Open Prompt Response #2

2003, Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures – national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or play in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.

                Often, societal values and prejudices shape many of our ways of thinking. We learn to yearn for one thing and hate another thing, just because that’s what people around us do. Depending on the kind of society we live in or the people we grow up with, we develop certain types of ideas and prejudices. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison tells the story of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who learns to hate herself because of her ethnicity and the supposed ugliness that’s attached to it. All around her, whether it’s in her parents, teachers, books, toys, or peers, Pecola sees evidence of the idea that whites are far prettier than and superior to blacks. Rather than embrace her identity as a black girl, she experiences an unfortunate loss of identity by yearning to be white and to associate herself with white culture.

                One key trait that Pecola associates with white culture is beauty. Throughout the book, Pecola feels that she’s ugly and thinks that she would be pretty if she were white. More than anything, she wishes to have blue eyes, a quality only white girls can have.  She sees that Maureen Peal, who is a light-skinned girl, is admired as pretty and favored by teachers and classmates alike. On top of this, she realizes that there are only white toy girl dolls that her peers play with. Being exposed to white culture in this way, Pecola directly associates white culture with beauty.

                Pecola also learns to associate white culture with stability and tight-knit family lifestyle. When she reads stories about Dick and Jane at school, she sees two white kids who are happy and have loving parents. She also sees her light-skinned classmate, Junior, come home to an attentive and caring mother. By seeing examples of white kids receiving care and love from their families, Pecola finds another reason to want to be white.

 Meanwhile, Pecola’s experiences with the realities of being black often teach her to hate black culture. Much of Pecola’s hatred comes from her own upbringing with her parents. The two parents are always arguing and physically fighting one another whenever Pecola gets home from school. Pecola had to live in a foster home as a small child because her drunk father burned down their house. Often, her mother wouldn’t be home to make food until late at night. To Pecola, the unhappy, volatile lifestyle at her home directly represents black culture.

Understanding how Pecola was exposed to black and white culture, it’s easy to see why Pecola struggled to find self-worth as a black girl. The sharp contrast in quality of life and quality of treatment made it clear to Pecola that becoming a white girl would be the best thing ever to happen to her.