March 15, 2021

From Gerald R. Lucas

Poor Pecola covid-19: day 357 | US: GA | info | act

I’m rereading the second half of Morrison’s The Bluest Eye today to teach on Tuesday. Poor, Pecola: she cannot even see her true self. She’d rather be a freak than herself living in a society that beats her down. I wonder: how does she end up insane at the end of the novel, but Claudia, the narrator, becomes strong and insightful? It obviously has to do with each girl’s family life. A strong family seems to lead to resiliency. Pecola had a child for a father and a want-to-be Geraldine for a mother. Neither was able to arm her with what she needed, and her father’s “love” was deadly.

I have read and taught this text before, and it remains brilliant.