"We had defended ourselves since memory against everything and everybody, considered all speech a code to be broken by us, and all gestures subject to careful analysis; we had become headstrong, devious, and arrogant. Nobody paid us any attention, so we paid very good attention to ourselves. Our limitations were not known to us—not then."
Imagine thinking that you will never be good enough. Now imagine thinking that and constantly being told that. Would you be able to keep your head up? Would you be able to mentally, physically or emotionally deal with it? While reading the Bluest Eye there was a constant struggle to be in a healthy and compassionate relationship with another person. I tried to think of how it felt to be in Pecola’s shoes and it was painful to even think about, but I also came to agreements that I never knew lied within myself. I, like Pecola, have a connection with blue eyes and beauty. I can note that I am a part of a “superior, white race” but I still connect blue eyes to a primal sign of beauty, and I do not have blue eyes. I do not know if it is because they are “unique” or just stunning to me, but I definitely can understand Pecola’s thoughts. The difference is, not having blue eyes does not make me feel like I am inferior or that my whole life would be different if I just had that one characteristic.
The girls had to constantly defend themselves, and by defend I mean, mentally physically and emotionally. Throughout the book the young ladies carry a feeling of worthlessness and I think the quote gave me a feeling of brunt hope for them. Brunt hope to me is thinking “Well, this is the hand we were dealt and we have to be tough to get through it”, but even then some cannot come out of the situations alive and well. It is sad to have an attitude, so strong, that it came off to be confident, and then to still be broken down by those around you. I think it takes the entire book for Pecola to realize her limitations, or at least how limited she really was. She often seemed to be strong and to deal with things better than most but there is only so much a human can take before they break. After Pecola get raped by her father there is a monologue between her and somebody. In class we discussed who or what that somebody may be and while I was reading I was brainstorming a couple of people/beings it may be. I came to the conclusion that I think it was her talking to herself, or an alter-ego. The only way she could have dealt with the pain of what had happened was to distance herself from her body. This alter-personality was what she created to tell her she has the blue eyes she has always wanted and that she is worth something, which is something she had never heard before.
Race and class is an obviously prevalent issue in the book. I think Morrison took the issues deeper than most books I have read because she was generally raw in how she wrote. There are not just hidden messages throughout the book but also messages that jump out at you. Race, beauty and class are all interconnected. Beauty can elevate a person’s class. Race can diminish a person’s class. Class can assist beauty and race. They all play parts in how society will view you and how far you will be able to get, and I often think this is still a problem today. An example I have is a documentary I watched in a Sociology course at Allegheny called, People Like Us. It went into the American culture and explored class. The people a part of the highest class were generally “better looking” than the lower classes. By better looking I do not always mean physical characteristics (a handful of the wealthy were obese, which reminded me of Fat Shame, when the wealthy were glutinous), but their surroundings were more attractive. Where they lived, what they wore, and the community they were surrounded by was clearly an advantage to them. That was an advantage that some of the people in the lower class would never have. It is a constant struggle to work your way up in society, especially when you have everything against you.
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