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Theme Of Beauty In The Bluest Eye

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The oppression by the standards of exterior beauty haunts majority of the characters in Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye. The concept of beauty is a theme in the novel that leads into a larger theme of self-hatred within the characters, struggling daily with an unescapable force in their community. Slavery might have been a matter of the past; however, society has chosen to target the less unfortunate, when exercising a form of racism to people who do not meet the standard of acceptance in the form of media. In The Bluest Eye, the author explores the persisting damage of how people have yet to overcome being objectified after many years under servitude. The chosen passage can indicate that the ugliness does indeed have a source and it comes from the indirect influence of the larger society with their imposed standards of white beauty. The obvious message being broadcasted constantly is that whiteness acts …show more content…

The imposed beauty standards are impossible to achieve by majority of the characters, seeing that there is no form of changing a person’s skin color. African Americans receive the message through media outlets that their own skin color is not enough to be acceptable as being anything but ugly. The imposing media of films with their all white cast members and commercialized items, exposes white beauty on an all-time high and it is this type of media leads the characters to have an unhealthy self-image and interpersonal relationships. The author depicts the characters to be powerless against these types of attacks through media that they simply accept what the majority has deemed as perfect characteristics that does not include their own physical traits. The notions of white beauty as a superior standard of appearance provides a clear deconstruction of people on a deeper

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