An on the bluest eye by toni morrison essay samples

The novel opens with a story from Dick-and-Jane primer that presents a contrast between the said narrative and the circumstances of the characters in the novel’s story. This stark contrast between the two sets of characters at first appears to tell the reader that the middle-class family of Dick and Jane, who are presumably whites, are in a far better condition than the main characters of the story.
The tone of the novel is one that portrays an emotion of pessimism and loss of hope, through a situational irony. Situational irony “ refers to the chasm between what we hope for or expect and what actually happens. It is often pessimistic because it emphasizes that human beings usually have little or no control over their lives or anything else” . While both sets of people hope for happiness and bliss, such remain elusive to both even if sometimes, the illusions that the other is on a far better plane blinds them.
The tone then sets the emotion of the reader in the hopelessness of the characters. For example, such emotion shows in the portrayal in the Autumn where Pecola is expressing her desire to have blue eyes: “ It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights—if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different” . Strong emotions support her longing for blue eyes, the reality of her physical features and the false illusion of beauty. Likewise, in the winter section where Maureen, a popular girl who becomes almost friends with Pecola experiences betrayal, feelings of false hope and tragedy are steered by the following lines: “ a false spring day, which, like Maureen, had pierced the shell of a deadening winter” .

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. , 2010. Print.