The Bluest Eye Symbolism

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The Complex in “The Bluest Eyes” (Toni Morrison) (421 Words) Symbolism is one element of literary use in the novel. Color is a quality that destroys one's image and self-esteem. Both Pecola and Claudia demonstrate its damaging effect on their feeling of self. Pecola, one who lives with the idea of being ugly at many levels, essentially tries to be nice-looking.When Pecola sees the glass with Shirley Temple picture on it, she looks lovingly the image of the star. Pecola told to Frieda “how cu-ute Shirley Temple was” (Morrison 19). Pecola likes Shirley Temple because Shirley is white, she has blonde hair and blue eyes; those standards of beauty that the brown Pecola could ne’er be. Marvel by a white beauty of her favorite star, Pecola, after joined the MacTeer family, she constantly drink white milk out of their Shirley Temple cup ; Claudia notes that” "… 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."(Morrison 23) Pecola, one who lives with the idea of being ugly at many levels, essentially tries to be nice-looking. While Pecola loves Shirley because of her whiteness, Claudia has scorn towards Shirley Temple and white dolls. Claudia loathes Shirley Temple because of all the attention people including his uncle dedicated to Shirley. Claudia says:…show more content…
Not because she was cute, but because she danced with Bojangles, who was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with

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