I completed "The Bluest Eye" today and felt like I was transported to Black America in the 1940's. To say I was shocked at the turn of events in Pecola's young life would be putting it mildly.
The story is told by Claudia, a young black girl (dirt poor), who lives with her sister Frieda, mom and dad in a tiny house (well a room, really). It takes the reader through the seasons beginning with the "burnt" leaves of Autumn then the bleak and coldness of winter, the promise of Spring and the dry and sometimes unyielding summer. And so we get a glimpse into the life of Pecola Breedlove.
Pecola is a young girl who most would consider ugly. She was so ugly to some that they could not look her in the face. We learn about Pecola's background, how her dad (Cholly Breedlove) is a wasp of a dad and comes home drunk and burns his house down. Pecola lives with Claudia and her family for a while so they all become friends. Pecola's life is like a downward spiral into the abyss of pain and heartbreak. Pecola dreams of having blue eyes, "the bluest eye ever" so she could be beautiful, loved and accepted. She suffers a rape by her dad while her mom beats her (probably blames her) for her predicament!
The book closes just after the death of Pecola's baby, after her dad dies, her brother runs away and her mom still keeps house for a white family whose daughter she treats better than her own. This book peels away the cover of the lives of an African American community in Ohio and showcase their pain, love, ideology, anger. It is well written in my eyes but very sad and dark in many ways.
I am not sure how to rate this book so I will leave it unrated for now........
I read this book this year and enjoyed it even though it was such a dark story. The writing itself was just beautiful at times.
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by. Yes, the writing was beautiful and yes, I had to check my dictionary a time or two but its a must read