Novel Update 3

The Bluest Eye

Marla Rodriguez
A01186833
What is the main conflict in the novel? Explain it in detail, giving
examples from the book.
Racism, hate, sexual abuse and standards of beauty are the main
conflicts in the novel.
Racism is portrayed by the same African American people, boys
bullied Pecola because of the color of her skin, but these boys
were also black, which reflects self hate and discrimination
towards people of the same race. Another example of racism is
when Junior accuses Pecola of killing her mothers cat, so
according to the narrator, Juniors mom says, Get out, you nasty
little black bitch. Get out of my house. (Morrison, 1970, p. 92),
which is ironical, since she is also black, but she feels superior
because she married a rich man. This reflects a lot of hate in the
African American community portayed in this novel, which leads to
self-hate and discrimination between kids.
Another problem reflected in the novel is sexual abuse, which
happens constantly throughout the story and reflects another
reality of the world. Pecolas father abused not only of her mother
while he was drunk, but also of Pecola. Another example is when
Henry touched Pecolas breasts, which makes her a ruined
person and women in town start to assume shell become a
prostitute.
An intern conflict that is also reflected throughout the novel is self
hate and the perception of beauty. Pecolas desire of having blue
eyes, makes her go crazy, which is a growing conflict in the novel.
She thought tha she has ugly just because she was black, and
societys perception of beauty, as mentioned before, was having
blue eyes and light skin, so she desired it so bad that she prayed
for it until she went crazy.