English 2000 Perspectives in Literature

i believe that by saying this quote it means that it dosent matter what you have or dont have you can still strive higher. there may be a struggle. yes this can be related to the American dream because the dream is to have it all. but before 90% of us get there we need to sar at the bottom. It can be difficult and harder for others like being put in a lower class or caste but its not impossible. the character in this book do not have it allbut at the end of the day it dosent matter.

In The Bluest Eye, the characters of Pecola and Claudia have numerous differences and similarities between each other. Pecola is the central role of this book. Thus far, she remains a mysterious character to us as readers. However, she appears to be a fragile and delicate child due to her basis  of an emotional life. On the other hand, Claudia narrates parts from a child’s perspective as well as an adult perspective. Claudia appears to be a fighter who can help and defend her friends and family who are in need. Both of these characters share the same suffering regarding of racist insecurities/imperfections of beauty especially Pecola. She envies and always strongly desires to have the same beauty features as a white girl has. I personally think beauty isn’t everything nor important in this world presently.

In the novel the “Bluest of eyes” Pecola is one of the most important characters. Not just because the story revolves around her but also because you can see how someone’s surroundings can affect you. She is only 11 at the start of the novel so she still has a lot to learn, these are the years were what ever happens to you will make or brake you when you grow up. Seeing her father get drunk most of the time and treat her mother bad must really have an effect on her. She does not like the way she looks and she blames it on her ethnicity. But when she sees her own father treat her mother bad when they are both the same ethnicity she believes maybe its because she’s ugly or something bad. This makes her want to disappear and also sets the theme .

Pecola Breedlove is a passive and mysterious character in the novel. She seems to be a delicate and fragile child. Next, Claudia Macteer, is not a passive person. She is a brave woman. She fight and defend Pecola where she is in troubles. Pecola and Claudia both have issue with their appearance because they do not meet the beauty standard in the society.

Pecola is an African-American girl (ages 10-13); she is from a lower class family. Pecola doesn’t accept herself instead she hates herself for being black, ugly and she believes that having white skin, blue eyes and blond hair will make her beautiful like Shirley Temple and Mary Jane, therefore everyday she buy this rectangle candy also named Mary Jane because she believe this candy will make her beautiful like them (Shierley Temple and Mary Jane) in each byte she takes. In this novel society label beauty by having white skin, blue eyes, thin body and blonde hair even with the dolls, because that their perfection for beauty . Everyone called Pecola ugly, including her parents, classmate, teacher and society. Example, one day “a group of boys from the same race (balck) were circling and were calling her Black e mo. Black e mo, while she was on in center of the circle”. Many people are not satisfied with their looks, colors, and appearance, Pecola is not the only one with low-self esteem , nowadays so people could feel better with them self  they do plastic surgery; to look thinner body, younger and beautiful, beauty it is really important to society and all of us.

“Being a minority in both caste and class, we moved about anyway on the hem of life, struggling to consolidate our weaknesses and hang on, or to creep singly up into the major folds of the garment.”(Pg. 17)

To break each part down Morrison is pretty much saying that the characters in the book are feeling like all around outsiders from saying “Being a minority in both caste and class,” Caste and class are defined very similar both basically meaning your social class stand point but “class” in our society means the amount of money you make where you live and how hard you have to work for where you’re at but your “class” can always change. “Caste” is a Hindu classing system that the Hindu used to organizing society into hereditary classes based on profession and social status very similar but once labeled you can’t really move or change out of that. The rest of the quote means that even though they are so low on the social status ladder they hold on and try to keep moving forward and work hard to slowly move higher and high up the social food chain to one day be someone or have a better life then they had. This has everything to do with the American dream for the fact the dream is to have that socially acceptable life everybody wants, to not be in poverty and for one day not to struggle to get by but to be able to relax and be happy with their family in a socially and financially comfortable environment.

I believe what Morrison means by the quote is that even though they were a minority in both caste and class, they were able to continue on with their lives. The fact that they were not well off did not seem to stop them in their tracks. They were able to live on with their lives, “we moved about anyway on the hem of life” (Morrison, 17). Though they may not have been content with their financial status, they seemed to learn to deal with it. More likely they got used to living as minorities to the point where it did not bother them as much. This does not seem to deal much with the “american dream” because they learned to live with what they had and settled rather than strived.

~Carlos Lema

The quote has allot to do with the american dream because that what everyone is here for. By being in a “low caste” or poor you can’t really achieve much and you feel like a minority. I know how it feels like to be in a caste though i am not in a low caste. But i see how people of the lowest class are treated. Americans call them “untouchables” which is the lowest caste in India. In the presence of higher castes they have sit on the floor; they barely socialize outside of their caste because no one wants to talk to them and they live in very poor conditions. So they are treated just like Pecola when she went to the store and the white store owner thought she was dumb, ugly, and dirty. This kills the psyche or a whole race of people. That is what this is all about, psychological warfare, to make you feel so worthless that you wont move up in life and be stuck in a certain mindset. So you can never reach the so call “American Dream” if you think so little of your self.

On page 17, Morrison writes, “Being a minority in both caste and class, we moved about anyway on the hem of life, struggling to consolidate our weaknesses and hang on, or to creep singly up into the major folds of the garment.” What do you think this means? Does this have anything to do with the American Dream? Why or why not?

The author is writing about the difficulties of being minority. Yet there are others that work hard to be ranked in the high class. I believe that like most of the immigrants they have that dream of making money and to have power so they won’t be a minority, so that way they won’t have to be ignore and consider garbage by the superior class. Like in the story The Bluest Eye Pecola wants to be lighter, with blue, blonde curly hair to be beautiful and be appreciated by others, because the white race has the power and authority to advertise whatever is consider to them “white race” pretty and put down the beauty of the black race.