Portrait of a Victim in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye :: Bluest Eye Essays

Portrait of a Victim Toni Morrisons The Bluest substance The Bluest shopping centre (1970) is the invigorated that launched Toni Morrison into the spotlight as a talented African-American source and affable critic. Morrison herself says It would be a mistake to assume that writers are disconnected from amicable issues (Leflore). Because Morrison is more willing than most authors to discuss meaning in her books, a genetic set out is very relevant. To be truly effective, though, the genetic get must be combined with a formal approach. The formal approach allows the unpacking of the rich language, imagery, and metaphors of Morrisons writing, and the genetic places it in the larger context of her societal consciousness. In The Bluest Eye, Morrisons uses her critical eye to reveal to the reader the mephistophelian that is caused by a society that is indoctrinated by the inherent goodness and saucer of whiteness and the ugliness of blackness. In an interview with Milwau kee Journal staff writer Fannie Leflore, Morrison said that she confronted and critiqued the devastation of racial images in The Bluest Eye. The narrative structure of The Bluest Eye is important in revealing just how pervasive and destructive the racialization (Morrisons term for the racism that is a part of every persons socialization) is (Leflore). Morrison is particularly concerned about the reading in her novels. She says, People pray thread . . . Thats the way they learn things (Bakerman 58). Narration in The Bluest Eye comes from several sources. Much of the narration comes from Claudia MacTeer as a nine family old child, however Morrison also gives the reader the benefit of Claudia reflecting on the fiction as an adult, some first person narration from Pecolas mother, and narration by Morrison herself as an omniscient narrator. Morrison says, First I wrote it the section in The Bluest Eye about Pecolas mother out as an I story, but it didnt work . . . Then I wrote it out as a she story, and that didnt work . . . It was me, the author, sort of omnipotent, talking (Bakerman 59). Morrison intentionally kept Pecola from any(prenominal) first person narration of the story. Morrison wanted to try to show a little girl as a total and complete victim of whatever was around her, and she needed the distance and innocence of Claudias narration to do that (Stepto 479).