"Beauty was not something to behold: it was something one could do."
Welcome to my independent reading Action Project. In Unit 2 of my class Forbidden Books, we selected books that have been banned or censored from schools and/or institutions. Our job while reading the book was to take notes and annotate. Before starting this project we looked at the origins of different religions and talked about the difference between the four main world religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. We learned about our country's dogma (official set of principles or doctrines of a religion). My book was set during the 1940s and at the time our country's dogma was very different from now, 2020.
I chose the book "The Bluest Eye" by the famous novel writer Toni Morrison. This book is banned in classrooms and schools because of its content. The book covers racial issues, sexual abuse, and self-hate (internalized racism). There are a lot of graphic descriptions, and it takes a mature reader to understand the weight and depth of her writing. A lot of Morrison's literature is banned and censored because of it's explicit content, but it's never affected her writing style. I relate with this book but I also possess empathy for the characters in this book. The story is told from the perspective of the main character, a 9-year-old dark-skin black girl named Pecola.
Pecola's dogma was in the category of beauty. She believed her standard of beauty was that white was better, lighter skin, and blue eyes.
My Q&A analyzes the character and looks directly at what her beliefs mean and where they come from. I played as the author Toni Morrison to conduct the Q&A. I wanted to explore the idea of having Toni interview her own character, because even though she wrote the book, doesn't mean she knows the character fully. In the podcast below, we hear exclusively from Pecola in her own words.
(Disclaimer: This podcast script is fictional) Enjoy.
Interviewer: Toni Morrison (Me)
Interviewee: Pecola (Also Me in a British accent, for fun)
Toni: Goodmorning, and welcome to my podcast everyone, my name is Toni Morrison and I will be conducting a Q&A on the main character in my book, The Bluest Eye. Some of my loyal listeners have been requesting that I talk to the characters of my books and ask them their opinions on how they were/are portrayed in the story.
This book is so important to me because not only does it address the struggles of a black woman, but a black girl. Black women and girls are THE most disenfranchised people in America. As a lot of you know, I write stories not only of black people, but also of black women.
So, jumping into the story. Pecola understands at a very young age that white is right, and black is bad. The book took place during post-great depression. The Bluest Eye tells the tale of the harsh reality of the sexual abuse and self-hate that Pecola had to endure.
We are forced to accept white ideology as the one and only american standard of beauty, and in the book she understands that dark skin, brown eyes and coarse hair is ugly. Pecola wishes and prays every night, not for money or a bigger home, but blue eyes. Pecola believes that blue eyes would fix everything wrong in her life.
In fact Pecola thought to herself during an argument between her parents, Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove that “If she looked different, beautiful, maybe they’d say, “Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn’t do bad things in front of those pretty eyes.”
Pecola, thank you for joining me today and I know that this isn’t easy for you but you also feel it’s important to share your story, beyond the book.
Pecola: Um yes, um thank you! Thank you for providing a platform where I can share more of my story.
Toni: Why do you think we are taught to associate blue eyes with beauty?
Pecola: I think as a little girl, you want to grip onto an ideology and place yourself into a group so bad, and I think that even though I felt very left out and ugly and just so so sad and hurt about my life, I-I wanted to be somebody else so bad that I created a false sense of reality which ended up causing very rude awakenings for me.
Toni: Which was not your fault.
Pecola: Yes, but at the time I thought it was. It was petrifying to walk up to any white person and have a conversation. All I could think about was my blackness, being ugly, um being hated, by people like me and people not like me. Those thoughts wouldn’t stop. I didn’t even know our history in America, and I didn’t know why I was feeling that way. I think the best explanation for my way of thinking is when you said, “She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.” I mean I couldn’t have said it better.
Toni: A lot of readers have a hard time getting through the book because of the content. I mean there are so many topics that it covers, there’s so much corruption in and out of your household … what do you say to people who feel they think it’s too much to read?
Pecola: I think it’s your duty to read it. I mean, I went through it so the least you could do is read it.
Toni: I agree. The next quote I wanted to explore was, "Beauty was not something to behold: it was something one could do." What does this mean to you?
Pecola: I think it contradicts everything that I grew up learning, in a good way. It challenges the idea of beauty and I think it’s amazing because you published this right around the same time that the Black Is Beautiful movement was reclaiming our beauty in the 60s.
Toni: Yes, yes a thousand times yes. Thank you so much Pecola I appreciate you coming today and talking to me.
Pecola: No problem!
Toni: Wrapping up, I want to thank my listeners for tuning in today and I hope you gained more insight on the main character from The Bluest Eye, Pecola.
I chose the book "The Bluest Eye" by the famous novel writer Toni Morrison. This book is banned in classrooms and schools because of its content. The book covers racial issues, sexual abuse, and self-hate (internalized racism). There are a lot of graphic descriptions, and it takes a mature reader to understand the weight and depth of her writing. A lot of Morrison's literature is banned and censored because of it's explicit content, but it's never affected her writing style. I relate with this book but I also possess empathy for the characters in this book. The story is told from the perspective of the main character, a 9-year-old dark-skin black girl named Pecola.
Pecola's dogma was in the category of beauty. She believed her standard of beauty was that white was better, lighter skin, and blue eyes.
My Q&A analyzes the character and looks directly at what her beliefs mean and where they come from. I played as the author Toni Morrison to conduct the Q&A. I wanted to explore the idea of having Toni interview her own character, because even though she wrote the book, doesn't mean she knows the character fully. In the podcast below, we hear exclusively from Pecola in her own words.
(Disclaimer: This podcast script is fictional) Enjoy.
Interviewee: Pecola (Also Me in a British accent, for fun)
Toni: Goodmorning, and welcome to my podcast everyone, my name is Toni Morrison and I will be conducting a Q&A on the main character in my book, The Bluest Eye. Some of my loyal listeners have been requesting that I talk to the characters of my books and ask them their opinions on how they were/are portrayed in the story.
This book is so important to me because not only does it address the struggles of a black woman, but a black girl. Black women and girls are THE most disenfranchised people in America. As a lot of you know, I write stories not only of black people, but also of black women.
So, jumping into the story. Pecola understands at a very young age that white is right, and black is bad. The book took place during post-great depression. The Bluest Eye tells the tale of the harsh reality of the sexual abuse and self-hate that Pecola had to endure.
We are forced to accept white ideology as the one and only american standard of beauty, and in the book she understands that dark skin, brown eyes and coarse hair is ugly. Pecola wishes and prays every night, not for money or a bigger home, but blue eyes. Pecola believes that blue eyes would fix everything wrong in her life.
In fact Pecola thought to herself during an argument between her parents, Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove that “If she looked different, beautiful, maybe they’d say, “Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn’t do bad things in front of those pretty eyes.”
Pecola, thank you for joining me today and I know that this isn’t easy for you but you also feel it’s important to share your story, beyond the book.
Pecola: Um yes, um thank you! Thank you for providing a platform where I can share more of my story.
Toni: Why do you think we are taught to associate blue eyes with beauty?
Pecola: I think as a little girl, you want to grip onto an ideology and place yourself into a group so bad, and I think that even though I felt very left out and ugly and just so so sad and hurt about my life, I-I wanted to be somebody else so bad that I created a false sense of reality which ended up causing very rude awakenings for me.
Toni: Which was not your fault.
Pecola: Yes, but at the time I thought it was. It was petrifying to walk up to any white person and have a conversation. All I could think about was my blackness, being ugly, um being hated, by people like me and people not like me. Those thoughts wouldn’t stop. I didn’t even know our history in America, and I didn’t know why I was feeling that way. I think the best explanation for my way of thinking is when you said, “She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.” I mean I couldn’t have said it better.
Toni: A lot of readers have a hard time getting through the book because of the content. I mean there are so many topics that it covers, there’s so much corruption in and out of your household … what do you say to people who feel they think it’s too much to read?
Pecola: I think it’s your duty to read it. I mean, I went through it so the least you could do is read it.
Toni: I agree. The next quote I wanted to explore was, "Beauty was not something to behold: it was something one could do." What does this mean to you?
Pecola: I think it contradicts everything that I grew up learning, in a good way. It challenges the idea of beauty and I think it’s amazing because you published this right around the same time that the Black Is Beautiful movement was reclaiming our beauty in the 60s.
Toni: Yes, yes a thousand times yes. Thank you so much Pecola I appreciate you coming today and talking to me.
Pecola: No problem!
Toni: Wrapping up, I want to thank my listeners for tuning in today and I hope you gained more insight on the main character from The Bluest Eye, Pecola.
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