The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what if the image of beauty was forced into the minds of many ? A person's beauty can be expressed in many different ways, regarding appearance and personality, but the novel The Bluest Eye begs to differ. This contradicts the principle, because beauty is no longer just a person's opinion, but beauty has become an unwritten rule, a standard set by society for society. The most important rule is that to be beautiful, girls must look like a white doll, with blue eyes, light pink skin and blonde hair. And if they aren't, they aren't beautiful. Pecola, one of the ugly children of the community, lives life every day wanting to be accepted. “The wider community also disappoints Pecola. Having absorbed the idea of ​​being ugly and knowing that she is unloved, Pecola desperately desires the blue eyes that she believes will make a child lovable in American society” (Kubitschek 35). In The Bluest Eye, Morrison argues that black women in society have been forced to accept the image of blonde hair and blue eyes as the only beauty that exists. blue-eyed doll, also known as Shirley Temple. These images were placed in their minds, making them feel like they had to live up to expectations by following the crowd and letting their surroundings influence them. "Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, signs in the windows - the whole world agreed that a doll with blue eyes, yellow hair and pink skin was every little girl's treasure" (Morrison 20). Society sees Shirley Temple as the angelic image of the perfect little girl, and anything that is not Shirley Temple is considered ugly. Shirley Temple's face is the cause of Pecola's hypnosis and is the reason why she drinks three whole liters of milk. It's not because she lacks milk or out of sheer greed, it's because "...she was fond of Shirley Temple's cup and took every opportunity to drink the milk just to see and touch Shirley's sweet face" (Morrison 23 ). Another blonde beauty that girls admire and imitate is Mary Jane. Mary Jane's face is on the packaging of every candy, the ones Pecola bought for three pieces on the penny. When Pecola goes to buy Mary Jane candy, s......middle of paper......are divided into two groups: the whites are the beautiful ones and the blacks are the ugly ones. “…This disease, this belief that white sets the standards of beauty…” is the basis for the beginning of the hatred and demoralization of the Breedloves (Lazarescu 5/7). They have also been separated from other blacks so one feels like the other is older in life. White people portrayed their image as the only beautiful one that exists and made “…little black girls long for the blue eyes of a little white girl…” (Morrison 204). The black people in this novel have it clear in their minds that "if you have a life to live, live it like a blonde" and this belief is what has torn Pecola's life apart (Weever 1/5). Work Cited PageWeever, Jacqueline de : The Inverted World of The BluestEye and Sula CLA Journal by Toni Morrison, Vol. XXII, No. 4, June 1979, pp. 402-14.Infotrac, 12-13-04 http://galenet.galegroup.comLazarescu, Lisa R: Copyright 2003, Oregon College,18 Aug 2003http://web. cocc.edu/lisal/thebluesteye/themes.htmKubitschek, Missy Dehn: Toni Morrison: A Critical Companion 27- 46Westport: Greenwood,1998.Morrison, Toni: The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin Group, 1994.