Pecola's Insanity

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Recommended: Racial and gender inequality

Society places value on the aesthetics of beauty. Before you open the novel, both racism and beauty are revealed through the title, The Bluest Eye. Young girls wish that they could be beautiful. Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is no exception. However, this is not the case in the Breedlove family. Toward the end of the novel, Pecola is afflicted by insanity. Pereira (1997) states that Pecola’s desire for blue eyes reflects a community absorbed by white ideas of what beauty is. She is also stating that Pecola’s insanity mirrors the cultural insanity of her community. This threatens their identity and strength. I do agree with the first claim. However, I disagree with the second claim. In this essay, I will argue why Pecola’s insanity principally stems from her being a victim of rape and not from her …show more content…

People that did not belong to this category was considered unattractive. However, I believe that Pecola’s insanity is principally a result of her being raped by her father. Towards the end of the book, blue eyes are no longer code for Barbie doll beauty or whiteness. It is rather how Pecola makes sense of the rape she has endured. Pecola thinks that the reason she has not got any friends or why no one talks to her is because everyone is jealous of her. Pecola cannot admit to herself that the reason she is being ignored by her family and community is that she was raped by her father and subsequently gave birth to his child. Her insanity stems from relying on physical beauty to make up for her psychological and social problems. Her insanity is not entirely her fault but is embedded in her community. Cholly raped her physically and Polly eradicated her sense of self-worth. This only exacerbated Pecola’s mental health, "Instead of protecting this vulnerable girl from harm, her family greatly contributes to her final psychological breakdown." (Roye

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