Mary Jane

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Mary Jane

A good book is one that you cannot quit thinking about. For days after you finish it, you will catch yourself daydreaming about it. That is what The Bluest Eye did to me. I can’t say that I liked the novel, because I didn’t. It left me with an empty, horrified feeling in the pit of my stomach; a realization of how harsh the world can be. I believe that this was Toni Morrison’s goal for this book. She didn’t want me to feel all warm and cozy when I finished. She didn’t want me to ‘like’ The Bluest Eye; she wanted me to learn from it. I learned about a child’s understanding, how people can react differently to a harsh environment, the importance of white symbols in a black girls life, and what could possess adults to do horrible things to helpless children. In short, I learned about the world.
Claudia narrated most of the book, though the story is mainly about Pecola. Claudia and her sister, Fridea, are, in all visible ways, exactly like Pecola. They are poor, black girls in a world where only white is beautiful and good. The difference is that Claudia and Fridea could ignore society and still love themselves, but Pecola felt that she was worthless because of her black features.
The world around Claudia, Fridea, and Pecola is filled with symbols of whiteness. The first thing that is brought to our attention is the elementary school readers, where the main characters are Dick and Jane. Dick and Jane are perfect white children and they live in a perfect, white, cheery, loving, world. Morrison concentrates on this at the beginning of every chapter to bring focus on the life that Pecola wants to live. This establishes the theme of white domination over the culture. Pecola worshipped Shirley Temple. While she was at the Macteer’s she couldn’t get enough white milk, which she drank out of a Shirley Temple cup. She also loved Mary Jane candies because

“Each pale yellow wrapper had a picture on it. A picture of little Mary Jane, for whom the candy is named. Smiling white face. Blond hair in gentle disarray, blue eyes looking at her out of a world of clean comfort. The eyes are petulant, mischievous. To Pecola they are simply pretty. She eats the candy, and its sweetness is good. To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane.

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