I finished reading Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye". This is the book in the middle of the controversy I mentioned in my previous blog.
So, what did I think of it? Is it worth all the commotion?
First of all, I think the back synopsis is misleading. This is what it says, "Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing."
When I read this I expected the story to revolve around Pecola and does, but it doesn't. Of course she has her storyline, but I wouldn't pin point her as the main character. There's more talk about Claudia and Frieda than of Pecola. The story jumps from the girls, to the backstory of their parents, back to the girls, more backstory of other people and continues on like this. Pecola disappears form the story for a while and reappears at the end. The way it's set up, I wouldn't consider any of them main characters.
It's a story about all of them. If you're focusing on the obsession of beauty or trying to be normal or better, which in this case perfection is white, blonde and blue-eyed, the Pecola is right on it. She thinks herself as ugly and wishes to be more like the white kids. Frieda and Claudia seem see how "white" is considered better and rebel against it (more Claudia than Frieda). Claudia talks about how she can't stand the white baby dolls she's given and ends up destroying them. She sort of makes the doll connection with real white kids and feel anger and rage towards them. It's not just the kids, there's discrimination among themselves too. In one of those tangents the story goes on, a new character is introduced and she's all about not letting her son play with the black kids. She tries to make her son as non-black as possible because she sees herself and her family as better than the rest. Pecola's mother, Pauline Breedlove, hates her family life and only feels better, strong and accepted when she's at work (she's a housekeeper for some rich, white family).
So, why were people trying to eliminate this book?
There are parts that are sexually descriptive. That's the whole issue. Overall, there's nothing wrong with the book. Just like with anything, if you just read the explicit excerpts then you're going to take it out of context. I don't think there's anything in this book that should be hidden from an 11th grader. Also, I think that if a student has a valid issue with the book, they should be allowed to supplement their work with something else. The sad truth is that by 11th grade, these kids have read, heard, seen it all.
In my opinion, I do like the fact there was a discussion going on. It kept people debating and choosing sides. Having read the book, I don't have strong feelings towards it either way. For me, I thought the book was slightly forgetful. However, that might just be because I was expecting a highly controversial story. If this is the book they choose to read, then I think it should be allowed.
