Pecola is also a symbol of the black community’s self-hatred and belief in its own ugliness. Others in the community, including her mother, father, and Geraldine, act out their own self-hatred by expressing hatred toward her.

What does Pecola represent in The Bluest Eye?

Eleven-year-old Pecola equates beauty and social acceptance with whiteness; she therefore longs to have “the bluest eye.” Although largely ignored upon publication, The Bluest Eye is now considered an American classic and an essential account of the African American experience after the Great Depression.

How does Pecola get blue eyes?

When Pecola is finally granted her wish for blue eyes, she receives it in a perverse and darkly ironic form. She is able to obtain blue eyes only by losing her mind. Rather than granting Pecola insight into the world around her and providing a redeeming connection with other people, these eyes are a form of blindness.

What is the message of The Bluest Eye?

At its core, The Bluest Eye is a story about the oppression of women. The novel’s women not only suffer the horrors of racial oppression, but also the tyranny and violation brought upon them by the men in their lives. The novel depicts several phases of a woman’s development into womanhood.

How many times is Pecola raped?

She is abused by almost everyone in the novel and eventually suffers two traumatic rapes.

How did Pecola get pregnant?

Pecola’s father rapes her in their kitchen. Pecola visits Soaphead Church and asks him to give her blue eyes. Pecola gets pregnant with her father’s child. Pecola’s baby dies.

Why does Pecola drink milk?

In the beginning of the novel, we learn that Pecola adores Shirley Temple, which represents pure beauty and innocence. Her love for Shirley Temple and drinking milk is part of her desire to internalize values of white culture, foreshadowing her yearning for blue eyes.

How does Mrs Breedlove treat Pecola?

Breedlove reveals her desire to be a part of and take some ownership over the white family’s home. Her differing reactions to Pecola and the little white girl further this idea. She slaps Pecola twice, even though the cobbler has burned her legs, demonstrating her disdain for her own child.

How are Claudia and Pecola different?

Like Pecola, Claudia suffers from racist beauty standards and material insecurity, but she has a loving and stable family, which makes all the difference for her. Whereas Pecola is passive when she is abused, Claudia is a fighter. When Claudia is given a white doll she does not want, she dissects and destroys it.

Is Pecola schizophrenic?

As a result, Pecola suffers from schizophrenia, and spend the rest of her life in her own world. She is influenced by perceptual distortion, rational disorganization, emotional instability and loss of control.

Why does Pecola go crazy?

Pecola, a little black girl who thirsts for a pair of blue eyes, finally goes mad because of her never achieved wish. She can only live in her fantasy, persuading herself that she has a pair of beautiful blue eyes. She believes that only when she has a pair of blue eyes can she be loved.

Why is it called The Bluest Eye?

The title is taken from the protagonist’s desire to have blue eyes. “Whiteness” is the beauty standard that Pecola Breedlove cannot fit in with, and from this her obsession with having blue eyes stems.

Why was the book The Bluest Eye banned?

In March 1999, The Bluest Eye was successfully banned from Baker High School language arts program in Baker City, Oregon after multiple complaints from parents about the content of the book. The original source of contention for this novel was the rape scene between Cholly and Pecola.

What does autumn symbolize in The Bluest Eye?

Fall is the embodiment of harvest time. Pecola’s baby dies and no marigolds appear. Instead of bounteous wealth, there is an abundance of sadness.

Who gets Pecola pregnant?

Claudia recounts some of the things she associates with one particular summer: strawberries, sudden thunderstorms, and gossip about her friend Pecola. Through fragments of gossip, Claudia and Frieda learn that Pecola is pregnant and that the baby’s father is Pecola’s own father.

How old was Pecola when she got pregnant?

The novel starts with a flash forward of Pecola losing a baby. She is a pregnant 12 year old girl and it is alluded that her father (Cholly) raped her.

Why is Pecola raped?

Most of all, he does not know how to relate to his children. Now, in the present, Cholly comes home drunk and finds Pecola doing the dishes. With mixed motives of tenderness and rage, both fueled by guilt, he rapes her.