Study of Characters and Plot Summary of the Novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Abstract

The Bluest Eye was written by Toni Morrison in 1970. Morrison, a single mother of two sons, wrote the novel while she taught at Howard University. Morrison's novel is set in 1941. She centers the story around a young African American girl named Pecola who grows up during the years following the Great Depression in Lorain, Ohio. Pecola's dark skin color and harsh characteristics, are why she is constantly called "ugly". As a result, she develops an inferiority complex, which fuels her desire for the blue eyes she equates with "whiteness". The point of view of the novel switches between the perspective of Claudia MacTeer, the daughter of Pecola's foster parents, and a third-person narrator with inset narratives in the first person. Due to the controversial topics the book raises such as racism, incest, and child molestation, there have been numerous attempts to ban it from schools and libraries.