The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye is a work written by Toni Morrison. This work was published in 1970. It is an important work in American literature.

Toni Morrison was an influential American novelist known for her exploration of African American culture and experience. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, becoming the first African American woman to receive the award. Morrison's works often delve into themes of race, identity, and the legacy of slavery in America.

The book is about a poor black teenage girl living in America. In her work, Toni Morrison examines many themes, such as race, gender, beauty, and social norms.

In this book, Pecola and the other characters struggle with something in their own lives. Their own life experiences have turned them into who they are now. The main character of the novel is Pecola. Pecola has had a lot of difficulties throughout her life. She has family issues. In this work, Toni Morrison describes the discrimination and internal conflicts that Pecola was exposed to by society. As a black girl, Pecola has internalized ugliness. Toni has clearly and emotionally reflected to readers how the aesthetic perception of a black girl, who was born in a place and time where people are only white-skinned and blue-eyed, is shaped by society and that her own value is destroyed just for this reason.

Morrison shows racism in this book. There is racism, societal degradation, and identity. They could not discover themselves. Toni Morrison said that she was specially chosen as a little girl character because she was weak in struggling. She wanted to show racism toward the innocent black girl. She showed the reader the psychological murder side of that book.

It's narrated in the third person, and parts of the novel are transitioned to the perspectives of different characters, and these characters directly convey their own experiences and feelings. I think these multiple perspectives offer different perspectives to readers and increase the depth of the novel. When I was reading the book, I thought it was a very boring book at first, but towards the end, the events started. Everything was interconnected. The childhood traumas that the characters have in adulthood and that cause them. Topics such as racism, sexism, and pedophilia were at the forefront of the book. In the book, Pecola has a similar situation to the main character in The Color Purple. I think it's definitely a must-read book. It should be read especially in the original language. Maybe because I read the Turkish translation, I may not be able to connect with the book at first. Please give the book a chance and be sure to look at other works by Toni Morrison as well.

I am going to mention my favorite quotes from the book.

“Love is never any better than the lover.” Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

“Lonely was much better than alone.” Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

“We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.” Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye