THE BLUEST EYEA NOVEL

TONI MORRISON

Analyzed by

Nur Hamidah Oktaviani

132154034

Literary Appreciation of Prose

English Literature

State University of Surabaya

2014 - 2015

“The Bluest Eye” Novel Analysis

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1993 was awarded to Toni Morrison ‘who in novels

characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of

American reality". - The Nobel Foundation

The Bluest Eye is a novel written by American writer, Toni Morrison. This novel was

published on 1970. As her first novel, Toni Morrison succeeded to get achievement proven as

the winner of Noble Prize in 1993. Before starting her career as a writer, she teaches English

in Houston and Howard. Her writing career started after she divorced with her husband. She

first began her career as an editor in Syracuse and moved to New York where she works as a

senior editor. While she works as a teacher in Howard, she already writes a fiction. The first

fiction she wrote is about a black girl who wants to have a blue eye. This is how The Bluest

Eye idea came up. The other work of Toni besides The Bluest Eye are Sula (1973), Song of

Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981), Beloved (1987), Jazz (1992), Paradise (1997), Love

(2003), A Mercy (2008), Home (2012), and her latest novel entitled God Help The Child

released on April 2015. Inspired by her own life, where her parents moved to Ohio for

avoiding racism in South America, her novel focused on the black people as well as in The

Bluest Eye novel.

As the Noble Prize winner in literature, this novel gives a topic which become

trending at that time. It is told about a black ugly girl named Pecola. Indirectly, Pecola is the

stereotype of an African-American girl who experienced the discrimination because of her

skin color. This novel is indirectly reflects the society around Morrison.

The interesting thing from this novel is although Morisson achieved the Noble Prize

through this novel, she got many criticisms from society. Some schools even banned her

novel including in the student reading list. The reason is because the presence of sexual

elements and rude words which is inappropriate for children and youth.

However, in my opinion, this novel is one of the greatest novels which I ever read. If

it compare with another Morisson’s work, I think The Bluest Eye’s novel idea is simple

though meaningful. Delivered in a complex narration makes this novel become extraordinary.

It can makes the reader went deeper through the narration which Morrison gives in this novel.

That is the reason why I choose this novel to analyze the intrinsic elements.

To begin with, intrinsic elements of a fiction is an element which emphasize a story.

According to Mustofa & Hill (2011), intrinsic elements is the prerequisite for a deeper

understanding fiction. It will be more easier to understand the fiction through the relationship

of each element in the story. It is necessary to understand and apply the intrinsic element in

order to understanding the fiction itself. This elements include 6 points; character and

characterization, plot, theme, setting, point of view, and last but not least moral value. Those

6 elements of The Bluest Eye novel will be explain and analyze in paragraphs below.

The first element is character and characterization. Both character and

characterization is different but related to each other. Character is a person who take a role on

the story. There is 11 types of character; major, minor, protagonist, antagonist, dynamic,

static, round, flat, stock, anti-hero, foil, and symbolic. While the characterization is the way

how a writer describe the character. Usually the writer give an explanation about the

character. For example, Jim is cruel but sometime he can be so nice to people. Usually the

writer describe the characterization of a character in 2 ways. The first is direct

characterization. Direct characterization is used when a writer describe a character by

providing some narration in the story, for example through the psychological description, or

physical description. While indirect characterization is used when the writer let the reader

know what the character like by their own which means that the reader must analyzed the

character without any narration in the story such as through what the character think, what

they say, the way they say it, what they do, what others character said about them, from their

environment, from their reaction to others, and from others reaction toward them.

In this novel, there are around 5 major characters. In this essay, each character will be

analyzed the characterization in paragraphs below.

The first character is Pecola Breedlove. She is Cholly and Pauline Breedlove second

daughter. Right after she was born, Pauline accuses her as an ugly child. It can be seen from

the Pauline soliloquy in the Spring chapter when she told about her pregnancy.

“….A right smart baby she was. I used to like to watch her. You know they makes

them greedy sounds. Eyes all soft and wet. A cross between a puppy and a dying man. But I

knowed she was ugly. Head full of pretty hair, but Lord she was ugly.”

It shows that even from her baby, Pecola is already ugly. Although she looks smart,

“….A right smart baby she was…” and has soft and wet eyes with head full of pretty hair, it

makes no sense to Pecola’s beautyness.

Another evidence is from Morrison narration in the Autumn chapter as written below.

“..…Cholly, whose ugliness (the result of despair, dissipation, and violence directed

toward petty things and weak people) was behavior, the rest of the family—Mrs. Breedlove,

Sammy Breedlove, and Pecola Breedlove—wore their ugliness, put it on,…….”

It is shows that not only Pecola who is ugly but also her family, her parents; Cholly

and Paulina, and her brother; Sammy. Despite Pecola’s ugliness, she is an innocent girl which

sometimes her innocent makes people annoyed and mad as in the Autumn chapter, when she

makes Ms MacTeer mad.

“Three quarts of milk. That’s what was in that icebox yesterday. Three whole quarts.

Now they ain’t none. Not a drop. I don’t mind folks coming in and getting what they want, but

three quarts of milk! What the devil does anybody need with three quarts of milk?” The

“folks” my mother was referring to was Pecola.

It seems that Pecola is a greedy girl, but she is not. The only reason why she drunk all

of three quarts of milk is because when she drinks the milk, she uses a cup with Shirley

Temple picture on it. She only wants to see the picture as explain in this narration.

“…she was fond of the Shirley Temple cup and took every opportunity to drink milk

out of it just to handle and see sweet Shirley’s face. My mother knew that Frieda and I hated

milk and assumed Pecola drank it out of greediness.”

Pecola’s innocent is shown in a condition where she gets her first period while having

fun with Frieda and Claudia as told in the Autumn chapter.

A brownish-red stain discolored the back of her dress. She kept whinnying, standing

with her legs far apart. Frieda said, “Oh. Lordy! I know. I know what that is!” “What?”

Pecola’s fingers went to her mouth.“That’s ministratin’.”,“What’s that?”,“You know.”,“Am

I going to die?” she asked.,“Noooo. You won’t die. It just means you can have a

baby!”,“What?”

This is the dialogue between Frieda, Claudia, and Pecola when seeing that Pecola has

her first period. Pecola seems confused with her condition. If Frieda didn’t tell her what

happened, she will consider herself is going to die soon.

Living with a family whom the parents always fight, she felt guilty for becoming an

ugly girl. She asking God to change her into a pretty girl. In this case, pretty girl is a girl with

the blue eyes. That is the reason why she asking for blue eyes, to make the world treat her

differently as written in the novel narration.

“…if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be

different. Her teeth were good, and at least her nose was not big and flat like some of those

who were thought so cute. If she looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different,

and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they’d say, “Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn’t do

bad things in front of those pretty eyes”…………………….. Each night, without fail, she

prayed for blue eyes. Fervently, for a year she had prayed. Although somewhat discouraged,

she was not without hope.”

As the result of her guilty feeling as an ugly girl, she is lack of self-confident which

makes her become weak. She did nothing to stop the bullied from people around her.

“A group of boys was circling and holding at bay a victim, Pecola Breedlove. Bay

Boy, Woodrow Cain, Buddy Wilson, Junie Bug— like a necklace of semiprecious stones they

surrounded her. Heady with the smell of their own musk, thrilled by the easy power of a

majority, they gaily harassed her………… They had extemporized a verse made up of two

insults about matters over which the victim had no control: the

color of her skin and…..”

She can’t help her own self for avoiding the bullying. She even can’t argue that she is

not guilty when Louis Junior accused her as the murder of Geraldine’s; Louis’s mother, cat.

“What is this?” Her voice was mild, as though asking a perfectly reasonable

question. “Who is this girl?” “She killed our cat,” said Junior. “Look.” He pointed to the

radiator, where the cat lay, its blue eyes closed, leaving only an empty, black, and helpless

face……… “Get out,” she said, her voice quiet. “You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my

house.”……… Pecola backed out of the room, staring at the pretty milkbrown lady in the

pretty gold-and…………”

At that time, she didn’t assist that she is innocent by telling the truth that the one who

killed the cat is Geraldine’s son, Louis. If she tell the truth, it might be Geraldine will not

rudely chase her away.

Another thing that shows her weaknesses is when her father rape her and did not try to

rescue herself from her father.

“The tenderness welled up in him, and he sank to his knees, his eyes on the foot of his

daughter……Pecola lost her balance and was about to careen to the floor. Cholly raised his

other hand to her hips to save her from falling……. Following the disintegration—the falling

away—of sexual desire, he was conscious of her wet, soapy hands on his wrists, the fingers

clenching, but whether her grip was from a hopeless but stubborn struggle to be free, or from

some other emotion, he could not tell….”

From those evidence, it seems that Pecola might be didn’t resist her father sexual

desire towards her.

As explain in the paragraphs above, Pecola is an innocent and a weak girl. These

things lead her become a deceivable 11 year old girl. Remember when Pecola wants the blue

eyes badly ? She decided to go to Elihue Micah Whitcomb, also known as Soaphead Church.

People considered him as a true spiritualist and physic reader. Pecola sees him for asking the

blue eyes.

“…..Soaphead Church told her to come in. “What can I do for you, my child?”, She

stood there, her hands folded across her stomach, a little protruding pot of tummy. “Maybe.

Maybe you can do it for me.”,“Do what for you?”, “I can’t go to school no more. And I

thought maybe you could help me.”, “Help you how? Tell me. Don’t be frightened.”, “My

eyes.”, “What about your eyes?”,“I want them blue.”….”

Pecola do as Soaphead told her, to feed a dog. He said that Pecola will get what she

want if the dog act differently after eat the feed.

“……..”Take this food and give it to the creature sleeping on the porch. Make sure he

eats it. And mark well how he behaves. If nothing happens, you will know that God has

refused you. If the animal behaves strangely, your wish will be granted on the day following

this one.”…………………………….. She reached out and touched the dog’s head, stroking

him gently. She placed the meat on the floor of the porch, near his nose.………….Suddenly he

coughed, the cough of a phlegmy old man—and got to his feet. The girl jumped. The dog

gagged, his mouth chomping the air, and promptly fell down. He tried to raise himself, could

not, tried again and half-fell down the steps…………… The dog fell again, a spasm jerking

his body. Then he was quiet…… she backed away a few feet, then turned, ran out of the yard

and down the walk…..”

At that time, Pecola didn't realize that the feed which Soaphead give to Pecola is a

poison. That is why the dog act strangely and die. As Soaphead said to Pecola, “Make sure he

eats it. And mark well how he behaves. If nothing happens, you will know that God has

refused you. If the animal behaves strangely, your wish will be granted on the day following

this one…..” Pecola thought that she already has the bluest eye. It can be seen from her

talking with her invisible friend in last chapter of this novel that she is convinced herself that

that she has the blue eyes.

“….Just because I got blue eyes, bluer than theirs, they’re prejudiced. That’s right.

They are bluer, aren’t they? Oh, yes. Much bluer. Bluer than Joanna’s? Much bluer than

Joanna’s. And bluer than Michelena’s? Much bluer than Michelena’s. I thought so. Did

Michelena say anything to you about my eyes? No. Nothing…..”

What happened in Pecola’s life which is rough might be makes Pecola become

desperate. But some people considered her as an insanity rather than desperation.

“……Frieda and I—after the baby came too soon and died. After the gossip and the

slow wagging of heads. She was so sad to see……… The damage done was total. She spent

her days, her tendril, sap-green days, walking up and down, up and down, her head jerking

to the beat of a drummer so distant only she could hear. Elbows bent, hands on shoulders,

she flailed her arms like a bird in an eternal, grotesquely futile effort to fly. Beating the air, a

winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach—could not even see—but

which filled the valleys of the mind…….”

From those narration, it is clear that the reason why people considered her as an

insane girl is because of what she did. “…, her head jerking to the beat of a drummer so

distant only she could hear. Elbows bent, hands on shoulders, she flailed her arms like a bird

in an eternal, grotesquely futile effort to fly.” Those action is kind of insane people will do. It

is possible that her insanity is caused by things that happened to her; bullying towards her,

how her father treats her, her pregnancy, and her willing to become a beautiful girl with the

blue eyes which actually can’t be real even though she already asked God and visited

Soaphead Church.

The second character is Cholly Breedlove, Pecola’s father. Cholly was raised by his

aunt, Aunt Jimmy, after his mother put him in a dirty place near the railroad. At first, he

might be a good boy while Aunt Jimmy is still alive. He thanks Aunt Jimmy for saving him

from the junk heap place. It is written as , “…Cholly was grateful for having been saved….”

The reason why it is shown that Cholly is a good is because this attitude, feeling grateful,

indicate that someone is a good person. Then he changes after Aunt Jimmy funeral. “he was

free to join in the gaiety and enjoy what he really felt……….He ate greedily and……” Like a

bird which always in his cage and when he can escape from the cage, Cholly become

uncontrolled person. He feel that no one will control what he should do or what he shouldn’t

do because the one who do that is Aunt Jimmy whom already died.

Thing that changes Cholly into someone which is very different is when he started to

play with some girl. Darlene is one of them. “…. Just as he felt an explosion threaten,

Darlene froze and cried out. He thought he had hurt her, but when he looked at her face, she

was staring wildly at something over his shoulder. He jerked around. There stood two white

men. One with a spirit lamp, the other with a flashlight. There was no mistake about their

being white;…”

At that time, Cholly was having ‘fun’ time Darlene but suddenly two white men come

and said, “Get on wid it, nigger,” said the flashlight one. “Sir?” said Cholly, trying to find a

buttonhole. “I said, get on wid it. An’ make it good, nigger, make it good.” Cholly who felt

really ashamed and mad do the two white man ask. He don’t know what to do except hurting

Darlene whom covering her face from the flashlight of the two white man with her hand. He

accused Darlene as the one who guilty instead of the two white man. “…..Sullen, irritable, he

cultivated his hatred of Darlene. Never did he once consider directing his hatred toward the

hunters…..”. After that accident, Cholly become an unresponsible man who left something

which require him to fix it.

“….He had to get away. Never mind the fact that he was leaving that very day. A town

or two away was not far enough, especially since he did not like or trust his uncle, and

Darlene’s mother could surely find him, and Uncle O. V. would turn him over to her. Cholly

knew it was wrong to run out on a pregnant girl,…”

He avoids to be responsible to what will happen to Darlene after the incident. This

happen again after he married with Paulina William, Pecola’s mother. He became an

unresponsible husband and father. As a husband, what he should do is loving his family and

treat them nicely. He always fight his wife and never willing to stop the fight. “….Cholly and

Mrs. Breedlove fought each other with a darkly brutal formalism that was paralleled only by

their lovemaking…..” He even strike her wife rudely. “…He fought her the way a coward

fights a man—with feet, the palms of his hands, and teeth…” It is shows how he hit his wife.

It is possible he uses his feet to kick, his palm to slap, and his teeth to bite his wife’s body

part. As a husband, he shouldn’t do that because it will hurt not only his wife feelings but also

physically hurt.

His unresponsibility can be clearly seen when her daughter was pregnant because of

him. He rape Pecola twice, the first is while Pecola was washing dishes and the second is

while Pecola was reading on the couch. It can be seen from Pecola’s talk with her invisible

friend.

“…You did. You said he tried to do it to you when you were sleeping on the couch.

See there! You don’t even know what you’re talking about. It was when I was washing

dishes. Oh, yes. Dishes. By myself. In the kitchen. Well, I’m glad you didn’t let him……… I

don’t mean about the first time. I mean about the second time, when you were sleeping on the

couch. I wasn’t sleeping! I was reading!...”

From what happened to Pecola, it is clear that Cholly is a pedophile. If someone,

especially a man, is a pedophile he has a sexual desire in children. In Cholly’s case, he is a

pedophile father who rape his own daughter not just once, but twice. This is an inappropriate

thing in social value. Besides, Cholly is a drunker. In adition, he was drunk when he raped

Pecola. “…..he staggered home reeling drunk and saw his daughter in the kitchen…..”

Pecola even said to Claudia that her father is drunker. “…..“Pecola,” I said. “Her father’s

always drunk. She can get us some.”

After knowing Cholly’s characterization as a husband, it is clear that Cholly has no

idea about parenting. it is because his parents already left him since he was a child. He didn’t

know how to be a good husband or how to be a lovely father. The other reason why Cholly

become wicked is because the accident between him and Darlene with two white men who

saw him while he was loving Darlene. It is possible if this humiliation leads him into a

drunker and a harsh man.

The third is Pauline Breedlove. She is Pecola’s mother and Cholly’s wife. Before she

married Cholly, her name was Pauline William. Based on the novel, Pauline is a neat women.

“….She liked, most of all, to arrange things. To line things up in rows—jars on shelves at

canning, peach pits on the step, sticks, stones, leaves—and the members of her family let

these arrangements be. When…..” It is clear that Pauline enjoying what she did. She

voluntarily organize things, including clean things in the house. Her ability to arrange things

make her become a diligent housekeeper for The Fisher family. They even admitted that

Pauline is good at housekeeping, based on this narration written in the novel. “We’ll never let

her go. We could never find anybody like Polly. She will not leave the kitchen until everything

is in order. Really, she is the ideal servant.” That is why The Fisher want to keep Pauline as

their housekeeper.

Pauline is a good woman actually. She treats The Fisher daughter lovely. “….She

dried her in fluffy white towels and put her in cuddly night clothes. Then she brushed the

yellow hair, enjoying the roll and slip of it between her fingers…” From what she did toward

the little girl shows how much she likes The Fisher. But she act differently towards her

daughter, Pecola.

“….In one gallop she was on Pecola, and with the back of her hand knocked her to

the floor. Pecola slid in the pie juice, one leg folding under her. Mrs. Breedlove yanked her

up by the arm, slapped her again, and in a voice thin with anger, abused Pecola ………The

little girl in pink started to cry. Mrs. Breedlove turned to her. “Hush, baby, hush. Come here.

Oh, Lord, look at your dress. Don’t cry no more…… Over her shoulder she spit out words to

us like rotten pieces of apple. “Pick up that wash ……”

From paragraph above Pauline treat Pecola though Pecola is her own daughter. It is

clear that Pauline is an abusive mother for Pecola. She lays her love only for The Fisher

whom she works for as a housekeeper for more than years.

The other character is the MacTeer’s sister, Claudia,nine years old, and Frieda

MacTeer, ten years old. Claudia is an amusing girl who full of curiosity. She is always

curious when something new happen. For instance, “Noooo. You won’t die. It just means you

can have a baby!”,“What?”,“How do you know?” I was sick and tired of Frieda knowing

everything. “Mildred told me, and Mama too.”,“I don’t believe it”……” This dialogue

happened when Pecola had her first period while playing outside. “I” in this case is Claudia.

She is jealous with Frieda who always know everything while she, herself, didn’t know it.

Another example is when Claudia know that Mr Henry raped Frieda (the evidence is on page

98 – 102). She asked many thing because she is very curious with what happened to her, how

it is happened, how it feels, is Frieda told Mrs MacTeer about it, and what happened to Mr

Henry after she told Mr and Mrs MacTeer.

Besides her curiosity, Claudia is afraid of a doll. It can be seen from these narration in

the novel “..I was physically revolted by and secretly frightened of those round moronic eyes,

the pancake face, and orangeworms hair…” What the “round moronic eyes, the pancake

face, and orangeworms hair” means is the doll itself which has appearance like a white

woman, like Shirley Temple which Claudia hate most. She broke the doll which is her

Christmas gift instead of keep it.

On the other hand, she is a brave girl who safe her friends, Pecola, from bullying.

“You stop talking about her daddy,” I said. “What do I care about her old black

daddy?” asked Maureen. “Black? Who you calling black?” “You!” “You think you so cute!”

I swung at her and missed, hitting Pecola in the face. Furious at my clumsiness, I threw my

notebook at her, but it caught her in the small of her velvet back,……” This dialogue is

happened when a girl named Maureen Peal talking about Pecola’s naked father. Though her

strike didn’t hit Maureen, her braveness is shows that she care about Pecola and didn’t want

her feeling hurt.

As well as Claudia, Frieda MacTeer is also a brave girl. Not only because of she saves

Pecola from Woodrow Cain who bullied Pecola, but also because she is brave. Claudia

admitted her as a brave girl, “She slept in the bed with us. Frieda on the outside because she

is brave—it never occurs to her that if in her sleep her hand hangs over the edge of the bed

“something” will crawl out from under it and bite her fingers off…” As a child, afraid to

sleep in the edge of the bed is something usual. Most of the child afraid of it, including

Claudia. But this is make no sense to Frieda. It is clear that Frieda is not afraid of anything.

Things that interesting from the MacTeer sister is that both Frieda and Claudia feels

sympathy toward Pecola. People in the town are no longer care of her, even her mother. The

only one who still concern on what happened to Pecola is the MacTeer sister, especially when

Pecola is pregnant. People in town is only talking behind her back without taking care of her

(the evidence is on page 188 – 190). The MacTeer sister, who know the news from people’s

talk, feeling sad with Pecola condition.

“So let’s make it a miracle.”,“Yeah, but how?”,“We could pray.”,“That’s not

enough. Remember last time with the bird?”,“That was different; it was half-dead when we

found it.”,“I don’t care, I still think we have to do something really strong this time.”,“Let’s

ask Him to let Pecola’s baby live and promise to be good for a whole month.”

In this case, “Him” means the God. They decided to pray to God and ask him to save

Pecola’s baby. They promised to be a good child to make the God accept their want. “We

have to do it right, now. We’ll bury the money over by her house so we can’t go back and dig

it up, and we’ll plant the seeds out back of our house so we can watch over them. And when

they come up, we’ll know everything is all right. All right?” They even sacrifice their money

and their seeds for Pecola, only for asking God to save Pecola’s baby. These two kids are

really care and love Pecola. They want her to be safe, including her baby though the baby is

died because it born as a premature baby. At that time, the MacTeer sister felt guilty because

Pecola’s baby is dead. “….but because we had failed her. Our flowers never grew. I was

convinced that Frieda was right, that I had planted them too deeply. How could I have been

so sloven?...” The seeds which Claudia plants is never grow into flower. Frieda told her that

she planted the seeds too deeply and Claudia believe her. As explain before, MacTeer sister

plant the seed and if it grow, there is nothing to be worried. In this case, the thing is Pecola’s

baby. That is the reason why the MacTeer sister felt guilty and started to avoid Pecola.

Honestly, the dead of Pecola’s baby is not because of the seeds which planted too deeply but

it is because the baby which born too soon or in other word it is a premature baby.

After knowing the character and characterization, the other element which is analyzed

is plot. Plot is the way to emphasize the story. Plot used to describe the event of the story

which related with the character. There are five elements in a plot. The first is the exposition

or the introduction which tells the beginning of the story. The second is the rising action,

when the event of a conflict is started to appear and become more complicated. This element

lead to the third element, climax. This is the highest point which usually full of tension and

emotion. The fourth element is falling action or anti-climax, where the event of the story

begin to resolve. The last is resolution or the conclusion. This is the end of a story which

show whether the story has happy ending or not. The story line below will show the plot of

The Bluest Eye novel.

In this

novel, the introduction of the story begin

STORY LINE

Pecola’s baby is died.

She has an imaginary friend and

pretend that she has blue

eyes

Pecola was pregnant.

Pecola was accused for

killing a cat.

Got bad treat from

her mother, Paulina. Pecola raped by

her father, Cholly.

Pecola visit Soaphead Church,

asking for blue eyes.

Pecola drunk three

quarts of milk.

While playing

outside, she got

ministration.

Pecola got bullied by

people around her.

Pecola live in the

MacTeer’s house.

Resolution

Anti-Climax

Climax

Rising ActionIntroduction

with a girl named Pecola whom started to live in MacTeer’s house because her house was

burned by her father, Cholly Breedlove. Pecola live in peace with the MacTeer family,

Claudia and Frieda. The MacTeer sister always try to makes Pecola feels comfortable while

she lives with them.

The rising action appear when both Pecola and Frieda has the same taste which is they

like Shirley temple. Pecola’s love towards Shirley Temple made her become greedy to drink

three quart of milks which make her “folks” come out. “Folks” in this case is Mrs MacTeer’s

gripe towards people whom drunk the milks which she refered to Pecola. For avoiding her

mother’s folks, Frieda and Claudia invite Pecola to play outside. Not long after they are

outside, blood started to run on Pecola’s thigh. Frieda is the one who knows what happened

to Pecola. Frieda then ask Claudia to bring her a lot of water but she only bring a jar.

Suddenly their neighbor sees them and tell Mrs MacTeer that they are playing nasty. When

Mrs MacTeer know what is really happen, she bring Pecola inside.

The climax in this story is in the point of the story itself where Pecola is always has a

suffer life. Pecola has a family, actually, but her family is full of trouble. Her father, Cholly

Breedlove was in jail. He ever humiliated while he had sex with a girl named Darlene. There

are two white men who force them to continue having sex while they watch and laugh. While

Mrs Breedlove live in the place where she work. Her name is Paulina William. She loves her

boss family, The Fosters, than her children, Pecola and Sammy.

Pecola’s parent always fight each other. Sometimes, Pecola thought that her parent is

fighting because she is ugly. She believes that if she has blue eyes, the fight will never

happened and people will stop do bad thing to her because of her blue eyes. Besides, she

always got bullied from people around her, especially her friends in her school. She even

accused as the murderer of Geraldine’s cat although she is innocent.

For avoiding the bully, Pecola always ask God to give her blue eyes. Then she tried to

meet Soaphead Church asking for blue eyes. Soaphead told Pecola to feed a dog. He said that

Pecola will get what she want if the dog act different. Pecola didn't realize that the feed which

Soaphead give to Pecola is a poison. That is why the dog act strangely and die. But Pecola

doen’t have any idea about what happened with the dog. What she knew is that she will get

blue eyes soon.

Pecola’s distress also happened because of her insolent father, Cholly. He rape pecola,

even twice, until she is pregnant. This is when the anti-climax happened, after those climax

which happen towards Pecola. Her pregnant make people hate her more than ever. She

became the topic whenever there is a time to talk. They even thought that it is better if the

baby is died but if it life, it is a miracle for them.

Right after the anti-climax, the resolution is come up with the news that Pecola’s baby

was die. It might be lead her into someone insane. She started to think that she has an

invisible friend. She even believed that she already has blue eyes. Frieda and Claudia felt

really sorry for her. the baby was die. They thought it was their fault so that Pecola’s baby

dead. The reason is Frieda asked Claudia to planted seeds in order to make sure that Pecola’s

baby will live. However, Claudia planted it too deeply. The agreement is if the seeds growt,

there will be a miracle which make Pecola’s baby save. But if the seeds ain’t grow, there

must be a debacle, which is Pecola’s baby dead. Since that accident, Frieda and Claudia

didn’t want to meet Pecola, but only for seeing her without looking at her. They avoid her

because their guilty feeling towards Pecola although the seeds have nothing to do with

Pecola’s baby whether it will safe or die.

Next explanation is about the third intrinsic elements, theme. Theme of a story is

what the writer wants to convey to the reader. It is the central idea of the story. According to

Perrie (1988) in Mustofa & Hill (2013), theme unity the story and reflect the main point of

the writer idea. The theme can be developed from the characters, the setting, and the plot of

the story. Element which influenced the theme of a story is the writer’s life. It means that the

theme reflects what the writer ever experienced during his/her life. For instance, The Bluest

Eye novel. In this novel, the main subject is racial equality. It can be seen from the main

character, Pecola, which always get teased from people around her because of her black skin

which show that she is an African-American race. In this novel, Morisson shows how the

white people is respected and being afraid by black people, like what happened to Cholly in

the Spring chapter. “….Never did he once consider directing his hatred toward the hunters.

Such an emotion would have destroyed him. They were big, white, armed men. He was small,

black, helpless..”

Not only provides racial equality as the theme, Morisson also gives physical

appearance equality. The Bluest Eye novel clearly shows that there is a difference treatment

towards people who are not good looking or in other word, ugly. It can be shown from the

narration which Morrison gives to show the discrimination toward Pecola and her family

because she is ugly.

“….She holds the money toward him. He hesitates, not wanting to touch her hand.

She does not know how to move the finger of her right hand from the display counter or how

to get the coins out of her left hand…”

The narration above happened when Pecola wants to buy some candies in Mr

Yacobowski’s store. In the sentence, “He hesitates, not wanting to touch her hand”, it is

show Mr Yacobowski repugnance towards Pecola which makes him avoid for touching

Pecola’s hand. While the following sentence, “She does not know how to move the finger of

her right hand from the display counter or how to get the coins out of her left hand”, shows

how Pecola is also didn’t know how to behave towards people who feeling disgust of her.

She can see what others think about her by seeing their eyes. It is explain from this narration,

“…she has seen interest, disgust, even anger in grown male eyes. Yet this vacuum is not new

to her…”. It means that she used to see and feel people’s hate toward her from the way they

see her, black and ugly.

While narration which shown how people see Breedlove family is, “…They lived

there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they

were ugly………for the father, Cholly, whose ugliness (the result of despair, dissipation, and

violence directed toward petty things and weak people) was behavior, the rest of the family—

Mrs. Breedlove, Sammy Breedlove, and Pecola Breedlove—wore their ugliness, put it on,

……”

The paragraph above shows how people think about Breedlove family. Poor and

black. Which Breedlove believe they are, indeed. In addition, a dialogue which directly

accused Pecola as an ugly girl is said by a girl named Maureen Peal. “…Safe on the other

side, she screamed at us, “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am

cute!”…” This dialogue shows how ugly Pecola is. That is the reason why Pecola got bullied

from her friend, because she is ugly. And black.

From those explanation in the paragraphs above, it is clear that this main topic of this

novel is racial equality and physical appearance equality, which experienced by the main

character, Pecola.

The other element is the important element, setting. In literature, setting is used to

identify and the time, place and mood of the events of the story. Through setting, the writer

of fiction is able to make different situation. Setting also gives color to the literary works.

Generally, based on Mustofa & Hill (2011), there are two major elements of setting, time and

place. The other element besides those two elements is the situation. The first type is setting

of place. It shows the position which where something is happening. For example like in the

office, at someone’s house, and on the street avenue. The second type is time which show

when something is happened. Such as in the morning, and at 7 o’clock. The third is situation.

It is show the conditions that happened at a particular time and place.

In this novel, Morrison provides a lot of setting, specially the place. But basically, the

background of this novel is Ohio, America, around 1941. Supported by particular situation,

each chapter shows different conditions which become the title of the chapter. The first

chapter is Autumn, the second is Winter, the third is Spring, and the last chapter is Summer.

Each condition provide an event which is related each other although it happened in different

condition.

As explain in the paragraph above, this novel main place is Ohio, America. But for

the exact place where an event happened, this paragraph below will explain it.

In each chapter, the setting of situation is different. In the first chapter is autumn

situation, the second is winter, the third is spring, and the last chapter is summer. To make it

easier, the analysis of the novel setting will explain based on their chapter.

In the first chapter, Autumn, the events of this novel happened in around four

different places. The first place is in the MacTeer’s house. “…Mama had told us two days

earlier that a “case” was coming—a girl who had no place to go. The county had placed her

in our house for a few days…” In this case, Mama is refer to Mrs MacTeer so that it is clear

the word “our house” is refer the MacTeer’s house which Pecola will stay for a few days

after her house buried by her father, Cholly.

The other place is in the Breedlove’s house. As explain in the previous paragraph,

Peola actually has her own house with her family. In this chapter, there is a description of her

house before being burned. “..The Breedloves did not live in a storefront because they were

having temporary difficulty adjusting to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because

they were poor and black…” Although they lived not in an independence house, at least they

have place to stay, which is an old store.

Another place is in the Mr Yacobowski’s store. “…She climbs four wooden steps to

the door of Yacobowski’s Fresh Veg. Meat and Sundries Store. A bell tinkles as she opens it.

Standing before the counter, she looks at the array of candies….” In this store, Pecola bought

three pennies of Mary Jane. At that time, Mr Yacobowski shows his hatred towards Pecola

from the way he saw her which she can realized that he dislike her.

The other is in the Maginot Line’s apartment. in addition, Maginot Line is a group of

three whores who become Pecola’s friend. “..Three whores lived in the apartment above the

Breedloves’ storefront. China, Poland, and Miss Marie……. Pecola climbed the stairs to

their apartment…” Pecola likes them because they nice to her. She usually visits them and

talks about everything she wants to know about them.

Moved to the second chapter, Winter. In this chapter, there are two places which the

novel focused on. The first is MacTeer’s house. Different with first chapter, in this chapter

what happened in there is because of Mr Henry, other MacTeer’s roomer. “…We looked into

the living-room window, expecting to see Mama. Instead we saw Mr. Henry and two

women….”

The second place is in Geraldine’s house where something bad happened with Pecola.

”… “Get out,” she said, her voice quiet. “You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my

house.”..” In this dialogue, she is refer to Geraldine, the lady whom cat killed by her son, but

he accused Pecola as the victim. It is clear that phrase, “Get out of my house” is refer to

Geraldine’s house.

Next is an analysis of the third chapter, Spring. This chapter focused on eight places.

The first place is in the MacTeer’s house, just like in the previous chapter. “…when I went

back. I entered the house, as the house was bursting with an uneasy quiet….. I went to look

for Frieda. I found her upstairs lying on our bed, crying the tired,..” In this narration, “I”

refer to Claudia MacTeer. It is clear that in “our bed” she means it is her and her sister,

Frieda, bedroom, and word “the house” is refer to their house.

The second place is in Kentucky, Pauline William or Pauline Breedlove, Cholly’s

wife, hometown including her house. “..Near the beginning of World War I, the Williamses

discovered, from….. journeys, to Kentucky, where there were mines and millwork..”

Kentucky is the town where Pauline’s family moved to. There, they live in a house with

many children. “…When the war ended and the twins were ten years old, they too left school

to work. Pauline was fifteen, still keeping house, …” “House” in this narration is refer to the

William’s house. Right after Pauline married to Cholly, they moved to another country.

“….They agreed to marry and go ’way up north, where Cholly said steel mills were begging

for workers. Young, loving, and full of energy, they came to Lorain, Ohio……”

The third place is in the Fisher’s house where Paulina worked as a servant. “…It was

her good fortune to find a permanent job in the home of a well-to-do family whose members

were affectionate, appreciative, and generous….” In case, “home” here is refer to her boss’s

house, the Fisher’s house. While working with them, Pauline feels comfortable. She even

don't care more about her family.

The others is in Aunt Jimmy’s house, the place where Cholly growth. “…Aunt Jimmy

raised Cholly herself, but took delight sometimes in telling him of how she had saved him…”

The idea that Cholly was lived in her Aunt’s house is not clear, but it is implicit in it. the

word “raised” and “saved” could be the indication that Cholly is lived with Aunt Jimmy.

The other place is in an open field where Cholly and a girl named Darlene making

love. “….Darlene, and Cholly walked through several backyards until they came to an open

field…” This is the place where Cholly humiliated by two white man who saw him with

Darlene.

Next is in Macon, where Cholly’s father lived. “…Now he understood. He knew then

what he must do—find his father. His father would understand. Aunt Jimmy said he had gone

to Macon….” In Macon, Cholly wants to see her father but instead of greeting him in a

friendly hug, he don’t want to see Cholly.

The eighth place is in Breedlove’s kitchen where Cholly saw Pecola washing dishes.

“……in the thin light of spring, he staggered home reeling drunk and saw his daughter in the

kitchen. She was washing dishes…” In this narration, He is refer to Cholly while Her is refer

to Pecola. This place –kitchen- is the place where Cholly raped her daughter, Pecola.

The other places which this chapter focused on is in Soaphead Church’s house. In this

case, Pecola is the one who go there to ask him her willingness. “…Soaphead was reflecting

once again on these thoughts one late hot afternoon when he heard a tap on his door.

Opening it, he saw a little girl,..” From the narration, the little girl refer to Pecola. She visit

Soaphead’s house and asking for the blue eyes for her.

Those paragraphs above is explain about the places where an event of the story

happened. While the analysis of the setting of time will be explain in the paragraphs below by

grouping them based on their chapter as well as the setting of place in previous paragraphs.

First is Autumn chapter. “…So when Mr. Henry arrived on a Saturday night, we..”

That day is the day when Mr Henry finaly come to MacTeer house as their roomer. The other

day is also Saturday but it is a different Saturday. “…It was a lonesome Saturday. The house

smelled of Fels Naphtha and the sharp odor of mustard greens cooking. Saturdays were

lonesome, fussy, soapy days. Second in misery only to those tight, starchy, cough-drop

Sundays,…” That was the day when Pecola drunk three quarts of milk and made Mrs

MacTeer mad. It is also the day when Pecola finally got her first menstruation. And it is also

on Saturday, but of course it is the different Staruday. “….This family, on a Saturday

morning in October, began, one by one, to stir out of their dreams of affluence and

vengeance into the anonymous misery of their storefront….” It is Saturday when both Cholly

and Pauline fight each other. The other day is the day when Pecola get to know the Maginot

Line; China, Poland, and Miss Marie. “….On an October morning, the morning of the stove-

lid triumph, Pecola climbed the stairs to their apartment. Even before the door was opened to

her tapping, she…” While together with the Maginot Line, Pecola got a nice treat from them

which make Pecola likes them.

The next chapter is Winter. “…One day, while I waited at the locker for Frieda, she

joined me…..” This narration told the day, not the exact day, when Pecola got teased and

bullied by her new friend, Maureen Peal. The other day is when Frieda and Claudia bought

candy by Mr Henry’s money. “…“Then let’s go to Miss Bertha’s. You like her candy, don’t

you?” ,“It’s always stale, and she always runs out of stuff.”, “Today is Friday. She orders

fresh on Friday.”…” When they arrived at home, they saw Mr Henry together with the

Maginot Line. Both Claudia and Frieda waited them until they gone and ask Mr Henry why

they come to their house. The next day is when Pecola go to Geraldine’s house because

Grealdine’s son, Junior, ask her to do so. “..Alternately bored and frightened at home, the

playground was his joy. On a day when he had been especially idle, he saw a very black girl

taking a shortcut through the playground….” That is the day when Pecola accused by Junior

as the murder of Geraldine’s cat.

The other chapter is Spring. The first is about the death of Aunt Jimmy, Cholly’s aunt.

“…..On a wet Saturday night, before Aunt Jimmy felt strong enough to get out of the bed,

Essie Foster brought her a peach cobbler…” The day on this narration is the day when Aunt

Jimmy is died after got sick for a long time. The other is when something bad happened to

Pecola. “…So it was on a Saturday afternoon, in the thin light of spring, he staggered home

reeling drunk and saw his daughter in the kitchen .She was washing…” To make it clear, the

day said in this narration is the day when Pecola got raped by Cholly who just come home

and drunk. This is the first time when Cholly raped Pecola. Another day is the day when

Pecola go to Soaphead Church asking for the bluest eye which she really wants. “…and the

labor of your days we abhorred. This morning, before the little black girl came, I cried—for

Velma…..” This too, is the day when Pecola killed a dog because of Soaphead Church’s

requirement for her willingness.

All of those paragraphs above is already explain about five intrinsic elements of a

fiction, which is character and characterization, plot, theme, and setting. While this paragraph

will explain about the point of view of this novel. Before straight to main point, it is

important to know what point of view really is. Point of view in a fiction is the way how the

writer wrote their story through narration. Based on Mustofa & Hill (2011), a narrator who

tells the story will see things from a certain point of view, or perspective, to tell the event and

the characters. They could be come from outside of the story or inside of the story, such as

the character of the story itself. From the point of view, the writers will be able to express

what they want to tell the reader.

In addition, point of view has several types: first-person, second-person, and third-

person. The first-person is used when the character is telling the story. It is usually indicated

by the using of “I-Me-My” speech as the narrator. The second-person is when the narrator use

“You-Your” speech while telling the story. But this type of point of view is rarely used

because the writer usually tells the story to the reader directly. While the third-person point of

view is the outside narrator of the story. This point of view used “He-She-It” speech to tell

the story. By using the third-person point of view, the writer is able to emphasize their story.

This is the reason why many writers use this type of point of view on their writing. The

third-person point of view has three various types. The first is third-person limited; which the

point of view is limited to only one character;, the second is third-person multiple; which still

used the “He-She-It” speech but the writer multiples the character;, and the third is third-

person omniscient, which the narrator knows everything about what happened in the story.

In The Bluest Eye novel, there are two kind of point of view which used by the

narrator. The first is first-person point of view. In this story, there are some part of the story

which narrated by Claudia MacTeer. She narrated on the first sub-bub of each chapter.

On the first sub-bub of Autumn chapter : “…School has started, and Frieda and I get

new brown stockings and cod-liver oil….”

On the first sub- chapter of Winter chapter : “…Frieda and I exchanged glances, her

eyes begging my restraint, mine promising nothing….”

On the first sub- chapter of Spring chapter : “…When she finished, I went to look for

Frieda. I found her upstairs lying on our bed, crying the tired,…”

Except on the last chapter, Summer, she narrates the whole story. “…The summer was

already thick when Frieda and I received our seeds. We had waited since April for the magic

package..”

From the “I” speech (in red color), it is clear that this is the first-person point of view

because it used the “I” while narrate the story.

The second point of view of this novel is third-person omniscient. This point of view

used only in Autumn, Winter, and Spring chapter.

On the Autumn chapter sub- chapter 2 and 3 : “…They moved slowly, laughed slowly,

but flicked the ashes from their cigarettes too quickly too often, and exposed themselves, to

those who …” , “…The Breedloves did not live in a storefront because they were having

temporary difficulty adjusting to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they

were poor…”

On the Winter chapter sub- chapter 2 : “…Their roots are deep, their stalks are firm,

and only the top blossom nods in the wind. They have the eyes of people who can tell what

time it is by the color of the sky…”

On the Spring chapter sub-chapter 2, 3, and 4 : “..In Kentucky they lived in a real

town, ten to fifteen houses on a single street, with water piped right into the kitchen…” , “…

When Cholly was four days old, his mother wrapped him in two blankets and one newspaper

and placed him on a junk heap by the railroad...” , “…his disdain for people led him into a

profession designed to serve them. He was engaged…”

Those paragraphs above show that some parts of the novel used the third-person

omniscient point of view because it used “They-Their- He-Him” speech. Besides, the reason

why it is omniscient is because the third person as a narrator in this novel knows everything

about the situation or the novel characters itself.

The paragraphs above are talking about the setting of the story. While now, this

paragraph will explain about the most meaningful point of the novel intrinsic element which

called as Moral value. Moral value is refer to a good advice which the reader can conclude

from the whole story. It makes the reader can judge something whether it is right or wrong. It

can lead into positiveness which can persuade them to be a better person.

In this novel, Morrison gives the reader a knowledge about how to not discriminate

people from their appearance; racial and physical appearance. It can lead to bad treatment

towards them which is not a god attitude as human being. Because beauty is not only comes

from outside (physical) but also comes from inside. Sometimes beauty can messed everything

up. It led to an envy, jealousy, and all of bad things which comes from together with the

enviness.

In conclusion, using race and appearance equality as the theme, this novel symbolize

that years ago, people thought that beauty led to a respect from other people. This novel is

actually a good novel which reflect American society which known as the most disrespect

society towards another society usually because of their race and physical appearance. In

addition, although there is a rule which control things related with the discrimination, society

still don’t care with this thing. that is why I recommended this novel to your reading list.

REFERENCES

1. Morrison, Tony. 2007. The Bluest Eye. New York : Vintage Books.

2. Mustofa, Ali & Jonnie Hill. Interactive Approaches to Literature.

3. http://literature.com.my/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=500&Itemid=405 (retrieved on May 30th,2015)

4. http://Banned Books Week Toni Morrison novel 'The Bluest Eye' a target for censors

- Fayetteville Observer Local News.htm

5. http://tonimorrisonnovelguides.weebly.com/the-bluest-eye.html (retrieved on May

30th,2015)

6. Character-List-toni-morrison.cliffnotes..htm

7. The Bluest Eye - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm

8. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1993.htm