The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
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Book Summary Information
Author: Toni MorrisonEdition: Paperback
Published: 1994
ISBN: N/A
Publisher: Plume / Penguin Books
Book Reviews of The Bluest Eye
Book Review: Beauty in the Irredeemable, the Fulfillment of the Impossible Through a False Sacrament of the Eucharist
Summary: 5 Stars
As solemn as it is touching, The Bluest Eye distinguishes itself from other literary works for its extraordinary prose, structure, and exploration of an exceptionally weighty subject matter through an introspective look into the lives of African Americans in a time of exceptional turmoil and crossfire in mainstream culture. The novel delves into the ethics of humanity and the corrupt façades manifested by unrealistic desires and distorted ambition, ultimately revealing the destructive and unpredictable nature of human beings. Take Pecola, a child born into an abusive family, who desperately, horrifically, wants to have the blue eyes which would make her beautiful and acceptable to herself. The work targets her fears, dreams, and desires through others. As Pecola is a weak-minded and inexpressive main character, information about her is received intravenously through those around her: a drunk of a father, a mother blinded by abstract notions of good and false ideals of beauty, and three whores who feed her stories and lies. The main notion of the novel, Toni Morrison had argued upon its publication, is to create such a medium through which individuals, characters, could stand for themselves. Morrison ardently enforces this abject realism through selective characterization and through her exploration of the ambiguous in the sense of moral reprehensibility. The novel lacks the squeaky clean figures of prior fiction dealing with similar subject matter. Some individuals in The Bluest Eye are shamelessly without dignity while others, rather than being cleansed by conventional and stereotypical principles of ideal moral behavior, are corrupted and tainted by them.
Stark contrasts between values, and attitudes, and ethics distinguish each character introduced in the novel. Yet interestingly, there is an omniscient intermingling of what is considered ethical versus what is considered immoral. We are constantly reminded of the randomness of existence, the inescapability of both acts of good and evil in life, and the corruptibility of the most pious of people. Love, like so many emotions, is explored in the many heart wrenching scenes which comprise of this book. Indeed, as Morrison wrote in The Bluest Eye, "Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly" (p. 206). However strange, different, poor, or stupid we are, we are all capable of love, of causing pleasure and pain. Yes, Pecola does receive the gift she so desperately yearns for, yet the cost of this treasured boon is her and her family's destitution. We are finally given her perspective as she careens into penury and insolvency. She can only find peace by withdrawing deep into herself. In this state, she loses her sanity, everything with which she can possibly utilize to comprehend and interact with a reality she so desperately wanted to reject. The Bluest Eye shows us the destructiveness of human passion and desire. That which makes us ambitious, reverent, and triumphant can also corrupt and devastate us. An excellent read whose implications linger long after the last page; The Bluest Eye is indeed an incredibly indisputable work of excellent literary fiction.
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