Toni Morrison - The Bluest Eye: A Novel

Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was having her father's baby that the marigolds did not grow.

That is the opening sentence of this haunting story. Draws you in, doesn't it? Well, it did me. This is the first of Toni Morrison's books that I have read, and I was excited, agitated, and in awe throughout. The author has a style that's different from any I've read before, and I don't think I can accurately describe it. So many passages in this novel affected me on their own as much as within the story. For example, in describing black women of the time:

Then they had grown. Edging into life from the back door. Becoming. Everybody in the world was in a position to give them orders. White women said, "Do this." White children said, "Give me that." White men said, "Come here." Black men said, "Lay down." The only people they need not take orders from were black children and each other. But they took all of that and re-created it in their own image. They ran the houses of white people, and knew it. When white men beat their men, they cleaned up the blood and went home to receive abuse from the victim...

There is so much in this little book. Morrison wrote the book in the 60s, and it was published in 1970. I cannot begin to imagine its reception and the trouble she must have gone through during that time.

So, what about the book, you say? Well, for the most part it's told by a child, Claudia MacTeer, with some chapters narrated. We see Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl described more than once as ugly, by others and herself. The one thing she wants more than anything is to have blue eyes. She thinks that if she has blue eyes, she will be beautiful and loved, like Shirley Temple. We see Pecola's life change from simplicity and a desire to be beautiful to madness. In doing this we take in-depth looks at the characters who mold and make it change. Somehow, even with all the terrible things that happen to her, we still see the human side of everything-the human side of the people that are causing her pain. Actions are condemned, but the persons somehow are not. A racial "self-loathing" is dominant throughout the book, and society reinforces this, demands it even.

I highly recommend this Oprah selection and am eager to read more of Morrison's work.

Caution: I do not think this book is appropriate for children or young teens due to the strong language, sexual issues, rape and incest that occurs.

Thanks for reading.