THE BLUEST EYE

Melek BINEREREzgi DEMIRTUNCJanbek OZDEMIR

Beri PARDO

OUTLINE Thesis Statement

Political Commentary Racism in USA Jim Crow Laws Racism in The Bluest

Eye

Cultural Commentary

(Black) Feminism

The Theft of InnocenceRetrieved on May 22th from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/R6NzXyvNWGI/AAAAAAAAAt8/ZnssF8_DlmA/s320/bluesteyecover.gif

Thesis Statement

• In “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, the writer subtly talks about black feminism and the theft of innocence by using political and cultural commentary.

RACISM IN USA

Colonization Process

Civil War (1876-1865)

Jim Crow Laws (1876-1964)

JIM CROW LAWS - A black male could not offer

his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman, because he risked being accused of rape.

- Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.

http://www.omurtlak.com/resim.php?resim=http%3A//s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/topics/p/jim_crow_laws

- Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to Blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, Blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.

- If a black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.

http://www.omurtlak.com/resim.php?resim=http%3A//s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/topics/p/jim_crow_laws

- Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White female -- that gesture implied intimacy.

- Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended Whites.

- Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks.

http://americanrefugee.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/jimcrowprotest.jpg

- All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races (Alabama).

- The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately (Florida).

http://www.omurtlak.com/resim.php?resim=http%3A//s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/topics/p/jim_crow_laws

RACISM IN THE BLUEST EYE

Morrison tries to show the hard life conditions of black people in social life and how they are treated by white people.

She also highlights the great differences between white and black people and how blacks are considered as second class citizens.

LORAIN, OHIO, 1940-41

http://www.longwharf.org/off_blueLorain.html

•What is feminism?

Feminism• “Social movement that seeks equal

rights for women.” (EB)• “The belief that women should be

allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way” (Cambridge)

• “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (bh)

• Women = Men• Pro-Feminism

Thus far..

• Late 19th- early 20th century• The struggle and the “suffrage”

to gain rights• Led by...• Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)

Black Feminism

• Emerged in 1970s• the Black

Liberation Movement & the Women's Movement

• Challenges...• What challenges,

do you think?http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zJsqa6ndL._SL500_.jpg

In The Bluest Eye• "She said she would let me stay if I

left him. I thought about that. But later on it didn't seem none too bright for a black woman to leave a black man for a white woman" (p. 120).

• "...she told me I shouldn't let a man take advantage over me. That I should have more respect, and it was my husband's duty to pay the bills, and if he couldn't, I should leave and get alimony" (p. 120).

In The Bluest Eye• Pauline beats her husband

Retrieved May 22 from http://singleindependentsistah.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/couple_arguing.jpg

TONI MORRISON

MORRISON INFLUENCED BY

born in Lorain, Ohio, 1931

a multicultural steel town

consists of Czech, German, Irish, Greek, Italian, Serb, Mexican, and black suburbanites

religious environment

LORAIN, OHIO

http://pics2.city-data.com/city/maps/fr423.png

"We were taught that as individuals we had value, irrespective of what the future might hold for us."

The women of the black community served as a tightly woven safety net

had to contend with the racial prejudice

educational system ignored the contributions of nonwhites

http://faculty.upj.pitt.edu/jalexander/Research%20archive/Johnson%20Company/Lorain%20Steel,%20Johnstown%20Works,%201911.jpg

THEMES OF THE NOVEL

racism against blacks

discrimination based on skin colors

black society’s intolerence to the taboos of incest

Can you give an example of the view about blacks’ social life?

“Black e mo Black e mo Ya daddy sleeps nekked.

Stch ta ta scth ta ta

Stach ta ta ta ta ta”

HIERARCHICAL SOCIETY

Can you give some examples from our novel which represent such classes?

What were the differences between the blacks’ and whites’ world in the novel?

DIFFERENCES OF TWO WORLDS

WORLD OF WHITES• blue sky • porcelain bath tub with silvery

taps, hot&clear water, fluffy white towels

• beauty, order, cleanliness and praise

• a large white spacious kitchen in where there are odors of meat, vegetables

• park for white children• wealth

• blue eyes

WORLD OF BLACKS• orange-patched sky• zinc bath tub; buckets of stove-

heated water; flaky,stiff, grayish towels

• no beauty or style

• no kitchen in Breedloves storefront they have just two rooms and they can't find easily something to eat

• park is forbidden for black chilren• poverty• desire of blue eyes

THE THEFT OF INNOCENCE

• Cholly’s theft of Pecola’s innocence

• What symbolizes Pecola’s innocence?

• How does Cholly steal it?- “thief”

Do we see the theme of theft of innocence in the movie “Precious” too? Explain.

• Sexual coming of age• First sexual experiences• Pecola’s innocence- - Seeing their father naked- Her first menstruation

Why do we call this event loss of “innocence”? Isn’t Pecola an innocent girl anymore? Explain your thoughts.

Some Quotes...

• “Am I going to die?” (pg.28)• “How do you get someone to love you?”(pg.32)• “ So when the child regained consciousness,

she was lying on the kitchen floor under a heavy quilt, trying to connect the pain between her legs with the face of her mother looming over her.”(pg.163)

• “The tenderness welled up in him, and he sank to his knees, his eyes on the foot of his daughter.” (pg.162)

• “I never saw my daddy naked. Never.” (pg.72)

Cholly

• His traumatic sex experience• Self- hatred• “Lovelessness”• Having grown up without any

parents• Abuses his wife• Endangers everybody around

him

Pecola• She is the one who is seen as guilty• She suffers and pays for this event • This event is not only her loss of

innocence, but loss of her baby and her existance

•How do Cholly and Frieda’s father play a role in their daughters’ first sexual experiences?

• In what way these roles are exactly opposite?

• The result-• Pecola is beaten up , goes mad,

everybody hates her, her baby dies, her life gets ruined. She is excluded from the society.

• Her mother --mad at Pecola. • Nothing changes for Cholly –goes on

to his life. His traumatic sexual experience causes another traumatic experience for a little girl. -----Racism

References• feminism. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 17, 2010,

from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism

• Black feminism. Retrieved May 21, 2010, from http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/thistle/v9/9.01/6blackf.html

• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAjimcrow.htm• http://sabanciyabanci.wikispaces.com/• http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm• Morrison, T. (1970). The Bluest Eye. New York: Vintage Books.• http://www.google.com.tr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/

Schenectady_High_School/SaylesSchoolofFineArts/2009-2010/TheBluestEyePoster.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/Schenectady_High_School/SaylesSchoolofFineArts/2009-2010/The_Bluest_Eye.htm&usg=__JyOvfxb9_0Oq5BjroDayYfnGiMI=&h=2531&w=1800&sz=1484&hl=tr&start=19&itbs=1&tbnid=GnKZoMxh1HqayM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bbluest%2Beye%26hl%3Dtr%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1

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