The symbolism in The Bluest Eye

盛玥

【Abstract】Toni Morrison，the first black female writer who won the Nobel Prize in American history，portrays the character's images and highlights the theme of her first novel The Blues Eye by many symbolization of images.She also criticizes the distortion of the black's aesthetic standards under the the impact of the white culture and the harm of racial discrimination against black females in the novel.

【Key words】Toni Morrison； the Blues Eye； symbol； racial discrimination

【摘要】托尼·莫里森是美国历史上第一位获得诺贝尔奖的黑人女作家，她在其处女作《最蓝的眼睛》中用意像的象征刻画了人物的性格，点明了主旨。同时，在这篇小说中她也抨击了在白人文化的影响之下黑人审美观的扭曲以及批判了对黑人女性的种族歧视。

【关键词】托尼·莫里森 最蓝的眼睛 象征 种族歧视

1.Introduction

The Bluest Eye，the first novel of Toni Morrison，American contemporary novelist，was written in the 1960s'.Toni Morrison is a unique distinguished novelist in the 20th century American literary history.All her novels deal with African American characters and communities.Exploring the entire cycle of human life in a spiritual context，her novels have obtained universal significance.The brilliance of her debut The Bluest Eye largely attributes to the employment of symbolism.In the novel，Morrison subtly probes a distinctive theme - the practical way for the black to healthily survive in the dominant white culture is to retain the black ethical culture root so as to eliminate the internalization of white culture notions - a perspective different from that adopted by many other African American writers that the racism is presented as conflicts between two opposing sides，the black and the white.In order to explore the theme，Morrison uses symbols to depict the setting，the structure，and the characters.This paper is focused on analyzing the symbols used in the work and how these symbols help to express the theme.

2.The definition of symbolism

Webster's Dictionary of American English defines symbol as：1）something used to stand for something else，esp.A material object representing something that can not be touched； 2） a letter，figure，or other conventional mark naming or referring to an object，quantity，operation，etc.Symbolism is the use of one object to represent of suggest another.It can be referred to an artistic technique.From the perspective of symbolism，we can get closer to the inner heart of the character and the author and get a better understanding of the novel.

3.Symbols of settings，images and character in The Bluest Eye

3.1 A brief introduction of The Bluest Eye

The protagonist of the novel，Pecola Breedlove，is an eleven-year-old black girl who believes that she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful.Sensitive and delicate，she passively suffers the abuse of her mother，father，and classmates.She is lonely and imaginative.

Pecola's father has tried to burn down his family's house.So Pecola is sent to board in the Macteers.Two daughters of Macteers，Claudia and Frieda，feel sorry for her.After Pecola moves back in with her family，and her life is difficult.Her father drinks，her mother is indifferent，and the two of them often beat each other.Her brother，Sammy，frequently runs away.Pecola believes that if she had blue eyes，she would be loved and her life would be transformed.Actually Pecola's parents have both had difficult lives.Pauline，her mother，has a lame foot and has always felt isolated.Pauline loses herself in romantic movies，which reaffirm her that only those beautiful people can have romantic love.But she is ugly.She works for a white family and she feels most alive when she is at work.She loves this home and despises her own.Cholly，Pecola's father，was abandoned by his parents and raised by his great aunt，who died when he was a young teenager.He was humiliated by two white men who found him having sex for the first time and made him continue while they watched.Cholly returns home one day and finds Pecola washing dishes.With mixed motives of tenderness and hatred that are fueled by guilt，he rapes her.Claudia and Frieda find out that Pecola has been impregnated by her father，and unlike the rest of the neighborhood，they want the baby to live.But the baby dies，and finally Pecola goes mad，believing that her cherished wish has been fulfilled and that she has the bluest eyes.

3.2 The symbol of “blue eyes”

The most paramount symbol is the very name of the novel： “the bluest eye.”To Pecola，blue eyes symbolize the beauty and happiness that she associates with the white，middle-class world.The milk cup she uses is printed with the picture of Shirley Temple who has the blue eyes.They also come to symbolize her own blindness，for she gains blue eyes only at the cost of her sanity.The“bluest”eye could also mean the saddest eye.Eye puns on I，in the sense that the novel's title uses the singular form of the noun （instead of the‘eyes） to express much of the characters' sad isolation.“blue”also means sad.In the end，Pecola becomes mad and imagines that she has the blue eyes.This indicates her destiny.For Toni Morrison，to adopt symbolism in The Bluest Eye is a necessity.Firstly，the context of the novel requires symbolism to get itself across to readers.The elements involved in the novel are very complicated.They include the setting，the natural and social environment，the characters with different class backgrounds，representing different mentality and ideas.All the information needs to be organized to reveal the theme of the novel.So it is not a surprise that Morrison puts symbolic meaning on each element and thus uses symbolism to cover the whole story.Secondly，the theme of the novel requires symbolism to help the truth hidden in narrative to be vividly conveyed rather than preached to readers.Since the theme involving racism，gender and desire is so abstract，symbolism is an ideal device to tackle such abstract issues.Last but not least，Morrison's symbolism is also rooted in her own black cultural heritage.As a black American writer，Morrison is proud of her ethical culture and has a strong intention to extend the black traditional values and culture.As folklores and folktales are passed down orally in the form of storytelling that usually adopts plentiful symbols，it's natural for Morrison to employ abundant symbols in The Bluest Eye.

3.3 The symbol of the house

The novel begins with a sentence from a Dick-and-Jane narrative：“Here is the house.”Homes not only indicate socioeconomic status in this novel，but they also symbolize the emotional situations and values of the characters who inhabit them.The Breedlove apartment is miserable and decrepit，and Mrs.Breedlove loves her employer's house more than her own home.This may symbolize the black's loss in the dominant aesthetic view of white culture.Their house symbolizes the misery of their family.In contrast，Mac Teer house is dark and old，but it is carefully tended by Mrs.Mac Teer and is filled with love somehow.Mac Teer' s house symbolizes that family's tender love and steady.

3.4 The symbol of the flower

The imagery of dandelion appears many times in this novel.Pecola ever considers dandelion is a beautiful flower and she can not understand why people don't like it and consider it as the wild grass.The pity and love for dandelion symbolizes the pity for herself.She ever supposes she is also beautiful just as dandelion is beautiful.But after she is laughed and looked down upon by the grocery store owner，she realizes she is ugly and even a wave of hatred for dandelion runs through her.This is a kind of loss in the aesthetic view of white culture.The racial discrimination hurts her when a child is very young.When she is not aware of it，this value dominates her.

The flower，marigold is used as a symbol to put up a natural environment as well as a social environment where the two protagonists，Pecola and Claudia live.After Pecola is raped by her father，her mother scolds her and does not believe what Pecola says and no one supports her.Only Claudia and Frieda are willing to help her and wishes she can give birth this baby.They plant marigolds and believe if the marigolds grow，then Pecola's baby will be all right.But the marigold does not grow and flower.Actually all the marigold in their community do not grow because of the earth's barrenness.This also symbolize the social environment in which the black people live is poor and miserable and indicates Pecola's dream will not finally be realized.

4.Conclusion

With the employment of symbolism，Toni Morrison successfully depicts the characters and the abstract idea of racism，gender，racial discrimination and the dominance of the white's aesthetic view.We can say that the symbol in this novel is ubiquitous and many details even the arrangement of articles and the character's names all have its symbolic meaning.What I analyzed above is just like a drop of water in the ocean.

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