The Bluest EyeBy

Toni Morrison

Background info… Toni Morrison grew up in Lorain, Ohio where

the story takes place

Family migrated there from down south

Went to Howard University as well as Cornell University

First wrote The Bluest Eye in the 1960’s but wasn’t published until 1970

Somewhat of an autobiographyBased in the town she grew upThe narrator is the same age she was

during that time period 9 years old in 1941

Novel inspired by a conversation she had as a little girl

Decided to write it during the “Black is Beautiful” Era in America

“shape a silence while breaking it…”Morrison’s goal was to break the internal

damage of racism within

Tells the story from multiple perspectives

Chloe’s the main narrator

Check the techniqueMorrison’s writing style unique

Doesn’t go in sequential orderEach section a season

Story within a storyBack tracks to get characters’ info, how they came to be who they are

Tells what’s going on in the present as well

Focus on this…What is beauty?How is beauty portrayed in the African-

American community?What lengths do Black women go through

for beauty?Are Black women influenced by

Mainstream America about beauty?

See Jane Run…