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Strengths and weaknesses of Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Strengths and weaknesses of Maslow's hierarchy of needs
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However, Both Pecola and the Claudia grew up in the same Lorain, Ohio community where the culture of white beauty ideals were very pertinent, yet the two children had very different outcomes.
A researcher in humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, stated that, “Basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency… (The organism’s) behavior organized only by unsatisfied needs.” (A.Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943) This suggests that in order to progress to the next step in the hierarchy (shown on the right) one must fulfill the steps below.
Maslow’s psychological theory is evident in the novel to prove that it is not only the community that influences the development of the child, but to a large extent, it is
Her father had burned down their house and she “had no place to go” (T. Morrison 1970) therefore she had to live with the MacTeers.
but “came with nothing. No little paper bag...she just appeared with a white woman and sat down” (T. Morrison 1970), and “gracefully accepted food gifts” (T. Morrison 1970) which show her lack of stable shelter, warmth and food. When at home at night, “Even from where Pecola lay, she could smell Cholly’s Whiskey” (T. Morrison 1970) which suggests her father was an alcoholic causing her fear even at night. Lastly, when at school Pecola was “ignored or despised by teachers and classmates alike. She was the only member of her class who sat alone at a double desk,” which reflects her lack of belonging.
Unable in her home environment to have properly achieved stable levels of “Physiological Health”, “Safety” or “Belonging” on ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Basic Needs’, Pecola couldn’t achieve a sense of self-esteem and therefore self-actualization. Hence, “she, stepped over into madness” (T. Morrison 1970) and spent her days talking to her imaginary friend about her imaginary blue eyes. As Vickroy says, “Pecola’s belief that she has blue eyes more importantly symbolize the trauma of not being loved.” (L.Vickroy, 2002). We see in the novel that Pecola innocently seeks a physical reason for her lack of being loved by her parents and classmates “It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her
Morrison 1970) as well as a stable source of food “Three quarts of milk. That’s what was in that icebox yesterday.” (T. Morrison 1970). Claudia's parents made sure she and her sister were safe especially when a visitor behaved distastefully, “I told Mama, and she told Daddy, when Daddy saw him come up on the porch, he threw our old tricycle at his head and knocked him off the porch.” (T. Morrison 1970). In addition, Claudia’s parents showed her much love and care when she was sick “she rubs the Vicks salve on my chest” (T. Morrison 1970) and also gave thoughtful gifts “The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll” (T. Morrison
She is envious of people with blue eyes because she thinks that those people have better lives. “Here was an ugly little girl asking for beauty....A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes…” this quote is from Soaphead, a man that runs a church and he pretends to be God, after Pecola has asked him to give her blue eyes. Even a terrible man that has committed many terrible sins, feels sympathy for Pecola because of the terrible life she has
...tanding alone; explaining why Grandma Bradley’s children always ended up on her doorstep when they were confronted with trouble. Parents fear that their children will grow up too fast, being exposed to reality before they are ready but until children experience life for themselves, with all its complications, they can never truly learn the importance of family; as it is family that will stand behind its members no matter the situation. Charlie did grow up during the summer, he saw things he would not have otherwise seen but he learned the strength of family, something he could not have learned at home where he passively watched the world go by.
The Infant Child plays a huge role in Blanche’s early life. As a result of her mother’s death, Blanche has a fearful temperament, and
Iveth Spaulding was born on June 4, 1982, in Bogota, Colombia. She is the youngest of two sisters born to a happy, loving couple. Iveth’s mother, Dora Martinez, always made her two daughters her top priority; she wanted them to feel loved and appreciated. Therefore, she was always very caring, loving, and affectionate with them. For example, she would tuck them in every night and stay with them until they fell asleep, and every afternoon Dora would have a plate of food ready for her daughters to eat once they got home from school. It was the little things that her mother did that made Iveth feel loved and appreciated. As a result, at age fifteen when Iveth had her first daughter, she too made her a priority, and she also wanted her to feel
forfill her dream. Three months after her mom died, her father got a letter in the mail. It was
...er known what it should have been like. His past was laced with rejections and so he never knew how to give anything else but rejection. And so even if he thought he loved her, he was rejecting her. Which brings me to Pecola. Pecola doesn't have much of a past because no one allows her to have any. Everyone is always giving her their past, enforcing restrictions upon her and placing her into categories. Because of this she lives vicariously through these much wanted blue eyes. She is given this offspring of hate and rejection and forced to live in a present more vile than any past of any one particular character.
"And Pecola. She hid behind hers. (Ugliness) Concealed, veiled, eclipsed--peeping out from behind the shroud very seldom, and then only to yearn for the return of her mask" (Morrison 39). In the novel The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, the main character, Pecola, comes to see herself as ugly. This idea she creates results from her isolation from friends, the community, and ever her family. There are three stages that lead up to Pecola portraying herself as an ugly human being. The three stages that lead to Pecola's realization are her family's outlook toward her, the community members telling her she is ugly, and her actually accepting what the other say or think about her. Each stage progresses into the other to finally reach the last stage and the end of the novel when Pecola eventually has to rely on herself as an imaginary friend so she will have someone to talk to.
In The Bluest Eye, Morrison describes the absurd and racist standard by which the characters are judged. And through the actions taken by each character, that absurd standard becomes more defined, the conflict more poignant. In this particular work, it is the American ideal of beauty that makes Pecola resign her self-image as ugly and it is Pecola's reaction to this standard, her futile wish to become beautiful, that drives her into madness and thus completely exposes the absurd and wrongful nature of this standard. And yet who created this standard? It is present in movies, on candy wrappers. It is completely visible, yet the creator of this standard is somewhere else, never appears as a character.
The theory which contributes to the theme is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which talks about “a positive environment and positive relationships are an important part of supporting every child or young person’s needs”, Taylor Et al, (2012:p13). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid. As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Maslow talks about children’s safety needs and how they need to feel security. “Maslow placed a real importance on ensuring that children have their basic needs met before they can learn”, Taylor Et al, (2012; p40). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is relevant to safeguarding the health, safety and well-being of children and young people as, safety needs is one of the needs on the pyramid. Children and young people need to achieve safety and well-being in order to be able to move up the pyramid and therefore can learn how to safeguard themselves, “One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs”, Mcleod, (2013).
She wished her eyes would look like Shirley Temples; Pecola wants the blues eyes to finally be loved and accepted by everyone around her especially her mother and Pecola also believes if she had blue eyes her father would not have done what he did to her. Pecola goes to a man named Soaphead Church and asks him if he would give her blue eyes, he told her she would have to give the dog out front a piece of meat and if the dog acted weird that her wish would become true the next day. Pecola did receive her blue eyes, and when Claudia went over to see her all Pecola could do was look at her eyes and talk about her eyes. The thing about Pecola he mom still treated her the same she said “Mrs. Breedlove look drop-eyed at you?” “Yes. Now she does. Ever since I got my Blue eyes, she look away from me all of the time. Do you suppose she’s jealous too?” During this whole time that Pecola has felt alone and being picked on and wanting her blue eyes she never realized that she did have friends who were there for her Claudia and Frieda. In the end the blue eyes did not bring her what deeply truly wanted which was love and I think Pecola also wanted the blue eyes to take away all of her Physically and mentally
Even children's books and toys were belittling to the little girls in this story. Toni morrison places the Dick and Jane story to introduce the causation of the little girls’ desires. Pecola has a different coping mechanism than Claudia. Instead of becoming angry she becomes envious and covets white beauty. “Each night, without fail, she prayed
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison is an African American writer, who believes in fighting discrimation and segregation with a mental preparation. Tony focuses on many black Americans to the white American culture and concludes that blacks are exploited because racism regarding white skin color within the black community. The bluest eye is a story about a young black girl named Pecola, who grew up in Ohio. Pecola adores blonde haired blue eyes girls and boys. She thinks white skin meant beauty and freedom and that thought was not a subject at this time in history. This book is really about the impact on a child’s state of mind. Tony Morrison has divided her book into four seasons: autumn, winter, spring, and summer. The main characters in this book are three girls, Claudia and Frieds McTeer, and Pecola Breedlove. Why was Pecola considered a case? Pecola was a poor girl who had no place to go. The county placed her in the McTeer’shouse for a few days until they could decide what to do until the family was reunited. Pecola stayed at the McTeer’s house because she was being abuse at her house and Cholly had burned up his house. The first event that happens in the book was that her menstrual cycle had started. She didn’t know what to do; she thought she was bleeding to death. When the girls were in the bed, Pecola asked, “If it was true that she can have a baby now?” So now the only concern is if she is raped again she could possibly get pregnant. Pecola thought if she had blue eyes and was beautiful, that her parents would stop fighting and become a happy family.In nursery books, the ideal girl would have blonde hair and blue eyes. There is a lot of commercial ads have all showed the same ideal look just like the nursery book has. Pecola assumes she has this beautiful and becomes temporary happy, but not satisfied. Now, Pecola wants to be even more beautiful because she isn’t satisfied with what she has. The fact is that a standard of beautyis established, the community is pressured to play the game. Black people and the black culture is judged as being out of place and filthy. Beauty, in heart is having blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfect family. Beauty is then applied to everyone as a kind of level of class.
A reader might easily conclude that the most prominent social issue presented in The Bluest Eye is that of racism, but more important issues lie beneath the surface. Pecola experiences damage from her abusive and negligent parents. The reader is told that even Pecola's mother thought she was ugly from the time of birth. Pecola's negativity may have initially been caused by her family's failure to provide her with identity, love, security, and socialization, ail which are essential for any child's development (Samuels 13). Pecola's parents are able only to give her a childhood of limited possibilities. She struggles to find herself in infertile soil, leading to the analysis of a life of sterility (13). Like the marigolds planted that year, Pecola never grew.
She believes that if she could have blue eyes, their beauty would inspire kind behavior from others. Blues eyes in Pecola’s definition, is the pure definition of beauty. But beauty in the sense that if she had them she would see things differently. But within the world that Pecola lives in the color of one’s eye, and skin heavily influences their treatment. So her desperation for wanting to change her appearance on the account of her environment and culture seems child-like but it is logical. If Pecola could alter her appearance she would alter her influence and treatment toward and from others. In this Morrison uses Marxism as a way to justify Pecola’s change in reality depending on her appearance. The white ideologies reflected upon Pecola’s internal and external conflicts which allowed her to imagine herself a different life. The impacts of one’s social class also impacts one’s perspective of their race. The vulnerability created by the low social class allows racism to protrude in society and have a detrimental effect for the young black girls in “The Bluest Eye” (Tinsley).The quotes explained above express the social and economic aspect of the Marxist theory. The theory that centers around the separation of social classes and the relationship surrounding them not one’s internalization of oneself
Brought up as a poor unwanted girl, Pecola Breedlove desires the acceptance and love of society. The image of "Shirley Temple beauty" surrounds her. In her mind, if she was to be beautiful, people would finally love and accept her. The idea that blue eyes are a necessity for beauty has been imprinted on Pecola her whole life. "If [I] looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they would say, `Why look at pretty eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty [blue] eyes'" (Morrison 46). Many people have helped imprint this ideal of beauty on her. Mr. Yacowbski as a symbol for the rest of society's norm, treats her as if she were invisible. "He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant storekeeper... see a little black girl?" (Morrison 48). Her classmates also have an effect on her. They seem to think that because she is not beautiful, she is not worth anything except as the focal point of their mockery.