Morrison's Sexual Depictions Essay examples

For centuries, poetry has remained an effective method of expressing ones’ emotions and aesthetics without excessive criticism. Some distinguished individuals participated in this literary exercise and despite their motives, they acquired the profound ability to empathize with their audiences’ ambitions, fears, and misfortunes. During the lamentable times of racial and economic turmoil, a brilliant woman named Toni Morrison was introduced into this world and would later be a remarkable influence on literature. Proactively, she channeled her frustrations and fears of racial prejudice into her literary works, earning an admirable reputation for her bravery of discussing sensitive topics regarding racial prejudice and injustices. Likewise,

Besides the inherent self-confident issue, the outside voice from community is also affecting Pecola’s view. For example, in the “accident” when Pecola went into Junior’s house, Junior killed the cat and impute to Pecola. His mother, Geraldine, saw Pecola was holding the dead cat. Without any thought and didn’t even ask for the truth, Geraldine simply called Pecola a “nastylittle black bitch.” This event, again, reinforces Pecola’s view of what beauty means.

As a child, he was not loved by his mother. She prefered her cat to her own son. Junior saw this at an early age and “spent some happy moments watching it suffer” (86). Junior locked Pecola in a room, becoming the perpetrator with the same turn of attitude as Cholly. When he saw that the cat liked Pecola, he threw the cat, killing it, because the thing his mother loved more than himself loved her. Pecola’s wish could be paralleled to the cat. It had blue eyes, and was loved dearly by someone, which could explain the attention she gave to the cat. Junior even said, “Gimme my cat! (90). Up to this point, he wanted nothing to do with the cat and even tortured it, but with it being the only connection to his mother, he called it his own. Pecola’s dream, or having the same attention as the cat, was killed when the cat was killed. Junior was not loved by his mother, only taken care of to live. She did not “allow her baby, Junior, to cry…[she] did not talk to him, coo to him, or indulge him in kissing bouts” (86). This unlove for her family caused Junior to be victimized, and then alter his ways, and become the perpetrator. Pecola is the victim in the rage of Junior, only because his mother did not love him. She wanted someone to be kind to her, and love her, but that was only met with

have white beauty is so strong that she eats Mary Jane candies, fantasizing that the candies will

Grotesque images of rape, murder, and sexual abuse are recurring throughout Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. The ideals of the white oppressor, be it murder, rape, or sexual abuse were powerful forces that shaped the lives of many of the characters, especially the character Sethe.

Many unfortunate events took place during Cholly’s upbringing that had a direct negative affect on the relationship he holds with both Pauline and Pecola. The challenges and experiences Cholly faces throughout his life continually shape him into the adult he has become and help clarify the reasons for his actions.

A surge of love and understanding swept through him, but was quickly replaced by anger. Anger that he was powerless to help her”(Morrison 175). Pecola persevered through her struggles against life at home and colorism from the others around her but never triumphed against the adversity she was faced

Even though she can 't pinpoint where her ugliness is she can pinpoint what people find attractive. When we are first introduced to Pecola she is awe at the narrator’s(Claudia) sister (Frieda) Cup. The cup has a picture of Shirley Temple. The cute button noses girl with the curly blond hair that took all of our hearts with dancing and singing. I 'm the passage it states “... 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 loving conversation about how cu-ute Shirley Temple was.”(Bluest Eyes, Morris pg. 19) Pecola ready had it on her mind that Shirley Temple was beautiful, that Shirley Temple was the beauty standard and that she was not. At a young age Pecola realized that she might not be seen as pretty this a issue that can be seen quite often in the black community. In 2011 a young lady heard a small child declare herself hate a girl no older than 5 years old stated “mommy I want to be white; I don 't want to be brown anymore” (source 5, Courtney) as horrifying as it may seem most children don 't understand why they are black when white people seem to get more things in life. The media shows nothing but white people winning in life and black people be portrayed as thugs, killers and lazy. Even in movies and tv shows we are seen as villains while white people are given this essence

Another innocendent that occurred in this novel was between Pecola and her father Cholly. Pecola is a young and innocent little girl, when her

There are many themes that seem to run throughout this story. Each theme and conflict seems to always involve the character of Pecola Breedlove. There is the theme of finding an identity. There is also the theme of Pecola as a victim. Of all the characters in the story we can definitely sympathize with Pecola because of the many harsh circumstances she has had to go through in her lifetime. Perhaps her rape was the most tragic and dramatic experience Pecola had experiences, but nonetheless she continued her life. She eliminates her sense of ugliness, which lingers in the beginning of the story, and when she sees that she has blue eyes now she changes her perspective on life. She believes that these eyes have been given

Her lunacy is not an escape from the idealized forms of white life, in her insanity, she feels most fully the force of white constructions of beauty, even as the normal flow of human interaction and language cease to have meaning for her. Morrison uses painful irony to remind people that Pecola's madness is a fault of her society.

Cholly and Pauline Breedlove, Pecola’s parents, also contribute to the girl’s destruction. Rather than providing a loving home environment where Pecola might have been able to thrive despite the rejection of the white-dominant society, like Claudia and Frieda do, Cholly and Pauline instead abuse their children and fight with each other constantly. Both Cholly and Pauline have been mistreated by white people in their lives, and both of them vent the resulting hatred for those who wronged them on both their children and each other. Cholly, as a young boy, was caught, laughed at, and humiliated by two white men while having sex with a girl named Darlene. Rather than showing hatred towards the white men, Cholly instead hates Darlene, and thinking about the incident both “stir[s] him into flights of depravity” (Morrison 43) and stunts his sexual development (Wall 797). Because of this incident and

Many stories emphasize racial tensions within the Midwest and express how racism impacts all characters in the novel. The novel takes place in the 1940’s which is when racism, especially in the south, was at its apex. One character who is greatly affected by racism is Pecola. She is bullied at school and made to feel worthless because she is black. One day while leaving school she is ganged up on by some African American boys and is called names and taunted. The boys had “extemporized a verse made up of two insults about matters [Pecola] had no control: the color of her skin and speculations on the sleeping

The 1940’s was a contentious time period full of segregation, turmoil, and hardships. During this time, Toni Morrison, an African-American novelist, witnessed the oppression, and struggled through its inequalities. Her most famous novels are known for their vivid dialogue, intricate characters, and epic themes of sacrifice, violence, and oppressions. Her difficult experiences of racial segregation and other misfortunes not only influenced her distinct writing style, but also shaped her into becoming perhaps the most celebrated contemporary American novelist that she is today.

Toni Morrison also depicts cruelty within the black community. The problem with racial oppression is white people do not solely cause it but also it happens inside its community. There are scenarios being displayed in the novel where black mistreats black, black degrades black, and the worst of it all, black abuses black. Instead of working hand in hand