Hey just thought Id see if this lands some extra credit at all. I have the "All About Sex" section in Professor so I thought I would comment on the sexual aspects of this novel. I believe that sexuality plays an important role in the development of the characters, acting particularly as an agent of commencement. Every instance where sexuality is involved is plagued with abuse and confusion. Cholly is embarassed when he is caught having sex for the first time, Pecola is scared when she gets her first period and is vilently abused when she is raped, and Frieda is highly upset after her confrontation with Henry Washington. Is Morrison trying to portray a general occurrence to sexual induction?
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Alyson B
10/22/2010 08:53:28 am
Nathan I think you're right about the prevalence of sexuality in the novel. I'd say Morrison offers her attitude towards it on pg 122 "Along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another - physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought. Both originated in envy, thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion."
She backs up this assertion of hers with the happenings in the characters' lives. She lets the original event that sparked this downfall be Cholly's first sex, which leaves him "envious" and "insecure." And this causes issues in his marriage to Pauline, and then major issues when he rapes his daughter.
Pecola's first time having sex, like her father's, is discovered - but she has to carry the evidence of her sex for nine months, he only one night. And because of this evidence she is scorned by the community.
One more thing: I read another book by Morrison this summer called Love. It definitely was not the romantic chick flick I expected. The main story centers around this dude who in his old age marries his 12-year old granddaughter's best friend. Sexual occurances are prevalent in Love too, so I can't help but speculate that bad sexuality is a big thing for Morrison, perhaps she was affected in a sexual way growing up?
Seriously, this book sucks. I absolutely despise everything about it: the writing style, the content, the author in general, i researched her, and i din't like her history at all, not to say that she had anything to do with her history, but... And the character of Pecola. Ah...that's awful, the character development is absolutely terrible (IMHO). She seems , in the back of my mind to be symbolic of something, but what?
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Hannah Pollard
10/25/2010 09:40:31 am
I have the "All about sex " chapters as well, and I completely agree with you If it were not for the chapter about Pecola's mother. This is the only time in the whole book where sex is not a act of hatred or contempt. I think that Morrison added this very intimate sequence in order to show that Cholly is not all bad,and to show that Cholly and Paulina did in fact once love each other.The reason the act of sex was so bad for the other characters is because they are being forced or they do not love the other involved.
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Erika Lawton
10/26/2010 06:52:16 am
I have “The Bible, Grimm, and Greek Stories,” Cholly has committed an unimaginable crime and never has an understanding of himself because his parents left him like Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, where his parents left him for dead too, and then accidentally marries his own mother and has children with her. Yeah, I did not like this book either, there was way too much rape for my taste.
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Becca Millard
10/26/2010 08:21:02 am
Nathan,
I don't it's so much a portrayal of a general occurrence to sexual induction as it is a commentary on the spoiling of black girls' childhoods (at that time).
Basically, I think that Morrison is trying to show that the obvious problems caused by racism are not the sole issues in the girls' lives. The characters seem to think that a woman's body is meant to be abused (Geraldine's relations with her husband, Pecola's rape, etc.), and, as such, the parents are hesitant to actually teach their daughters about sex. Of course, that just makes them an easier target, making the whole cycle start again.
So I have the intertexualtiy chapter, and I was analyzing the character of Pecola. The author chose Pecola because she is an unfortunate little girl.
Big deal, the same could be said about all of them, yet Pecola's character is what makes her different from all the other little girls, making her the unique case for this author's story. Like Frieda has some harshness to her when she talks to Peal, whereas Pecola will take time to quietly pet a kitty. Now, from other stories, the main character is special for a specific reason, like Odysseus or Hester Prynne. What I am thinking is that this is the innocent child archtype that is sacrificed because of the adult's mistakes.
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Alyson B
11/7/2010 03:15:44 am
My professor thing is Seasons. I was going back through the book when I noticed this quote about Maureen Peal: "There was a hint of spring in her sloe green eyes, something summery in her complexion, and a rich autumn ripeness in her walk." Maureen first appears during the winter, and I think the description of the other three seasons manifesting themselves in her is noteworthy. The whole school is immediately drawn to her. Drawn to what they don't currently have - the other three seasons. I think Maureen represents people's constant dissatisfaction with themselves, their longing for something more.
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Erica D
11/14/2010 04:56:50 am
I agree with Alyson about the connection between Maureen and the seasons. I think that Morrison creates irony throughout the story by basically inverting the seasons. We typically think of spring as the time of youth and innocence, but in The Bluest Eye it is the season in which Pecola is raped, therefore losing her innocene. However, she goes insane in the spring and summer, when she is told her eyes have turned blue and she starts to believe it and talk about it with her imaginary friend. In a sense, she regains a sort of innocence when she is no longer conscious of reality; she appears even more childlike when she is playing with her hallucination, just like toddlers play with imaginary friends. Maybe this is a representation of why the black community has difficulty moving forward- they are so busy trying to fix past injustices that they regress. Any thoughts?
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Liesel A
11/16/2010 10:46:36 am
Social, historic, cultural, and personal backgrounds all play a part in The Bluest Eye. The society as a whole is trying to move up in the world. This book is based before the Civil Rights movements so blacks were struggling to be seen equal in the nation and between each other. This plays a part in the book because the in some respects love and community are lost to the effort of moving up even in the slightest way. Geraldine is hostile towards other blacks because she is lighter skin and that fact puts her slightly above the rest. She does not let her child play with other blacks because she sees them as dirty. Geraldine’s behavior emphasizes to the reader that the wanting to move up in the world plays a role in the daily actions of the characters and that society is a multilayer system. Community is lost because people are just trying to survive and maybe finagle a new spot in society but that means that they are not looking out for the others in their community. This is too broad of a topic that plays such an integral part of The Bluest Eye that it is impossible to point out all the examples and not go on for pages.
