the characters in Morrison's novel. Pauline hides from her blackness at work and Pecola strives to have blue eyes, hoping it will make her loved. The stigma accompanied with black are real and a problem that have the power to make people feel inferior, changing the way they think and feel.

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume Book, 1994. Print.

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