Essay Example on In The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison begins the novel with Pecola's

In The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison begins the novel with Pecola's coming to age her menarche and transition from prepubescence to womanhood The significance of her menstruation represents how she is now fertile and ready to create life Pecola's friends Claudia and Frieda will lose their innocence as they choose to help Pecola Pecola s life and the event of the death of her baby causing the marigolds unable to bloom and drove her towards insanity Pecola's pregnancy exposes the inhumanity and hatred in the hands of the African American community This community does not show empathy nor sympathy or offer her a helping hand Pecola's pregnancy isolates her from attending school and the rest of the children in her community She became the victim of slander and unwelcoming judgment by all Claudia and Freida observed and listened to adults conversations and discovered that most adults didn t share their heartache They were disgusted amused shocked outraged or even excited by the story But we listened for the one who would say Poor little girl or Poor baby but there was only head wagging where those words should have been 

Temple who was cared for by Bill Bojangles Robison while her father was a Confederate soldier and her mother struck by illness and died Shirley Temple and Bojangles were often dancing throughout the film Claudia expressed her truthful and lack of adoration I hated Shirley Not because she was cute but because she danced with Bojangles who was my friend my uncle my daddy and who ought to have been soft shoeing it and chuckling with me Instead he was enjoying sharing giving a lovely dance thing with one of those little white girls whose socks never slid down under their heels Morrison 19 Yet at the young age she felt that the presence of Shirley Temple a white child symbolized the neglect of love and acceptance towards the African American child Rather Bojangles would choose a white child to love and adore than an African American child like her Claudia who has not learned about the internalized white beauty standard accepted and wanted Pecola's baby to be loved and admired for its blackness She provides imagery and shares how beautiful black baby would be juxtaposing the white baby doll idolized beauty It was in a dark wet place its head covered with great O s of wool the black face holding like nickels two clean black eyes the flared nose kissing thick lips and the living breathing silk of black skin No synthetic yellow bangs suspended over marble blue eyes no pinched nose and bowline mouth More strongly than my fondness for Pecola I felt a need for someone to want the black baby to live just to counteract the universal love of white baby dolls Shirley Temples and Maureen Peals Morrison 190 The white baby dolls signifies the Eurocentric beauty standard and how the white values and culture have been corrupting and destroying black culture and beauty In order to save and help in the survival of Pecola and her baby Claudia and Freida make an agreement 

Our astonishment was short lived for it gave way to a curious kind of defensive shame we were embarrassed for Pecola hurt for her and finally we just felt sorry for her Our sorrow drove out all thoughts of the new bicycle And I believe our sorrow was the more intense because nobody else seemed to share it So it was with confidence strengthened by pity and pride that we decided to change the course of events and alter a human life What we gone do Frieda What can we do Miss Johnson said it would be a miracle if it lived So let's make it a miracle Morrison 191 Claudia and Frieda agree to sacrifice something dear to them They sacrificed their hopes of purchasing a bicycle and planted the money and marigold seeds They say their magic words Morrison 192 and put all their magic and energy to help and save their friend Pecola and her unborn baby Pecola is forced into her insanity due to her environment her mother rejects her because she reported her father Cholly who raped her Her brother ran away the community turned their back on her and by Soaphead grants wish for her longed desire to have blue eyes