“The Bluest Eye”

PECOLA BREEDLOVE AS A
RACIAL OTHER
IN TONI MORRISON’S NOVEL
“THE BLUEST EYE”

Tehmina Athar
Department of English Language and Literature
(DELL)
Gomal University, D.I Khan
905-ENG-20
Roll No: 54
Session: 2020-2024
Supervised by : Sir Muzamil Abbas
APPROVAL CERTIFICATE

It is certified the thesis having tiltle, “Pecola Breedlove as a Racial other in Toni Morrison‟s Novel “The
Bluest Eye“ fulfills thoroughly the required standard to justify its acceptance by the department of the
English Language and Literature Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan for the award of degree of BS-
English, Session(2020-2024).

Student Singnature

Supervisor Signature

STUDENT DECLARATION

I, Tehmina Athar declare that this dissertation entitled Pecola Breedlove as a Racial other in Toni
Morrison‟s Novel, “The Bluest Eye” belongs to me and haven,t copied that materials from any source.
Whatever ideas I have borrowed from other sources have been properly mentioned in the citation‟s section. I
shall, therefore be responsible for any sort of copy past and plagiarism in this work.

Signature

Tehmina Athat

BS English(2020-2024)
Dedication

I dedicate my this effort to my dearest parents who supported me at every stage of my life morally and
economically. Special thanks to my dear father Muhammad Athar ,who engouraged and supported me in
this throughout my four years journey. Today what I am just because of them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“ All praises belongs to Allah, Lord of all world “

First of all, thanks to Allah Almighty for providing me an opportunity to accomplish this noble task and
bestowed me with countless blessing throughout my four years journey . Special appreciation goes to my
respected supervisor, Sir Muzamil Abbas, for his supervision and constant support .His invaluble help of
constructive comments and suggestions throughout the research work has contributed to the success of this
research .
Abstract

Pecola Breedlove is the the central character through which the writer has depicted the issue of black
community as their race is exploited on the basis of skin colour by white people. Pecola is the most woeful
creation who consistantly suffers from racial discrimination. White community consider the black people as
racial other owing to their dark. She faced on racism, not just from the white people but also from African-
American people. She longs for having blue eyes so that to get rid of this racial problems and love from the
society people. Whiteness as a standard of beauty has been internalized in the minds of blank community.
This study explores the post colonial interpretation of pecola‟s character in the bluest eye. This work has
post colonial nature and focus on pecola‟s character. It indicates post colonial concept of otherization in the
shape of racism as a tool. Overall the study finds that reason for descrimination against pecola‟s character is
her skin colour which as black, showing ugliness.

Keywords: Pecola Breedlove, Otherization, Racism, Post Colonial, African-American

Chapter 1:Introduction

1.1 General Introduction to Author

Toni Morrison is a black American writer born in Lorain Ohio (Morrison‟s hometown) on February
18, 1931 and died on August 5, 2019. Her first novel “The bluest Eye” was in 1970. Holt, Rinehart and
Winston was a publisher of this novel. At first publication it was not a successful one piece but later it was
reprinted in 1993. This novel has 224 pages. She won numerious awards for her works. She got the Pulitzer
Prize for beloved (1987). She was awarded the Noble Prize in literature in 1993. She has created African-
American characters who struggle to live their lives as full individuals with their tragedies. Her characters
overcome the brutality of slavery, racial and economic oppression. This novel tells the story of a young
African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the great depression. Set in 1941 the story
exposes that she is consistently regarded as ugly due to her dark skin. As a result she develops an inferiority
complex, which fuels desire for the blue eyes which she equates with whiteness. Morrison has described this
novel with Claudia Mac Teer‟s point of view. This book was tried to ban from school and liberaries to
controversial topics of racism, incest and child molestation. She wrote 11 novels, nine non-fiction works,
five children‟s books, two short stories and two plays throughout her 88 years of life. Her other works are
Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981) and Beloved (1987) etc.

1.1.1 Brief Summary

A young girl named Pecola Breedlove believes that whiteness is standard of beauty and she is ugly due to
her black outlook. She has seen her life various, ups and downs. Her father is drunkard and her mother is
serving in the white family as a house maid. Sammy, her brother frequently runs away. Pecola‟s parents also
has experienced the same situations in their past as Pecola used to face in the current situation. Her mother
has a lame foet and has always felt isolated. She looses herself in movies, which reaffirm her belief that she
is ugly and that romantic love deserved for the beautiful people. She encourages her husband‟s violent
behavior in order to reinforce her own role as a martyr. She feels very proud while is serving in cleaning a
white woman‟s home. Pecola‟s father was abandoned by his parents and raised by his great aunt who died
when he was a young teenager. He was humiliated by two white men who found him having sex for the first
timewith his girl friend, Darlin and made him continue while the watched. He ran away to find his father but
was rebuffed by him. By the time he met Pauline(Pecola‟s mother), he was a wild and rootless man. He feels
trapped in his marriage and has lost interest in life. The story reaches to the climax point when Cholly
returns home early and finds her(Pecola) washing dishes with mixed motives of tenderness and hatred that
are fueled by guilt, he rapes her. When Pecola‟s motherfinds her unconscious on the floor, she disbelieves
Pecola‟s complaint against her father and start beating her. When Pecola gets tease of the harsh behavior of
her parents and society then she decides to go to Soaphead Church in order to demand him blue eyes,
symbol of beauty and superiority. Instead of helping her, he uses her to kill a dog he dislikes. Claudia
MacTeer and Frieda find out that Pecola has been impregnant by her father and unlike the rest of the
neighbourhood. They wanted the baby live. They sacrifice the money, they have been saving for a Bicycle
and plant Marigold seeds. They believe that if the flowers live, so will Pecola‟s baby. The flowers refuse to
bloom when it is born prematurely. Cholly who rapes Pecola second time and then runs away, dies in a work
house. Pecola goes mad, believing that her cherished wish has been fulfilled and that she has the bluest Eyes
(Sparknotes.com)

1.1.3 Pocola’s character as a Racial Other

“The Bluest” is the important novel of the black American novelist Tonni Morrison. Major themes of this
novel are Racism, whiteness as a standard of beauty and self-hatred etc.

Racism was the prominent issue of American society which came into existence at the time when the black
African were brought as a cheap labors to the American work places. At that time America was divided into
two parts. One was Southern American where the black people cultivated various crops and the other was
Northern America where elite class(Burgeosie) lived and controlled their factories and industries. Northern
part presened atmosphere of urban area where feudal system was functional. The main resources were in the
hands of white people and black people were exploited due to their dark outlook of their skin. As Tonni
Morrison says in her interview to the news paper. Morrison says,

“ In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”

In this novel Morrison clearly indicates that the belief of whiteness as a standard of beauty has been
internalized in the minds of black people by the hands of white community. Pecola is the most tortured
creation who consistently suffers from racial discrimination. Her own mother Pauline Breedlove abuses
Pecola by treating the white girl of her employers(Boss)as superior to her just because of dark outlook. She
never felt the love of her own mother. She believes that it is because of her dark skin,eyes and woolly hair
that she is not seen as beautiful and from these thoughts she begins to hate the beauty of the white children.
Pecola once visits at her mother working place with her friends. She tries to ouchthe silvery pan near the to
see if it was hot. Pen tilts under Pecola‟s fingers and falls into the floora, splattering blackish blue berries
everywhere. Mrs Breedlve enters and slaps her by saying,

“ Crazy fool my floor, mess look what you work get on out now that crazy my floor,my floor,my floor.”

Her words were hottor and darker than the smoking berries. When Pecola walks to grocery store to buy
candy, Mr Yacobowski the shopkeeper cannot bear Pecola‟s presence and cannot look at her,

“How can a fifty-two years old white immigrant store-keeper…………….see a little black girl?”

This shows the influence of the white beauty Claudia, the eleven years old girl, narrator of the story white
beauty as horrible. She does not like admiration of Frieda and Pecola towards Shirley Temple, an icon of
white beauty. Another evidence for racism in “The Bluest Eye” is youmg Junior‟s wicked deeds towards
Pecola. Geraldine who is also black but light colour lady does not allow Junior to play with other black
children which made him dislike his own race. Once young Junior observes Pecola taking shortcut through
play ground. He had seen her many a time standing alone at recess. No body ever played with her because
she is very black and ugly. One day Young Junior invites Pecola to his home. He says that he has something
new to show her at home. Believing him she follows him. He open the door for her and foster(encouraging)
her to get in. She is scared but still goes in, because she finds a big red and gold coloured picture of Jesus
Christ on a wall. He did not anticipate any disaster to her. But Young Junior discloses his original wicked
character. He pulls her into another room and throws a big black cat right on her face. He guffaws/laughs
loudly cruelly runs around the room and says,

“ You cannot get out. You are my prisnor.”

When his mother Geraldine sees the girl trapped in her house, insults her emotionally. She says,

“ Shut up! Hair uncombed, dresses falling apart, shoes untied and caked with dirt. The end of the
world lay in their eyes and the beginning, and all the waste they were everywhere. They slept six in one bed,
all their pee mixing together in the night as they wet their beds each with his own candy and potato chip
dream. She said her get out nasty little black bitch from her home.

Cholly, father of Pecola has also been a victom of racism since his childhood. It makes him person who
cannot show love or express his feelings. He suffers from racism when he is caught having sex with his girl
friend, Darlin. Two whitemen catch him in the act and scream,

“ Get on wind it, Nigger. And make it good, Nigger, make it good.”

Toni Morrison depicts Racism in fascinating way in her novel,”The Bluest Eye.” She tries to explore that
black people are being made other on the basis of race factor. In this novel Pecola realizes the supremacy of
white society and in the world. This word itself reveals the eagerness to have even finer features

1.1.5 Research statement

This research shows the postcolonial perspective of otherization over the Pecola‟s character in Tonni
Morrison‟s “ The Bluest Eye”. It explores the racial issues of black people in American societyas well as
investigates about the main reason behind this issue as Whiteness is considered symbol of superiority and
prettiness while dark skin is considered symbol of inferiority.

1.1.6 Research Questions

1. Why Pecola Breedlove is treated harshly in her society?

2. How Racism is portrayed in Tonni Morrison‟s “The Bluest Eye”?
3. How Pecola Breedlove‟s character justify the postcolonial concept of Otherization in the novel?

1.1.7 Research Objectives

1. To explore the basic reason behind the harsh behavior of society towards Pecola.

2. To study the portrayal of Racism in the novel, “The Bluest Eye”.

3. To analyse Postcolonial concept of Otherization in the novel.

1.1.8 Research Methodology

This research is qualitative in nature. It interprets the postcolonial concept of Otherization in explanatory
way. This study is mainly conducted under a Postcolonial Theoratical frame of Work. This theory attepts to
show Pecola Breedlove as an oppressor. This work assumes that there are Postcolonial reason behind the
inferior conditions of Pecola character.

1.1.9 Significance of the Research

This Research mainly focuses on the Pecola‟s character as a Racial other in Tonni Morrison novel, “The
Bluest Eye”. It will facilitate the future Reseacher in case of Postcolonial study of this novel. It will provide
the precious knowledge to the students of Eglish literature as how they can study this novel through
Postcolonial way. This study will also be helpful for those who are interested to trace the real essence of
Literature and its puposes. It will also guide the new researchers as in searching of their research gap.
Chapter 2: Literature Review

Literature review comprises the second chapter of the research work. “The Bluest Eye” is the famous work
of African-American novelist, Tonni Morrison. She has portrayed the main issues of black community in the
novel especially black women in American society.

Yeny Cahyawati Purnomo (2002) who wrote an undergraduate thesis entitled Self-esteem and Its
Psychological Effect to Pecola, One of the Main Characters of Toni Morrison‟s The Bluest Eye. She
discussed the psychological changes of Pecola based on the theory of self-esteem.

The another researcher is Thomas Bagus Budiyanto (2005). He wrote an undergraduate thesis entitled A
Study of Pecola Breedlove‟s Inferiority feelings and Her Striving for Superiority as Seen in Toni
Morrison‟s The Bluest Eye. He analyzed theinferiority feelings of Pecola and the way she strives for
superiority caused by herphysical appearance, family condition, and social milieu.

The next researcher is Deborah Kartika Sari (2007). She wrote an undergraduate thesis entitled
African American‟s Struggle for Self-identity and Its Psychological Effects in Tony Morrison‟s The Bluest
Eye. She focused on the ways African American‟s struggle to find self-identity.

Winny in 2008 wrote an undergraduate thesis entitled The Influence of Pecola‟s Parents on Her
Abnormal Behaviors as Reflected in Toni Morrison‟s The Bluest Eye. She analyzed the abnormal
behaviors of Pecola influenced by the treatment from her parents.

Another scholar, Setya Ananta (2005) from Muhammadyah University of Surakarta conducts on this novel.
she studies general structural approach in hisresearch entitled: The American Myth of Beauty as reflected in
Tonni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eye”. This research is about the standard of American myth of beauty.

As various scholars have conducted various research over the Tonni Morrison novel “ The Bluest Eye”.
Someone has discussed the psychological aspect of this novel, someone tries to explore this novel with
feministic perspective and someone has discussed the novel through Marxist Feministic perspective. After
deeply study various works of different Scholars related to our work, the researcher has fined a research gap
that this novel has not been introduced through postcolonial concept of Otherization applied on specific
character, Pecola Breedlove. So researcher tries to explore this aspect of novel so that to extend field of
research.

This specific character Pecola Breedlove in Toni Morrison novel “The Bluest Eye”, has been shown as an
inferior character just because of her Black skin. Every man of her society hates her and never behave
normally with love as other chidren of that society. She even lacks of her own parents love. Her father
commits rape of her and later when her mother understands about the fact, she beats her and she has been
held responsible of this bad act. Pecola suffers a lot of troubles in her life and searches for a solution to get
rid of this bad situations as she faces everywhere in her society. Psychological torture character wishes for
blue eyes in order to look beautiful as the other white girls of the society and attracts the love and respect of
the society people. Whiteness and prettiness consider a standard for superiority and black skin symbolizes
with ugliness and this ugliness creates problems for the black community in American society as White
people of the same society never tolerates the blacks and try to otherize them. Whites are colonizer while
black in the same piece of land, lead a life of colonized. Black people are exploited by the hands of white
people. Pecola is bothered in public markets by the hand of white shopkeeper while in school by the hand of
white chidren. This socially construct mind set of Pecola brings her to its final madness. Toni Morrison has
depicted very effectively the bad situation of black people in American society.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology

This chapter consists of three parts: the object of the study, approach, and method. The first is the object
of the study, which explains about the novel used as the object of the study. The second is the approach
of the study that states the approach used in the study. The last part is the method of the study
which deals with the steps taken in concluding the analysis.

The novel used in the research is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It was published by Rosetta Books, in
1970. It consists of 194 pages and it is divided into six parts. Each part of the novel also consists of
some sections. The setting of place in the novel is in the United States. The novel is about a life story of
Pecola Breedlove. She is a black girl who lives in America and is underestimated by other people
because of her ugliness. She wants to be beautiful like white girls having white skin, blonde hair
and she always prays to turn her eyes into blue. She is very obsessed with those things, and these make
her do everything to make her beautiful even though it is irrational. Yet, all of her efforts to make
herself more beautiful are actually useless because her ugliness cannot be changed.

A socio-cultural historical approach is employed to conduct the study. The social-cultural historical
approach is applied to analyze the social condition, culture, historical background of Black American
people who live in America in order to analyze the existence of racism as described in the novel.
According to Rohrberger and Woods (1971), a socio-cultural historical is a study that puts the
existence of the work of literature as a product of civilization (p. 9). They add that a literary work is not
created in a vacuum time and history. It is indeed the society with its civilization that becomes the
background of literary work. Literature mirrors the society. Therefore, it is necessary that the critics
investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessary reflects.
Meanwhile, Wilson (1948) says that an approach is considered with social, economic, and political
aspects of work of art (p. 257). The socio-cultural historical approach will help the researcher to
answer the first question on the problem formulations. The researcher also uses the psychological
approach because it helps the researcher understand the perception of Pecola Breedlove seeing
herself. Barry (2002) defines psychological approach as a form of literary criticism which uses some
techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literary. Moreover, according to Rohrberger and
Woods (1971) psychological approach is an approach that involves the effort to locate and demonstrate
certain recurrent patterns and which refers to a different body of knowledge, that is psychology (p. 13). It
will help the researcher to understand the impact of the racism on Pecola Breedlove‟s life more
easily. This approach is applied in order to find out the answer of the second problem formulations.

In this study, the method used in gathering the data was library research. The first step on the
process of gaining information of the novel was by reading the novel several times.

By reading the novel several times, the researcher would find the messages that existed in the novel as
many as possible. Then, the researcher searched for the issue on the novel and also some cases
related to the racism between black and white people. The researcher tried to focus on the character
of Pecola Breedlove as the main character of the novel. The researcher gathered some information related
to the racism and the impact of the racism on Pecola‟s personality. After that the researcher started
to make an outline so that the researcher poured out the idea more easily. The last step was
analyzing the data that had been gathered to answer the formulated problems.
Chapter 4: Discussion and Analysis

This chapter presents the analysis of the novel. There are two main sections organized according to
the problems formulation. The first part is about how racism is portrayed in the Tony Morrison‟s The
Bluest Eye. The second one is the impact of racism on Pecola Breedlove‟s personality and the ways of
seeing herself in Toni Morison‟s The Bluest Eye.

4.1 Racism as Portrayed in the Toni Morison’s The Bluest Eye

In The Bluest Eye, there are some parts of the story that describe the racism experienced by black
people in the U.S. Racism itself according to Todorov (2000) in its usual sense actually designates
two different things. They are the matter of behaviour and the matter of ideology (p. 64). This section is
divided into three parts. The first part is about the racism illustrating the physical differences
between black and white people. Then, the next part discusses more about the economic and social
status. The last part talks about how white people treat the black in the novel.

4.1.1 Physical differences between black and white people

The difference of races is easily identified based on the physical appearance from one person to another.
Todorov (2000) states that the existence of race obviously consists of human groupings whose
members have commonphysical characteristics or rather it consists in affirming the relevance and the
significance of that notion. In his opinion, human being indeed differs from one another in their
physical characteristics, blood composition, skeletal system, and the epidermis. He adds that the
differences of race are visible to see in the skin color, body, hair, facial configuration (pp. 64-65). In
the beginning of the story in the novel, the author of the novel brings up the racism that shows the
contrast images of white people and black people. In this novel white people are symbolized with
something that are always good and perfect. For example, the first symbol of white people in the
novel is in the Shirley Temple mug. It is described in the novel that the picture of Shirley Temple is full
of sweetness and beauty that make people want to taste the sweet and beauty of it.

“Frieda bought her four graham crackers on a saucer and some milk in blue-and-white Shirley
Temple cup. She was a long time with the milk, and gazed fondly at the silhouette of Shirley
Temple‟s dimpled face. Frieda and she had a loving conversation about how cute Shirley Temple
was.” (p. 20)

The colors of the cup, white and blue, actually become a symbol of white skin and blue eyes of white
people. Shirley Temple‟s face with her dimples makes the face look so beautiful and cute. The silhouette of
Shirley Temple is designed to make people adore that girl. It is the image of an ideal white girl that
makes every girl wants to be like that. According to Szwed (1970), racist spirit of the U.S is
immature and negative, and it is only directed toward Negroes (p. 58).

Another symbol of white people besides the picture of the girl on the mug is a baby doll whose eyes are
blue.
“It had begun with Christmas and the gift dolls. The big, the special,the loving gift was always a big,
blue-eyed Baby Doll. From the clucking sounds of adults I knew that the doll represented what they
thought was my fondest wish.” (p. 21)

Again based on the quotation, somebody that is beautiful is identified by blue eyes. Adults consider
that the cuteness of the doll with blue eyes is what all children want as a Christmas gift. Since the
blue eyes are symbols of white people and only white people who have blue eyes, the doll that every
child dreams of becomes a symbol of what white people always want in the society.

“Adults, older girls, shop, magazines, newspapers, window signs—all the world had agreed that a
blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. “Here,” they said, “this is
beautiful, and if you are on this day „worthy‟ you may have it.”” (p. 22)

According to adults, that doll is so lovable. It is cute and perfect as a gift on Christmas. With its
blue eyes and yellow hair, the doll is a perfect characteristic of white people. The doll is a treasure for
every girl and it means the white people define themselves as something precious as a treasure.

Another evidence that represents the symbol of white people in the novel is in the wrapper of a
candy. A white girl is also the picture on a candy named Mary Jane. The picture on the candy is
a picture of a beautiful girl with perfect appearance with blue eyes.

“Each pale yellow wrapper has a picture on it. A picture of little Mary Jane, for whom the candy
is named. Smiling white face. Blond hair in gentle disarray, blue eyes looking at her out of a
world of clean comfort. The eyes are petulant, mischievous.” (p. 49)

The author of this novel consistently describes white people with physical characteristics as having bright
skin, blue eyes, and yellow and blonde hair. Considering the quotations above, the beauty
symbolized by her petulant and mischievous eyes is matched with the smiling white face and blond hair
that make the picture of candy more interesting. It will attract people to eat the candy because of the
beautiful Mary Jane.

On the other hand, black people are described in contrast with white people. While white people
are always illustrated as the best one, here in this novel black people are always pictured as ugly. It can
be seen in all of Breed loves family members who are described as very ugly. Black people as a race has
their own special characteristics of appearance. They do not have blue eyes, white skin, and blonde hair like
white people, but in the novel everything on their appearance is described definitely ugly. They do not
even live in a storefront because they consider themselves as the ugliest people in the world because of
their black skin.

“The Breedloves did not live in a storefront because they are having temporary difficulty adjusting to
the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there
because they believed they were ugly. Although their poverty was traditional and stultifying, it was not
unique. But their ugliness was unique.” (p. 38)
No one knows what actually makes them so ugly. The novel states that their ugliness is unique. The
father, Cholly Breedlove, is described that he has his ugliness as a result of their attitude besides of his
skin color. It is because of his behavior and his hard life which is full of violence. Mrs. Breedlove,
Sammy Breedlove, and Pecola Breedlove who are also the members of this family, are ugly too.
Their appearances are ugly.

“The eyes, the small eyes set closely together under narrow foreheads. The low, irregular hairlines, which
seemed even more irregular in contrast to the straight, heavy eyebrows which nearly meet. Keen but
crooked noses, with insolent nostrils. They had high cheekbones, and their ears turned forward.
Shapely lips which called attention not to themselves but to the rest of the face.”(p.38)

Those all are the images of black people and their ugliness in the novel. This is in contrast to white people
who are symbolized in many beautiful things there.

”You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the
source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious
all-knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had each accepted it without
question.” (p. 38)

Their ugliness attracts people to wonder why they are ugly, but no one exactly knows which part of
their body which makes them ugly. They themselves also believe that they are ugly. Their certainty of
ugliness makes them worst. The novel also described how they accept their ugliness.

“The Master had said, “You are ugly people.” They had looked about themselves and saw nothing to
contradict the statement; saw, in fact, support for it learning at them from every billboard, every
movie, every glance. “Yes,” they had said. “You are right.” and they took the ugliness in their hands, threw
it as a mantle over them, and went about the world with it.” (pp. 38-39)

When people around them say directly to themselves that they are ugly people, they cannot reject
that statement because it is the truth. They will always look about themselves and see nothing to
reject the statement. This is related to the theory of acceptance. According to Parrillo (1985) in his
theory of acceptance, the minority people accept the situation in which they find themselves and they do it
with their awareness (p. 90). In the novel, the blacks are the minority group that has to accept their
condition and in this case they consider theirselves as ugly.

Toni Morrison in her novel uses some colors to differentiate two races. The colors that she uses
also give a different meaning to each race. As Parrilo (1985), says that colors are symbols
connoting meanings about people. He adds that the words used to describe the two races, white and
black, usually conveypositive and negative meaning. According to Parrilo, white is a symbol of positive
and black is for negative (p. 316). Here in this novel, white race is described with white color which means
beautiful. On the other hand, black race is described with black color that is ugly.
4.1.2 Financial Position of White People and Black People

Not only the physical appearance that makes those two races different, there is one more aspect
portrayed in the novel which makes white people and black people different. It is the contrasting
economic side of both races. In the novel, white people are described as rich people and well
financially. They live happily with all their money and they have all what they want easily while
the black people live under poverty. Black people in the novel are pictured not as lucky as white people in
the financial side (p. 12). According to Parrillo (1985), the blacks have considerable difficulty
achieving economic security as the result of slavery in a land they do not choose and in which they
have no opportunity to advance themselves because they are not free. They have to work hard to fulfill
their daily needs. It is so difficult to black people to have proper jobs since most of them are
uneducated. Black people face considerable discrimination in education, housing, and also
employment (p. 306). So most of black people only rely on their physical power and spend all their
energy to work as laborers. Based on this case we can relate it into the history of slavery of black
people in America. Slavery is practiced throughout the American colonies in the17th and 18th
centuries, and African-American or black people slaves help to build the economic foundations of the new
nation (Slavery in America, 2015). Accordingly white people are richer than black people, it is because
black people worked for white people and white people were the ones who enjoyed the result of it.

The very beginning of the novel tells how white people‟s life is very prosperous, so they become
arrogant to black people. It is about a white girl named Rosemary Villanucci that lives in her
father‟s café. She eats bread and butter at that time and there are two black girls who stare at her wanting
her bread. Rosemary intentionally shows up to the black girls that she enjoys her meals. She chooses to
roll down the window to tell the black girls that they cannot come to her home rather than giving
some bread to them (p. 12).

It is also clearly portrayed in the novel the difference between white and black people in their
financial life. For Rosemary living with her father having a café means that the family is rich. The child
can eat good meals such as bread and butter that not every black people can eat them every day.

Rosemary can go everywhere by her father‟s car (p. 12). So, we can imagine that their life is full of joy
because they are rich. Whereas, the two black girls can only stare at her with the hope that Rosemary will
give some to them. Here, white people do not want to share something to black people.

In contrast to Rosemary Villanucci whose father has a café and a happy life, the Breedloves
family‟s life is not as lucky as her. According to Parrillo (1985), the Black family income has always
been significantly lower than whitesamily income (p. 336). In the novel, the Breedloves who are
Afro-Americans have to adjust with their financial life.

“The Breedloves did not live in a storefront because they were having temporary difficulty adjusting
to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there
because they believed they were ugly. Although their poverty was traditional and stultifying, it was not
unique.” (p. 38)

The Breedloves cannot find any other places because they do not have money. They have only two
rooms and three beds for the parents and two children. There are no bath facilities except a toilet bowl
(p. 35). In the story, it is told that they are live under the poverty. Their poverty is traditional. In
the other words, traditionally black people are poor also. Therefore, the poverty becomes such a
common problem for black people.

The image that white people in the novel are rich is also found in one of the character, Maureen
Peal. She is a white girl and comes from a rich family.

“She was rich, at least by our standards, as rich as the richest of the white girls, swaddled in comfort and
care. The quality of her clothes threatened to derange Frieda and me. Patent-leather shoes with
buckles, a cheaper version of which we got only at Easter and which had disintegrated by the end of May.
Fluffy sweaters the color of lemon drops tucked into skirts with pleats so orderly they astounded us”
(pp. 58-59).

Because of the richness she lives in comfort and care. Moreover, she always has money to buy
anything she wants. One day Maureen and three other black girls walk together going home. On
the way, they see a shop that sells ice cream. Maureen and those three black girls stop but only
Maureen and one of those three girls named Pecola who buy the ice cream. Maureen can directly buy the
ice cream because she has money to buy it. Pecola actually does not have money but Maureen
buys it for Pecola. However, the other two black girls onlywant the ice cream and they do not
have money. So they only stare at Maureen and hope that she will buy some for them (pp. 64-65).

Based on the explanation above, we can see clearly the difference among black and white children. As
stated before that most white people are rich, they can give money to their children so that the children
can buy anything they want. Meanwhile the black people that are usually poor will not give money to
their children only to make the children happy by buying something unimportant such as ice cream or
candy.

In addition, most of black people have no decent jobs that make them rich. As Parrillo (1985) says that for
many American, occupation is a primary measure status so it becomes comparative instrument to
compare one group to another. Parrillo also says that a greater occupation of Blacks continue as
operatives, service workers, and nonfarm laborer which are low-pay and low-skill position (p. 338). It is
also described in the novel about the job taken by Breedloves. The husband, Colly Breedlove, when
he is young he has to quit school to take a job at Tyson‟s Feed and Grain store (p. 121). Then after he
gets married, he moves to the city with his wife and works at the steel plant (p. 107). He works
as a labor, not the owner of the company and his salary is too low for his family. It makes his wife, Pauline
Breedlove, has to find another side job to suffice their daily need.
According to Parrillo (1985) female-headed families have caused the poverty rate rise for Blacks
because they lack education and job skills, and also they are poor of earning potential (pp. 336-337). In
the novel, it is described that Pauline Breedlove takes the job as a day worker. The salary helps her to buy
newclothes and even few things for the apartment. After several months of doing day work, she takes steady
job at a house of a white family, but for some reasons the boss does not pay the salary to her (p. 108).

“She didn‟t never give me the eleven dollars she owed me, neither. That hurt bad. The gas man has cut off,
and I couldn‟t cook none. I really begged that woman for my money. I went to see her. She was
mad as a wet hen. Kept on telling me I owed her for uniforms and some old broken-down bed she give me.
I didn‟t know if I owed her or not, but I need my money. (p. 109)”

The employer treats Pauline unfairly by not giving her salary. It seems that the employer can do
whatever she wants to do to Pauline. This is also proof theory from Blalock in Parrillo‟s book (1985)
that the dominant group will not hesitate to employ unfair actions if it thinks that this will be an effective
means of undercutting the minority group as a social rival. Here the employer that belongs to dominant
group of white people does not care about Pauline‟s conditions. Even Pauline has tried to talk to her and
make her understand. However, she chooses to find some reasons not to keep paying Pauline‟s salary.
This shows the white people‟s image when they hire black people to work for them. This happens as the
result of their argument and belief that the Blacks are considered as a heathen and a barbarian, outcasts
among people of the earth and doomed to be servants forever on account of an ancient sin (Myrdal,
2000, p. 87). White people will easily exploit black people‟s effort and energy without giving the
reward because they are doomed to be servants.

Based on the story above we can conclude that white people do not seem to care about black people‟s
prosperity. Whereas, Wilson in Parrillo (1985) says that actually the Blacks can compete equally
with Whites if the Blacks have thesame opportunity to get proper education. At the same time the
increasing job qualifications in this high-technology will keep the blacks underclass permanently trapped in
economic subordination. Wilson also stresses that social class denies upward mobility to the black poor
(p. 339).

On the other occasion, Pauline then moves to another place to work but still as a housemaid. She
also works for a white family. In contrast to Pauline‟s apartment in the back store, here the place
she works for is the representation of white people‟s house which is beautiful.

““That big white house with the wheelbarrow full of flowers.” It house that we knew, having admired the
large white wheelbarrow titled down on spooked wheels and planted with seasonal flowers.” (p. 94)

The house clearly represents white family and the flowers become a symbol of the beauty from the owner of
the house. Here in the new workplace Pauline gets more humane treatment by the employer. She also asks
her daughter, Pecola Breedlove, to help her sometimes. There, Pecola helps the mother to get the
wash (p. 93). Pauline has a new nick name there. The whole white family there calls Pauline by Polly.
Even the children of the family also call Pauline directly with that name without showing the respect
to older people.

””Where is Polly?” she asked.

The familiar violence rose in me. Her calling Mrs. Breedlove Polly, when even Pecola called her mother
Mrs. Breedlove, seemed reason enough to scratch her.

“She‟s downstairs,” I said.

Polly!” she called.” (p. 99)

Pecola calls her mother by Mrs. Breedlove, but in the workplace, the children of the owner simply
call her Polly. They really consider that Pauline is only a servant so they can call her anything
they want. Even though the storydescribes that the family actually is nicer than the former white family,
but based on the children‟s attitude, they are not really good at respecting other people. This is related to
racial belief in the U.S. that slavery may end, but some people still believe that Blacks are inferior
to Whites (Parrillo, 1985, p. 309). That is why white people do not have to respect the blacks.

4.2 The Impacts of Racism on Pecola Breedlove’s Ways of Seeing Herself in Toni Morrison’s
The Bluest Eye

Racism towards black people in the novel also brings some impacts to the characters. It affects their
personal life and social life. Pecola is one of the characters in the novel that has a negative impact as
the result of racism. She has her own perception on seeing herself as a black girl. Altman (1985)
defines perception as the way of how stimuli are selected and grouped by person so that they can be
meaningfully interpreted. In thissection the researcher finds out how Pecola interprets the stimuli that
comes to her life and selects it as her personal perception. This section is divided into two parts that
will analyze Pecola‟s life as the impact of racism. First, it presents the perception of Pecola about her
physical characteristics as black and ugly as the impact of racism. The next part discusses about Pecola
wanting to be like a white girl and her efforts to be beautiful.

4.2.1 Pecola’s Perceptions as the Impact of Racism on the Ways She Sees Herself as a Black
Girl

Everyone has their own perception to see something. As Altman (1985) says that someone‟s
perception can be different from others and it depends on some factors that influence in someone‟s
life. Here in this section, perception is the way of Pecola seeing herself. She has her own opinion to
describe herself. As a black girl that comes from a black family, Pecola often experiences the discrimination
caused by racism. Discrimination itself can be explained by actualbehavior or the practice of differential
and unequal treatment of other groups of people, usually along racial, religious, or ethnic lines (Parrillo,
1985). The discrimination itself gives some impacts to Pecola especially her thought about herself.
In the novel, Pecola is described as a black and ugly girl. Her mother feels upset when knowing how Pecola
looks like after she delivers Pecola to the world.

“They give her to me for a nursing, and she liked to pull my nipple off right away. She caught on
fast. Not like Sammy, he was the hardest child to feed. But Pecola look like she knowed right off what
to do. A right Smart baby she was. I use to like to watch her. You know they makes them greedy sounds.
Eyes all soft and wet. A cross between a puppy and a dying man. But I knowed she was ugly. Head full
of pretty hair, but Lord she was ugly.” (p. 114)

The quotations show that Pauline is actually happy of having a smart baby like Pecola. One thing
that makes her a little bit disappointed is when she knows that her baby is ugly. This is related to the first
level of perception theory according to Altman. In the first level there is a process of selecting stimuli
which is the process when someone must focus on the small number only and she/he will select
and filter some specific stimuli. That is why people will perceive things differently based on their
process of selecting the specific stimuli (Altman et al., 1985, p. 86). In Pauline‟s case, she focuses
only on Pecola‟s ugliness. As the result, she is not happy because she perceives her daughter differently
from other mothers in the world perceive their daughters. She has to accept that and to deal with
the ugliness of her baby. When most of the mothers are proud of their daughters and believe that
their daughters are beautiful, here Pauline has realized that her daughter is ugly since the baby is born.

Pecola thinks that the ugliness comes from the color of her skin and her black eyes. According to
Altman (1985) the situation or past experience will affect what the person perceives about certain
things (p. 86). Here, Pecola‟s life problem is the situation that becomes stimuli that affect her perception of
herself. In her imagination, her black eyes are always there when she wants to escape from the problems. It
makes everything in her life worse.

“Please God,” she whispering into the palm of her hand. “Please make me disappear.” She squeezed her
eyes shut. Little parts of her body faded away. Now slowly, now with a rush. Slowly again. Her fingers
went, one by one; then her arms disappeared all the way to the elbow. Her feet now. Yes, that was good.
The legs all at once. It was hardest above the things. She had to be real still and pull. Her stomach
would not go. But finally it, too, went away. Then her chest, her neck. The face was hard, too. Almost done,
almost. Only her tight, tight eyes were left. They were always left.” (p. 44)

In her imagination, she can go everywhere and escape from her problem by disappearing, but the fact
is that she cannot do that because her eyes do not want to disappear. According to her, the black eyes
cannot be hidden and they will always be seen by all of people around her. She has tried many times to
make her eyes disappear from her body but still they are left because the color of the eyes is too hard to be
hidden away.

“Try as she might, she could never get her eyes to disappear. So what was the point? They were
everything. Everything was there, in them. All of those pictures, all of those faces. She had long given
up the idea of running away to see new pictures, new faces, as Sammy had often done. He never took her,
and he never thought about his going ahead of time, so it was never planned. It wouldn‟t have work
anyway. As long as she looked the way she did, as long as she was ugly, she would have to stay
with these people.”(p. 44)

She thinks that all the problems come from her eyes. This is also related to Altman‟s explanation
that the accurateness of perceiving situations related to theway how well a person adapts his/her
behavior to the situation (1985, p. 86). In this case, Pecola cannot adapt the situation well so she
perceives that the source of her life problem comes from her eyes. She wants to avoid the conflict
and the problems but she cannot run away. Even her brother never takes her with him. As long as her eyes
are black and she is ugly, she will always be stuck with her problem. She blames her ugliness and
her black eyes as the source of trouble in her life.

At the school Pecola always sits alone in a doubled-desk (pp. 44-45). No one wants to share the
desk with Pecola because her eyes and her skin are different. It makes her look strange to her
classmate. Moreover it is because Pecola is ugly.

“It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights—if
those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different. Her teeth were
good, and at least her nose was not big and flat like some of those who were thought so cute. If she looked
different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they‟d say,
“Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn‟t do bad things in front of those pretty eyes.”” (p. 45)

The quotation shows that she always blames her ugliness. Her ugliness comes from her eyes which
are black, the teeth that are not good, and the nose that is big. She believes that it is her ugliness fault so
people around her often do bad things in front of her. She wonders if everything on her body was
good then people would treat her in a good way and they would never do all of bad things in front of her
eyes.

The ways people around her treat her also affect her perception on seeing herself. Her friends often mock her
by calling her “black”. At school she becomes the victim of racism by the boys. They insult Pecola with the
word “black” which has lots of bad connotations. The boys at school will make a circle around Pecola and
shout to her with something bad and makes her cry.

“A group of boys was circling and holding at bay a victim, Pecola Breedlove. Bay Boy, Woodrow
Cain, Buddy Wilson, Junie Bug—like a necklace of semiprecious stone they surrounded her. Heady
with the smell of their own musk, thrilled by the easy power of majority, they gaily harassed her. “Black e
mo. Black e mo. Yadaddsleepsnekked. Black e mo black e mo ya dadd sleeps nekked. Black e mo...”” (p.
61)

The boys do not only insult Pecola with her skin color, but also the sleeping habit of her father. Pecola
breaks the circle then she cries. She drops her notebook, and covers her eyes with her hands (p. 62). It makes
Pecola cry because she is insulted by being called “black” and it actually has hurt her. She is not
happy with that because when people insult her with the word “black”, it means that black is mouthing
which is not good. This is related to Parrilo‟s theory that continual treatment as an inferior encourages a
loss of self-confidence. If everything about a person‟s position and experiences works to destroy pride and
hope, that person may become unconcerned (1985, p. 90). Based on that experience, Pecola then has
negative self-images. Therefore, her perception on her color of skin is ugly since black means ugly.
She feels ashamed with her skin color which is black and she is ashamed of her father‟s sleeping habits too.
She does not know how to stop the boys insulting her like that. So what she can do is only crying.

Pecola‟s skin color that comes from her race becomes a weapon for people around her that will be easily
used when they want to insult her. That is why, Pecola hates her appearance because for her there
is nothing good in herself. In one occasion she is trapped in a fight with her friends. Pecola and two other
black girls are fighting with one white girl because the white girl insults them. As the result the
white girl named Maureen Peal screams at the black girls by calling them “black”.

“”You stop talking about her daddy,” I said.

“What do I care about her old black daddy?” asked Maureen.

“You!”

“You think you so cute!” I swung at her and missed, hitting Pecola in the face. Furious at my clumsiness, I
threw my notebook at her, but it caught her the small of her velvet back, for she had turned and was flying
across the street against traffic.

Safe on the other side, she screamed at us, “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am
cute!”” (p. 69)

The fight ends by Maureen saying that she is cute and the black girls are ugly. It hurts Pecola and also her
friends. There, Maureen does not only insult the girls but also Pecola‟s father by saying her daddy is old and
black. Pecola then falls into pain not only because of the swing that is missed and hits her but also because
of Maureen‟s statement. Her statement strengthens Pecola‟s perception about being black means that she
will always be ugly. The quotations above show us that the way white people treat the blacks also influences
the blacks‟ perception, especially Pecola‟s perception of herself.

Her black skin that makes her ugly also attracts people to disturb her. In one occasion, when she
wants to go home from school there is a boy named Junior who is interested in teasing Pecola to be his
victim. Junior has seen Pecolamany times before. Junior thinks that her ugliness of her very black
skin color makes nobody want to play with her (p. 82). Heforces Pecola to play with him even
though Pecola does not want it.

He asks Pecola to visit his house by saying that he will give Pecola a kitten. Without any
suspicion, Pecola accepts Junior‟s invitation so she is trapped in his trick. After they arrive at Junior‟s house,
suddenly he throws a big black cat into Pecola‟s face (p. 83). Here, Junior throws a black cat because
he hates the black cat and he intentionally throws it into Pecola‟s face because according to him the cat is
as ugly as Pecola.

In this case, Pecola also experiences the fourth level of discrimination, physical abuse (Parrilo,
1985, p. 78), that is done by Junior towards her. Pecola gets surprised because the cat claws her face
and chest. Then she cries and tries to go out from the house but Junior stops her by telling her that she is his
prisoner.

Her tears come fast and she holds her face in her hands. While crying she realizes something good at the
black cat. Even though the cat is black but it has blue eyes that makes it different from others.

Therefore, Pecola assumes that the cat is beautiful because the eyes are blue and she will still be
ugly as long as she has black eyes. Junior then takes the cat from Pecola rudely, but Pecola tries to protect
the cat. They fight for the black cat until they fall down and let go the cat as is limp and dying.
Then suddenly Junior‟s mother comes home and sees her cat dying, she is very angry. Junior tells the
mother that Pecola is the one who wants to kill their cat, so Junior‟s mother is really mad at Pecola.
Junior‟s mother then drives Pecola away from her house. She also yells at Pecola cruelly by saying
“Get out. You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house.” (p. 86)

The way Junior‟s mother chases Pecola away is very bad. She combines some words that have bad
connotation to drive Pecola away. She calls Pecola with “nasty little black bitch”. That hurts Pecola‟s
heart. It makes Pecola accustomed to being called “black” by people around her. This is related to
Altman‟s theory that the situation will affect what the person perceives about certain things (Altman
et al., 1985, p. 86). This case makes Pecola‟s perception about being black girl worse. She will
always perceive the word black with the meaning of ugly and bad as people always say about it.

Pecola also has been accustomed to being ignored by people around her. She realizes that people
around her make a distance and limit their interaction with her because of her black skin that brings her
to be ugly. Every day at school nobody wants to share the doubled-desk with her and her teacher also
treats Pecola in different ways because she is ugly and different from others (p. 45). Outside of the
school, she is also ignored by the shopkeeper when she will buy Mary Jane candy. The shopkeeper,
Mr. Yacobwski, does not want to notice Pecola because of her ugliness. He does not want to waste
his time to watch a black little girl in his store (p. 47). Then Pecola realizes it must be her
ugliness that comes from her blackness, so a grown-up like Mr. Yakobowski limits his
communication with her.

“She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her
blackness. All things in her are flux and anticipation. But her blackness is static and dread. And it is the
blackness that accounts for, that creates, the vacuum edged with distaste in white eyes.” (p. 47)
She wants to cry when she remembers how Mr. Yacobowsky treats her. She cannot do anything to
get an equal treatment as normally people get. That is why, she is familiar with that kind of treatment by
white people who ignores the blacks such as Pecola.

Pecola cannot see the beauty inside her. She has her own concept about herself as the result of what
she sees in the world around her.

„Thrown, 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.” (p. 45)

There, we can see that Pecola only sees what other people have. She focuses on white people‟s blue
eyes and considers it as beautiful. She looks at someone else and finds the beauty of them. She does not have
blue eyes because she is a black girl that makes her build her self-concept. According to Altman
(1985) the way people see and perceive themselves is called by self concept. It is affecting their
perception on things in the world around them. In other words, the way we see ourselves affect our
perception in our own world (p. 86). From the theory we can conclude that the way Pecola sees and
perceives herself affects her perception on herself. Then, she perceives herself as ugly because she does not
look like a white girl. Pecola‟s self-concept toward herself is an ugly girl. She will never find the
beauty inside her as long as she always looks into the beauty of a white girl.

Chapter 5: Conclusion

Based on the analysis, there are two main points that can be concluded from the analysis. The first
conclusion is drawn from the analysis of the first problem that is how racism is portrayed in The Bluest
Eye. There are three things that differentiate black people from white people in the novel. The first concerns
about physical differences. Because of the different races they have their own special physical
characteristics. In the novel, the whites are symbolized with something that is always good, perfect
and beautiful such as having blue eyes, white skin, and blonde hair. White people also become the
icons printed on pictures of mugs, the dolls, and also pictures of wrapped candies. Yet, in the novel the
blacks are described in contrast with white people. Toni Morrison brings up a black family named The
Breedlove as the symbol of black people. There, black people are described as having very black
skin and they are very ugly. The differences between black people and white people also can be
seen in their financial positions. White people are always portrayed as having better
financialposition. They are rich and they live happily with their money. In contrast, Blacks are not as lucky
as white people in their financial position. The blacks are described as always being poor. They
only work to white people as the labors. Then the last that makes those two races different is how
white people treat the blacks in the novel. It is clearly seen that the whites do not treat black
people fairly. The blacks often get an unequal treatment in public places. The white people also limit
their interaction and communication with black people.
The second main point of the conclusion is the answer to the second problem formulation. It is about
the impact of racism on the main character in the novel, Pecola Breedlove, and her ways of seeing herself.
As the result of racism, Pecola then describes “black” as ugly. She also describes herself as an ugly girl.
Pecola thinks that the ugliness comes from the color of her skin and her black eyes. She blames
her skin color and her eyes as the source of her ugliness. According to Pecola, her color skin and
her eyes are the source of her life problems. Pecola also wants to be like a white girl. She wants to have
blue eyes so people will treat her nicely. She tries many ways in order to make her dream to be like a white
girl come true. Her efforts to change herself into white people are irrational. Yet, Pecola keeps doing
that because she really wants to have blue eyes even though it is impossible. Finally, based on the
analysis it can be concluded that racism which happens toward black people has negative impacts
on the main character of the novel, Pecola Breedlove. Racism that Pecola experiences influence her
perceptionon seeing herself as a black girl. The impact is clearly seen by her efforts to be like a
white girl.
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