Feature The Bluest Eye

Structure Fragmented
Non Linear – flashbacks, significant events, linked by symbols, memory is important
Very significant opening – linked to the end
Cyclical – linked by the symbol of seeds
The primer with typographical variation sets the tone through contrast and connotation
The lines from the Primer used as title headings
The four seasons and the botanical aberration (the marigolds not blossoming in spring)
Carefully woven incidents (illustrating singular and important characteristics of the
characters) to develop the characters.
Foregrounding the insignificant and unsavory details and backgrounding the significant
Focused on the how and not on the why
The season and the content may stand in contrast at times.
The transition in time and space is indicated through the use of double spacing
Italics are used to designate the speech of the characters like Pauline
Blues songs and a hymn are used to convey the implicit and internal ideas (desires) of the
characters
Direct speech in used in significant places especially to capture the African American speech
and community mannerisms
The letter written by Soaphead church is an abstract reflection on the idea of beauty and
destiny.

Feature The Bluest Eye

Language Speakerly- language capturing the idiosyncrasies of individual characters eg: Claudia vs
Pecola
Aural- the conversation and narration of the children represents the eavesdropping nature of
the narrative and also the process of language acquisition (Pauline)
Colloquial – captures the uniqueness of the African American culture “race free yet race
specific language”
Poetic – use of very original symbols and metaphors to illustrate abstract emotions.
 Eg: “anger like a hot mouthed puppy”
“love as thick as alga syrup”
Changes in register- to show the age and social standing of the characters eg: compare
Soaphead’s language and Pauline’s
Removes the sting – language functions as a narcotic as it smoothens the raw nerve of racial
contempt. It makes the content more acceptable and palpable. Eg. Description of the rape
scene
Captures the exuberance and vibrance of the community
Moves with ease from narration of plot to abstraction and reflection on the macrocosmic
themes
Subtle manipulation of the language and the description of the physical features of the
Breedlove family actually makes us question why society hates them or calls them ugly.
A feminine subtext and a sense of gossip and is created in the opening line “quite as its
kept”
Co-conspiracy and intimacy is created with the reader through the language
Morrison says about the language used to describe the rape “the most masculine act of
aggression becomes feminized in my language”
Morrison says “she attempts to shape a silence while breaking it”

Feature The Bluest Eye

Narrator Claudia is the chief narrator and there is an omniscient third person narrator too.
Claudia narrates through an adult as well as child’s perspective
The child’s narration is more concrete as it talks about events in a stark manner. The
perspective is unsullied by adult conventions and there a sense of honesty and individuality
to it.(Claudia journey from childhood to adulthood is marked when she says, “Thus the
conversion from sadism to fabricated hatred, to fraudulent love”
The transition into an adult perspective (abstract and explanatory) is illustrated through the
line “we were so beautiful when we stood astride her ugliness”
Narration by dynamic characters
Pecola is a “narrative void” because of her passivity
Pauline’s narrative is shown is printed in italics and captures her idiosyncrasies effectively
 Soaphead’s narrative shows a philosophical reflection on the nature of beauty and the
injustice of situations.
Multiple perspectives
Symbols and motifs are used to hold the narration together.
Microcosm to macrocosm
Claudia is Morisson’s ideological mouthpiece
Pecola’s schizophrenic conversation
Narrators rely on memory hence reliability is questionable

Feature The Bluest Eye

Characterization Characterization drives the plot. The novel is structured around the characters
She does not want to dehumanize any of the characters
The victims of discrimination are given a voice and brought to the center from their
peripheral existence
There are no heroes and heroines in the traditional sense
No purely bad and good characters
Realistic portrayal of unique and not representative cases eg. Pecola’s story
Physical description eg: “their ugliness was unique”
Clothing eg: Pecola’s pathetic condition in the Geraldine section. Maureen’s fancy clothes
Relationship with other characters
flashbacks, linked by symbols, memory is important
Significant events that illustrate a quality of the characters
Our understanding of these events and their contribution to the personality of the characters
may help us empathize with their actions in the present, hence fulfilling one of the purposes
of the author in writing the novel.
Individual vs Society
Symbols and motifs
Feature The Bluest Eye
Major Themes Beauty
Individual vs Society
Peripheral existence
Power dynamics in male and female relationships, amongst races and social classes
Racial discrimination
Psychological murder
Insanity
Sexuality, passion and desire
Identity
Female experience (physical and mental)
relationships
Freedom vs confinement
Displaced emotions
Childhood and adulthood