The Bluest Eye Discussion Guide:
A Few  Conversation Starters

U
se this discussion guide to inspire in-depth thinking, and jump-start a conversation about The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.  There’s plenty here to set your mental wheels in motion.

1. The Bluest Eye opens with a selection from an old-fashioned Dick and Jane This excerpt is repeated three times, becoming more compressed with each repetition. What social commentary is implicit in this treatment of a passage describing the quintessential white family? And how does that relate to the tragic story of a young Black girl’s mental collapse?
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2. The title of the novel refers to 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove’s intense wish to have blue eyes. She believes herself to be ugly, and unworthy of love and respect. And she’s convinced that her life would be transformed if her eyes were to magically turn blue. How does such racial self-loathing corrode the lives not only of Pecola, but also her parents?
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3. How does racial self-hatred manifest itself in characters like Pauline and Cholly Breedlove, as well as Geraldine and her son Junior?
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4. At first, Maureen Peal defends Pecola from the schoolyard bullies. But later, Maureen insults her, as well as Claudia and Frieda, declaring “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly… ” What did you think of this scene? And, how did this exchange affect each of the girls?
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5. The Bluest Eye is set in the midst of the Great Migration, when many African Americans moved from the rural South to Northern cities. Why is this historic moment significant to the story of a young girl destroyed by racial self-loathing?
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6. Consider Morrison’s characterization of Cholly Breedlove. Rape of one’s daughter is certainly a “monstrous” act, and Morrison clearly condemns his actions. So, why does she resist dehumanizing him?
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7. Pauline Breedlove, Mrs. MacTeer, and Geraldine represent different responses to motherhood under oppression. How do their contrasting ways of parenting reflect their attempts to navigate racism, poverty, and cultural expectations of Black womanhood?
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8. Why does Claudia hate white, blue-eyed dolls?
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9. Morrison uses a child narrator to tell Pecola’s story. What are the advantages of telling her story from a child’s point of view?
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Have a gander at our take on

The Bluest Eye: Driven to madness by Dick and Jane

#Banned Books      #Published in 1970s        #African American authors