Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (2000, Paperback)

never got the book. the seller claimed she/he posted the book, but i never did get it. It made me fall behind in my class. Will not recommend this seller to anyone. never

the book portrayed such a message of a neglected abused child, wishing her life would be different if only she was white blonde and blue eyed. I loved the book, it made you think of what abuse plays on a child, Pecola hid behind the sexual abuse from her abusive father with the wish of praying for blue eyes to remove the pain. Great book

A depressing book with no moral to the story. At least David Copperfield being poverty stricken and downtrodden had a glimmer of hope.

Good Condition. Quick Delivery. This seller was great to work with, easy to get a hold of. I was interested in the novel after reading an excerpt in class. Went for cheaper price with a decent condition. Recieved in better condition than what I believed novel would be in.

I couldn't follow this book. It was worded from past time. Although I did get mostly through. Some parts were good. Just not my cup of tea. Maybe I need to finish it out.

The book came quickly and well packaged. If there were weather issues during shipment, the packaging kept the product safe and damage-free. I didn't have to wait long for the book to arrive and the quality of it was quite good.

What is beauty? What is race? Who has power? Who gets to decide?

These are a few of the issues tackeled in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Set in Lorain, OH in the 1940s, the story follows the tragic life of the Breedlove's, a black family struggling to survive in a white-ruled society. Pecola Breedlove is obsessed with having blue eyes so she can be pretty like the other girls. Along the way, though, she discovers that happiness cannot come from eye color.

Toni Morrison does an excellent job portraying the pressures that society places on minorities. Pecola is not only ridiculed at school for being who she is (a black child), but she's unloved at home as well. Her mother plays into the thought of white supremacy by showing more love towards her boss's white daughter than towards her own flesh and blood. Her father is abusive and ruins her life.

There are many topics tackled throughout the story. One of the idea of beauty--what is it and how does one get it? Pecola sees beauty as blue-eyed white girls. Her friend Claudia gets angry that this is what she's expected to like and envisions beauty in a black baby. She eventually learns that beauty does not equal happiness or contentment.

Another idea is that of self-hatred. The little black girls and boys grow up with a self-hatred already growing inside them. From the beginning of their life, they're taught through the actions of those around them that they are inferior, dirty, ugly, and bad. Even while some try to fight this, they inevitably seem to gain this self-hatred, almost as a necessary part of growing up.

This book is difficult to get through, but very interesting once you look at its message. It is not a pick-me-up story, but it is eye-opening. It is an important read because it tells in a real, raw way the struggle of a minority in our country. The messages can be spread to people of any skin color. Issues with beauty and self-hatred don't discriminate.

Toni Morrison is a very unique, versatile writer. I found the book to be most interesting while reading it and was ecstatic with the ending. She took me down one road and I ended up on another road. My mind was challenged and so was my heart. I decided to buy the book because it was on Oprah's Best List. I knew I would be entertained by Ms. Morrison, but not to the extent that I was entertained. There was nothing about the book that I disliked. I honestly feel that this book should be required reading for high school students. The book will challenge them to "THINK"!