The analysis of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye from the Feminist Thought

李書書

【摘要】當代美國黑人文壇佼佼者數不勝數，但影響最大的當屬托尼·莫里森。作為美國歷史上第一個獲得諾貝爾文學獎的黑人女性作家，她的作品對當代女性尤其是黑人女性產生了巨大的影響。她的作品深切關注美國黑人女性的生活經歷，反映了黑人女性在白人主導的社會中，在被種族和性別歧視扭曲了的價值觀的影響下，對自己生存價值和身份的迷失和追尋。在其代表作《最藍的眼睛》中，莫里森塑造了兩類典型的黑人女性形象，一類是在白人主導的社會中迷失自我，逃避黑人文化，深陷生活困境的黑人女性;另一類是是勇敢的探尋自我，堅持黑人文化，擺脫身份困境的黑人女性。莫里森通過對兩類不同的黑人女性生活經歷和觀念的比較和分析，進一步探討黑人女性身份的迷失和追尋，從而向世人展現莫里森獨特的黑人女性觀：黑人女性只有堅持、尊重和繼承自己民族的文化價值觀和審美觀，唱“自己的歌”，堅持本我，自尊自信自立自強，才能在主流社會中構建真實的強大的自我，永不迷失。只有這樣，黑人女性在白人主導的社會中才能變強大而不迷失自己。他們需要找到自我，做好自我，并最終實現自我。

【關鍵詞】托尼·莫里森;黑人女性;迷失;追尋

Abstract：Toni Morrison， one of the most influenced contemporary writer in the African American literary circle， is the first black female who wined the Noble Prize for literature. Her works have a great influence on the modern female， especially the black female， which shows great concern about the lives and experiences of the black female and reflects how the black female lost and seek for their own value and identity under the society that dominated by the white man， where their value are distorted by the discrimination of race and gender. In her masterpiece The Bluest Eye， Morrison shaped two classes of typical black woman image. One is losing themselves in the white dominated society， avoiding the black culture and eventually making themselves in deep trouble; the other is brave to explore， adhere to the black culture and get rid of the trouble of the identity of black women. Through making the comparison and analysis to the two different types of black womens life experiences and ideas， further to study the lost and pursuit of black female identity， Morrison shows her unique view on black women to the world， that is ： only by insisting ， respecting ， inheriting their national cultural ， singing "your song" and being self-esteem， self-confidence， self-reliance and self-strengthening， can the black women live in the white dominated society ，make themselves stronger and never lost themselves. As a result， the black women can have the opportunity to live a good life in the white dominated society， make themselves stronger and never lost themselves. It demands us that we should find ourselves， be ourselves， and achieve ourselves.

Key words：Toni Morrison; black women; lost; seek

1. Introduction

Toni Morrison，as one of the black female writers in the 20th century，made great and indelible contribution to the African American literature. And her works deeply reveal the black womans psychological sufferings，pains and struggles through the description of the life experiences. As it is， in her first famous novel The Bluest Eye， Morrison mainly talks about the black people especially the black female who are prejudiced and controlled by the white man in the 1930s and 1940s， during that time， the black women had nothing but only the humiliation. Morrison shaped two classes of typical black woman image in her work. One is losing themselves in the white man dominated society， avoiding the black culture and eventually making themselves in deep trouble; the other is brave to explore， adhere to the black culture and get rid of the trouble of the identity of black women. The two kinds of people has formed a clear apparent and comparison. By describing the interior life of the black female， she tries to criticize the people who adopt their own individuality， blackness， value and aesthetic views， and promote those who embrace their own culture to keep on their belief for the purpose of retaining their identity， or their blackness and getting survived in the white society to live a better life.

2. Loss of the individuality

Toni Morrison thinks that the spreading and acknowledgment of the aesthetic standard of the white men will destroy the thought of all the people around the world. In The Bluest Eye， Toni Morrison shaped one kind of female who are impacted and immersed in the white culture and getting totally assimilated by the mainstream culture and losing their own value， the black identity and also their individualities， such as the black-colored Pecola ， incompetent mother Pauline， the light-colored girl Maureen and Geraldine who got rid of the black culture. They are the main characters that Toni Morrison shaped in her own works The Bluest Eye. The following contents are about those characters who lost her blackness， culture， individuality， culture and themselves.

2.1 Pecolas wrong illusion

Pecolas yearning for the blue eyes has become the center of her life， which she thinks is the radical reason why her parents， her classmates， and her neighbors dont like her. She is jealous of the light-colored girl Maureen Peals “long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her neck”. In the white man dominated society， the white mans value and aesthetic value controlled the whole societys value. The light-colored girl Maureen Peals “long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her neck makes her feel that she is the most excellent girl ，which is enough to get the black girls envy， including Pecola. Pecola regards the blues eyes and the brown hair as the symbol of identity， so she seek for the white womens appearance and lose herself. She lost her own individuality， lost her culture and her own value. Just because she lost herself， she couldnt live a happy life. She does find the way to be herself， and achieve herself.

2.2 Paulines loss in the white mans life

Pauline， the mother of Pecola， has ordinary looks and congenial lame. Being a immigrated black women who is very poor，Pauline is not accepted by the local white women . Therefore， she is always so depressed that she always find the visional happiness from the Hollywood films. When she gets two babies， she worked as a devoted and faithful "mammy" in a white family. She regards the white children as her whole world where "she was the queen of canned vegetables bought by the case， special fondants and ribbon candy curled up in tiny silver dishes..."（Ibid）. Consequently， she serves the cultural and spiritual tie with the black people and follows a trajectory away from the values of the blacks. Then the total loss of the blackness makes her feel that the job in the white house is all her life meaning.

In summary， Pauline deserted her black individuality and lost herself. She would not like to be herself， so she lost her daughter， her husband and the happy family. Losing herself means losing everything.

3. Preservation of the individuality

Toni Morrison pays much attention on the life experience of the blacks， especially the black women. As a black writer， she thinks， the final aim for her is to write the things， experience， life， and the interior world of the black female.

In her masterpiece The Bluest Eye， Morrison shaped a kind of typical black woman images who fight against with the white mans aesthetic value， the doctrine of sex， and the racialism， such as the brave Claudia， the warm-hearted mother MacTeer， the typical Southern mother and the three cynical prostitutes. They are brave to explore， adhere to the black culture and get rid of the trouble of the identity of black women. They pursuit the blacks culture， identity， individuality and be themselves.

3.1 Claudias insist on the blackness and individuality

The small girl Claudia found that people only pay attention to the white girl， like Shirley Temple， who has blue-eyes， yellow-haired， pink-skin. When the Christmas day comes， she will get a blue-eyed and yellow-haired doll. She knows that a blue-eyed and yellow-haired doll is what every girl child treasured， but she refuses to get it. She refuses to be controlled by the dominate culture and relentlessly rejects a white baby doll. She questioned the basis for white cultural domination and its manipulating power over blacks. Claudia dismembers the baby doll and she just want to examine it to see what it was that all the world said was lovable. She is challenging this invisible power， seeking for the blackness， her individuality， her own culture and her own value.

3.2 Mrs. MacTeers preserving her own individuality

Mr .MacTeer， Claudias mother ，is also a character Morrison makes efforts to celebrate for her inherited blackness. Mr. MacTeer loves her daughter and her family too much. She not only devotes her love to her children， but also provides a source of stability in the midst of metaphorical and real storms. She creates a warm and harmonious atmosphere for the black family and she inherits the blackness.

For Toni Morrison ， the character Mr. MacTeer is successful because this is a typical image who preserves her own individuality. She knows what she wants and finds herself. She believes that her own culture is the best and she must preserve， just like preserving herself. Morrison has said that the African-American women are cultural bears， searching for the identity and cultural roots.

4. Conclusion

In her masterpiece The Bluest Eye， Toni Morrison describes two kinds of black women， which is not only break the silence ，but also plays the strongest tones for the black women who have lost in the white man dominated society. From the previous discussion， we got to know that Morrison portrays two contrary representations of the blacks. Their different attitudes and stances toward the black cultural tradition result in their totally different behaviors in the white man dominated society， thus bringing forth different consequences. In her masterpiece The Bluest Eye ， Morrison shaped the images of the brave Claudia， the warm-hearted mother MacTeer， the typical Southern mother and the three cynical prostitutes. They are brave to explore， adhere to the black culture and get rid of the trouble of the identity of black women. They pursuit the blacks culture， identity， individuality and be themselves.

This work provides a way to live a better life for the black women. It strengthens the self-consciousness of the black women and provides a practical scheme for building up self-identity. Toni Morrison wants to appeal to people all around the world， especially to the black women， to re-examine their own aesthetic value， get rid of the control from all the white peoples value and build up an aesthetic consciousness that appreciates the special beauty of the black women and the special value of the black women. As a woman， what we can do is to find ourselves， be ourselves， and achieve ourselves， which is what Toni Morrison wants to tell us and it is also the reason why I write this article as my thesis. I want to tell every girl or woman that we should and must find ourselves， be ourselves， and achieve ourselves.

【Notes】

[1] Morrison， Toni. The bluest eye [M]. Washington Square Press， 1970：137.

[2] Morrison， Toni. The bluest eye [M]. Washington Square Press， 1970：265.