Saturday, October 17, 2015

Looking Into Pecola's Character

Pecola is the main character of The Bluest Eye. Pecola is a fragile and delicate child when the novel begins, and by the novel’s close, she has been obliterated by violence. One of the main things that Pecola wants to have is blue eyes because back when the novel was written having blue eyes was the standard of beauty. In the novel, to Pecola, blue eyes symbolize the beauty and happiness that she associates with the white, middle-class world. Having the title be the "Bluest Eye" is something in the novel that stood out to me because instead of using the "Bluest Eyes" in plural the author uses the "Bluest Eye" in singular. Having that title is interesting because "Bluest Eye" is a pun for "I" which is used to show the sad isolation of poor Pecola's life. Pecola prays for blue eyes, thinking if she had different colored eyes she’d see a different reality. Even if Pecola were to get the blue eyes that she wants she still would not be seen by society as beautiful because the standard of beauty was to have white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. Without the blond hair and white skin Pecola would still be ignored by society and would not be able to see any reality just by having blue eyes. 

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