Dehumanization In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The universal concept embedded within this story pertains predominantly to our incessant reality congregating that everyone wants to be loved and that we are always in a constant search to attain this form of adoration and acceptance. Though concentration in racism amongst African Americans is the primary focus of the novel, the prevalence of ostracization and abuse within the context of the text situates readers in a delicate position as the story then resonates with them as the novel is perceived relative to one’s own experiences. When discussing Morrison’s purpose and what she had hoped to achieve through Pecola, she explained how she wanted to reveal how something as grotesque as the demonization of an entire race could take root in the…show more content…
I had always found it disturbing when teachers would claim, “I don't care if you're black or blue or brown or green with purple stripes.” The teacher’s unconscious, but present prejudice is depicted in the consolidation of minority groups of color to be juxtaposed with aliens, excluding them to be citizens of this country. For Pecola, dehumanization is standard and her encounter with the store owner Mr. Yakobowski enables her to see the total absence of human recognition as he adamantly attempts to “avoid touching her hand.” (49) This dehumanization makes it easier for other characters to assault condemn Pecola as they marginalize her from…show more content…
Upon reading The Bluest Eye, I’ve become more aware of how the media and our society targets minorities and subconsciously enforces people of color to envision themselves in a negative light as Pecola had done so. For example, the flesh-colored Band-Aid serves as the uniform paradigm for all adhesive bandages. However, placement of a flesh-colored Band-Aid on the skin of a person of color would be more considerably noticeable than on a white person. This fundamentally denotes that the manufacturers of flesh-colored Band-Aids identify that this is not the proper color for flesh, signifying that a person possesses a deformity. Often people state to members of a minority group, particularly of whom are black, “I don’t see you as black.” This merely connotes that people acknowledge that you have a deformity and they are going to pretend that you are not black, enabling the two individuals to be able to “relate to one another.” However, by imposing upon a person this condescending judgment, the minority individual then begins to pretend that he too isn’t black which inherently relates to the degree to which Pecola desires to see herself as being white, a trait most indicative through eye and skin

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