Abstract
The aim of this essay is to address the following question: How does Morrison implicate the media in the development of Pecola’s desire for the bluest eye? The essay investigates how Morrison’s uses the literary devices – including imagery, diction, motifs, alliteration, consonance, contrasts, and syntax – to help portray the way in which media gradually fosters desires in Pecola for the bluest eyes in the world. The essay walks through parts of the book that make direct and indirect remarks about the influences of media. And by rigorously analyzing individual passages and webbing connections between those passages, the essay serves to explore the ways in which media causes Pecola to question the secret – the beauty in the blue eyes of pretty actresses – that she cannot grasp; to sorrow and wither in her lack of such beauty, thereby developing self-hatred; to envy icons of beauty and their perfect lives depicted by media; to come to desire blue eyes desperately enough to conjure up a mind’s view of her own blue eyes. The essay addresses the ways in which Morrison conveys how media destroys Pecola’s self-worth, inner beauty and mind and in place nurtures unrealistic desires for the bluest eye in the world.
Table of Contents
Introduction ————————————————4
Analysis —————————————————–8
Conclusion ————————————————-14
References ————————————————-14
Introduction
Prior to the essay, I wish to start off by engaging with the following passage, imitating the unconventional way in which Toni Morrison starts off her own novel: The Bluest Eye. The opening in-depth analysis of this passage will help us better understand how Morrison effectively uses this as the starting point to unravel the rest of the story; likewise, this discussion will add a specific perspective to the rest of the essay.
Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? See the cat. It goes meow-meow. Come and play. Come play with Jane. The kitten will not play. See Mother. Mother is very nice. Mother, will you play with Jane? Mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile. See the dog. Bowwow goes the dog. Do you want to play with Jane? See the dog run. Run, dog, run. Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play.
Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? See the cat. It goes meow-meow. Come and play. Come play with Jane. The kitten will not play. See Mother. Mother is very nice. Mother, will you play with Jane? Mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile. See the dog. Bowwow goes the dog. Do you want to play with Jane? See the dog run. Run, dog, run. Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play.
Hereisthehouseitisgreenandwhiteithasareddooritisveryprettyhereisthefamilymotherfatherdickandjaneliveinthegreenandwhitehousetheyareveryhappyseejaneshehasareddressshewantstoplaywhowillplaywithjaneseethecatitgoesmeowmeowcomeandplaycomeplaywithjanethekittenwillnotplayseemothermotherisverynicemotherwillyouplaywithjanemotherlaughslaughmotherlaughseefatherheisbigandstrongfatherwillyouplaywithjanefatherissmilingsmilefathersmileseethedogbowwowgoesthedogdoyouwanttoplaywithjaneseethedogrunrundogrunlooklookherecomesafriendthefriendwillplaywithjanetheywillplayagoodgameplayjaneplay (7).
The passage above is from Dick and Jane, a children’s storybook by William Gray and Zerna Sharp, which was widely read by children from 1930s to 1970s. (Morrison wrote The Bluest Eye in 1970). The passage takes an uncommon structure: it consists of three very similar (almost identical) paragraphs that vary only in their respective presentation: use of spaces, capital letters and punctuation. But prior to discussing the significance of these structural variations, let us first take a closer look at the content of the passage. The passage, a torn-out page from Dick and Jane, contains the distinctive qualities of children’s storybooks: simplicity, repetition and rhythm, which allows us to easily contextualize the passage, even if we are unfamiliar with the original piece of work.
The passage depicts the pretty, happy, and almost perfect life of Jane and her family. And the lack of realistic details and overdone repetition in the passage breed artificiality in the air – one that envelops a dreamlike life that can only be led in a dollhouse. The vivid primary colors – “green, white… [and] red” – used to describe the exterior of the house also help liken it to a dollhouse. Inside reside the characters: the “very happy” “Mother, Father, Dick and Jane” who are portrayed as being enclosed in an airy bubble that protects the surreal happiness of the place. Jane is wearing a pretty “red dress”; the “very nice…[m]other is laugh[ing]”; the “big and strong…[f]ather is smiling.” The very pretty, happy, and nice life portrayed not only reminds us of a perfect life plausible in an impeccable dollhouse, but also causes us – at least the more cynical or keenly aware of us – to suspect the wholesomeness and implausible surreality of the scene depicted in the storybook. Underneath the warmth and friendliness in the air, there lingers a sense of loneliness in Jane. The question, “Who will play with Jane?” is asked to her mother, father, and the dog. But the reply that comes back is laughter (from Mother), smile (from Father), or running away (of the dog). Although everything seems and warm and friendly on the outside, there is no one volunteering to play with Jane. Yes, at the end, a friend of Jane does arrive and the narrator says that the “friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play”: but even then, such overdone repetition presents the portrayed action – playing with Jane – as a dictated rather than willful conduct. The repetition and rhythmic patterns developed throughout the whole passage further help create a sense that Jane’s perfect life is dictated and orchestrated, just as a pretty doll’s life in a pretty dollhouse would be designed by a young girl. The vague hints of underlying loneliness and dictated lifestyle serve as a tiny hole – in the airy bubble of perfection – through which we can peep and verify our doubts about the superficiality of what appears on the outside.
We can infer that Morrison, by presenting the distinctive features of a storybook, – its simplicity, dreamlike and trancelike quality, and picturesque features – is indirectly making a social statement about children’s storybooks. Just like any other type of media, storybooks depict an unrealistic reality or an impossible possibility, distorting the young children’s perceptions of reality (or piecing together distorted versions of reality for them to cherish) and imbuing hope that is not only unattainable but also devastating for its unattainable quality. And this particular social observation and criticism regarding media play a pivotal role throughout the whole book: Morrison writes that Pecola, the protagonist of the story, suffers from misery and hardships created and reinforced by the media. The media contorts the way reality is perceived by Pecola and consequently causes Pecola to develop unrealistic yearnings for the bluest eyes in the world.
Now, let us move on to observe the significance of peculiar structural presentation of this passage and how Toni Morrison ingeniously ties back onto her social criticism of media. As aforementioned, the passage consists of three very similar paragraphs that differ only in their minute technicalities. The first paragraph has the greatest line and word spacing and such spacing decreases in the subsequent paragraphs. In fact, the last paragraph, lacking in its conventional use of punctuation and capital letters, looks harder for identification, if not impossible, especially to someone who hasn’t read the previous two paragraphs. Here, Morrison, by creating such effects with the unconventional experimentation with syntax, is trying to mimic the way in which media reinforces its ideals, which get distorted in the minds of the audience and in turn distort the way in which the audience perceives the reality. The content of the media is contorted and compacted into a version that looks quite different from the original; identification and association is only deemed possible because of the way in which the audience has developed familiarity and automatic response mechanisms to media in their minds, just the way the readers encode semantic patterns in our memories as we read the same paragraph three times.
Coming to the closing remarks of this analysis, we can extrapolate from Morrison’s conscious choice to start off the work in this unconventional style that she wishes that the readers continuously reflect on how media, as one of the most influential gatekeepers of the society, distorts the way in which reality is perceived by Pecola – moreover the consequent way in which such distorted perceptions affect her mind, her desires and her way of life. Also, it is my personal opinion that Morrison perhaps wanted to start off the novel with this storybook depiction of life so that its surreality serves as a blatant contrast to the reality – not excluding rape, hatred, jealousy, insecurity, racism, and other imperfections ingrained in our identity and in the society we have created – that she wishes to bravely portray, acknowledge and embrace as the first step towards making a bettered society.
The essay henceforth will be steered in a more conventional manner. The rest of the essay will serve to address the following question: How does Morrison implicate the media in the development of Pecola’s desire for the bluest eye? Presenting to us the exaggerated notions of ideal beauty upheld by the media, Morrison explains how Pecola, a black girl, comes to develop unrealistic dreams to get the bluest eyes in the world.
Analysis
Toni Morrison, throughout the book, gradually paints a complete picture of why Pecola, a black girl, comes to desire the bluest eyes in the world. She argues that the media largely contributes to the development of such desire. First, Morrison introduces us to Pecola’s special fondness for a Shirley Temple cup, which she uses to drink milk. Morrison writes that Pecola “glazed fondly at the silhouette of Shirley Temple’s dimpled face” (19). The use of consonance – the “d” sounds in “glazed”, “fondly” and “dimpled” and “s” sounds in “silhouette” and “Shirley” – highlights Pecola’s gentle fondness toward the cup for what it represents: the ideal beauty marketed by media. Moreover the “silhouette” of Shirley Temple, a mere association to such beauty, is alone enough to trigger warm and dear fondness within Pecola; Shirley Temple’s beauty, constantly broadcasted by the media, has turned her into an icon, whose silhouette alone stands as a symbol that fosters awe and envy. It is also important to note how Morrison uses color imagery; she depicts the Shirley Temple cup to be “blue-and-white” (19) and Mary Jane candy wrappers (which will be discussed later) to be “pale yellow” (43). Through the use of such colors – blue, white and pale yellow – characteristic to Caucasian physical attributes, Morrison hints at the way in which media paints hues of white supremacy.
More interestingly, to Pecola, what is more important than the content (the milk) is the container (Shirley Temple cup) that holds it. In fact, Morrison writes that Pecola “took every opportunity to drink milk out of [the cup] just to handle and see sweet Shirley’s face” (22). Pecola is mainly if not solely interested in the cup’s façade, rather than what’s inside it. By using a cup as a motif, Morrison seems to be making a social critique about the way in which media places much higher value on external appearances than on inner beauty and virtues, causing susceptible individuals like Pecola to adopt similar attitudes in leading their lives. Lastly, the idea of consumption develops at this point of the book. Pecola drinks Shirley Temple – her beauty and the beautiful world she enjoys – in order to efface and replace her own ugliness. This idea gradually develops throughout the rest of the novel.
Later in the book, Morrison comments that Pecola “wore [her] ugliness… although it did not belong to [her]” (34). She further explains that “[y]ou looked at [her] and wondered why [she was] so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source” (34). To support such observations, Morrison uses ambivalent imagery that neither positively nor negatively (or both positively and negatively) describes Pecola’s face. Morrison writes: “[t]he eyes, the small eyes set closely together under narrow foreheads. The low, irregular hairlines, which seemed even more irregular in contrast to the, heavy eyebrows which nearly met… [She] had high cheekbones, and [her] ears turned forward” (34). Here, Morrison describes the face by delineating shapes and figures, using words with geometrical implications such as “closely together,” “under,” “narrow,” “low,” “irregular,” “nearly met,” “high,” and “turned forward.” Rather than making judgmental statements that are based on normative ideals of beauty, she tries best to accurately and disinterestedly sketch the face the way it appears. And by doing so, Morrison seems to be suggesting how Pecola’s ugliness is not intrinsically etched in her face but extrinsically imprinted by the media that fashions and arbitrates the norms of beauty: in other words, Pecola’s ugliness only exists because of the way in which she attributes norms of beauty dictated by the media to her face, which is no more than an amalgamation of geometric figures and shapes.
Furthermore, Morrison portrays that Pecola has “[s]hapely lips which [call] attention not to themselves but to the rest of the face” (34). Here, Pecola’s beauty is portrayed to be humble and self-sacrificing as opposed to the more emphatic and self-assertive vanity of white actresses portrayed by the media. And thus Morrison seems to be suggesting that Pecola’s, although different in nature to the standards of beauty set by the media, is yet still beautiful. But Pecola sees herself ugly only because she is applying the artificial standards of beauty created by the media to herself, whose beauty is as equally valid if not more genuine and generous than that promoted by the media.
Morrison explicates that the ugliness that she wears came “from [Pecola’s] conviction” (34) which was nurtured by “every billboard, every movie, every glance [that leaned on her]” (34). Morrison creates an image of media leaning on and closing in Pecola from every side; there isn’t a way out their trap. The enveloping mental trap causes Pecola to wear and self-impose the ugliness that the media promulgates. Morrison explains that the source of her ugliness lies not in Pecola’s fundamental qualities but the convinced ugliness, tailored by the media, that Pecola chooses to wear.
Later on in the book, Morrison uses Mary Jane candy as a motif to explain the role that media plays in Pecola’s life. Pecola, entering Mr. Yacobowski’s store, selects only Mary Janes from amongst the array of candies. Morrison reveals Pecola’s great fondness with these candies by depicting what is on the wrappers. She writes that “each pale yellow wrapper [of the candy] has a picture on it. A picture of little Mary Jane, for whom the candy is named” (43). Morrison again reiterates, “[l]ovely Mary Jane, for whom the candy is named” (43). Here, Morrison, by repeating the phrase, seems to be highlighting one of the essential reasons to why Pecola dearly loves Mary Jane: because Mary Jane, unlike Pecola herself, is significant enough for a candy to be named after her. Mary Jane’s celebrated beauty comes across as an affront to Pecola’s “anonymous misery” (35). Mary Jane’s celebrity leads Pecola to feel worthless; she gradually develops the urge to make “[herself] disappear[: l]ittle parts of her body faded away… [until o]nly her tight, tight eyes [are] left” (39). Morrison portrays how media – the candy packaging illustrating Mary Jane – extols ideal beauty, effacing Pecola’s self-worth and inner beauty, gradually expanding a vacuum inside her that aches with self-pity and self-loathing.
In order to fill this vacuum created by the media, to put a halt to this throbbing ache of self-hatred, Pecola eats the candy. Morrison explains that “to eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane… and [b]e Mary Jane” (43). The idea of consumption is more apparent at this point in the book; Pecola consumes Mary Jane to fill her vacuum with Mary Jane’s happiness, her “[s]miling white face[, her b]lond hair in gentle array,
[her]
blue eye looking at [Pecola] out of a world of clean comfort” (43). Morrison portrays how divorced Pecola’s world is from that of Mary Jane; there lies a pale, thin candy wrapper – yet thicker than anything in the world – that separates Pecola from accessing happiness that lingers in Mary Jane’s world. Moreover, the use of consonance – repetition of “l” sounds in “blond” and “gentle” and “r” sounds in “hair” and array” – helps depict the life on the other side as being benign and soothing. Also the alliteration – the “c” sounds in “clean comfort” – accentuates the near perfection of the world that lies within the candy wrapper. The portrayal of a comfortable and perfect life by the media further stokes Pecola’s desire to have the bluest eyes to see the world, to enjoy the world, and to gain access to the world that Mary Jane is in. In fact, Pecola comes to develop a conviction that “as long as she looked the way she did, as long as she was ugly, she would have to stay with [Mrs. and Mr. Breedlove as she]… somehow belonged to them” (39). Pecola believes that she is confined to her miserable world while Mary Jane is liberated in her perfect world because of the most obvious quality that the media depicts is the fundamental difference between the two: the ideal beauty that Pecola herself lacks but Mary Jane has. Morrison shows how the media causes susceptible minds like Pecola’s to develop illogical connections and distorted worldviews. Morrison seems to be subtly accusing media of blatant and overworked marketing tactics that contort reality, causing individuals like Pecola to develop distorted views about her own self and the world she lives in.
Morrison then depicts a quite striking image of Pecola buying with her pennies not the candies but “nine lovely orgasms with Mary Jane” (43). Through this imagery, Morrison underscores Pecola’s pain, shame and misery that she wishes to soothe by enwrapping herself with the erotic pleasures and tenderness of being Mary Jane. Here Morrison is portraying the perverse yet pitiful extent to which Pecola wants to become one with Mary Jane, one with the perfect world she resides in. Morrison holds the media – the candy packaging illustrating Mary Jane – responsible for putting such heavy burdens on the shoulders of a miserable black girl, who has come to nonsensically believe that she is indulging in sexual pleasures when eating Mary Jane candies. Morrison implicates how the media has distorted Pecola’s mindset to the point of perversion and irrationality.
As Pecola develops a distorted view of the world, she comes to desire those bluest eyes, which she now believes will grant her the comfort and happiness that Mary Janes and Shirley Temples of the world are entitled to. Pecola, “[t]hrown, in this way, into the binding conviction that only a miracle could relieve her, she would never know her beauty. She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people” (40). Morrison, by using the words “thrown” and “binding”, hints at the way in which media is like the present-day manifestation of enslavement that mistreats and fetters Pecola. Also, Morrison further attests to such idea, showing how Pecola loses her freedom and self as she sees what is around her and the eyes of other people but not her own self.
Furthermore, Pecola further comes to believe that only “if [her] eyes were different, that is to say, she herself would be different… [and i]f she looked different, different, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too” (40). Morrison shows how the media causes Pecola to develop illogical “if-then” scenarios, fostering her desire to replace her eyes – which holds “all of those pictures, all of those faces” (39), and all her misery – with the bluest eyes in the world. Toni Morrison holds media responsible for bewildering and distorting her mind, wheedling her to wallow in self-pity and unrealistic dreams.
Towards the end of the essay, Morrison depicts an uncanny scene in which Pecola talks to someone, most likely the reflection of her own mind, bragging about the blue eyes she now has. The conversation is led between the two discrete selves that coexist in Pecola. By depicting such a bizarre scene, Morrison seems to be conveying how the media has come to not only distort Pecola’s worldview but also her personality and consciousness. Her mind is segregated into two: one part that believes she now possesses “Alice-and-Jerry Storybook eyes” (156) and the other that believes Pecola is “acting silly” (158). Pecola, so desperate to have blue eyes, seems to have conjured up a mind’s view of her desired-self. Through depiction of this uncanny conversation between the two ambiguous narrative voices, Morrison explains the extent to which the media distorts Pecola’s consciousness, causing her to develop schizophrenic conditions.
The conversation between the two segregated selves continues over several pages. One of the two narrative voices talks aloud, “But suppose, my eyes aren’t blue enough?” (157) But when the other self retorts, “Blue enough for what?,” the voice fails to answer the question asked, trailing: “Blue enough for… I don’t know. Blue enough for something” (158). The hints of uncertainty and confusion convey how the media has caused Pecola to blindly convince herself that what she desires is the blue eyes. When she gets those very precious eyes she has always yearned for, she is unable to articulate clearly why she had wanted them so much in the first place. Thus such uncertainties exemplify the extent to which media has deluded naïve Pecola into desiring something whose meaning and virtues she is not fully aware of.
Furthermore, the voice echoes insecurity within Pecola. Continuously the voice utters words of fear and anxiety: “Don’t leave me… Why? Are you mad at me? … Because my eyes aren’t blue enough? Because I don’t have the bluest eyes? … [W]ill you come back if I get [the bluest eyes?]… You promise?” (158) Morrison shows how the media has bred a sense of insecurity that now seems to pester and strangle Pecola. Also, Morrison seems to be suggesting how the media has bred insatiable greed in Pecola, who will not be sufficed by the blue eyes but now yearns to get the bluest eyes in the world. Ergo, Morrison shows how the media has buoyed up Pecola’s unrealistic dreams like one does a balloon; the near impending burst of this balloon – the unrealistic dreams – as heralded by the segregation of Pecola’s consciousness, evokes concern and pity amongst the readers. Morrison ends the book, showing the extent to which media has come to deform and destroy Pecola.
Conclusion
M0rrison, throughout her book, takes us on a journey showing how the media nurtures and ultimately consummates Pecola’s desires to have the bluest eye in the world. Morison uses the motifs of cup, candy and storybook, distinguishes notions of natural and normative beauty, and analyzes the extent to which media deprives Pecola of her inner beauty, security and sanity. By integrating the various literary features, including color imagery, consonance, diction and syntax, Morrison walks us through the steps by which the media gradually instills unrealistic dreams in Pecola to have the bluest eye. From the very start – the passage from Dick and Jane storybook – to the end – the surreal portrayal of Pecola’s dual personality – Morrison implicates the media in the development of Pecola’s desire for the bluest eye. She portrays how the media’s exaggerated notions of ideal beauty cause Pecola to undergo an internal struggle to discover for herself what secret lies in such beauty – manifested in the blue eyes – that she fails to fully understand; to question and grieve the absence of such ideal beauty in herself, thereby developing self-loathing; to eventually develop love for those icons of beauty and for the life that they enjoy; to develop desires and ultimately attain such beauty by obtaining the blue eyes. Morrison reasons that the media distorts not only the way in which Pecola perceives the reality but also her desires and consciousness. She clearly explicates the way in which media inspires destructive hope – for the bluest eye – in Pecola that ultimately splits her mind and alienates her from the rest of the world. Morrison, throughout her novel, thereby implicates and holds media largely responsible for the development of unrealistic Pecola’s desire for the bluest eye.
References:
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: PocketBooks-Simon, 1972. Print.
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