. "See Dick Run".
If you were White and living in an all-white neighborhood you didn't realize anything was wrong with the Dick and Jane books. In the '60s when I was growing up. We didn't know any better. But here we are in 2021. I hope now the classrooms are different. We took it for granted that schools were doing the right thing. Movies included in the 1930s were Shirley Temple. There weren't many movies that depicted people of color in a favorable light or showed them at all. There weren't many movies, books that depicted otherness till much later. We also had in society the, Mary Jane candy. Those are the few things in the novel representing racism.
The Bluest eye asks the question what is beauty? Who has the right to tell us if we are beautiful or not? If you are not white are you considered beautiful? There are many themes in the novel including racism, empathy, reckoning, love, understanding, acceptance, family, pain, suffering, self-esteem, self-identity, and self-hatred. What makes up a family? Who is the family? What about power and beauty? Do they go hand in hand? I think they do. Think about the corporate powerful people. The clothes they wear, their hair, their fashion. Most of them are beautiful people. There are many juxtaposed in the novel as well. Rich vs. Poor, beauty vs. ugly, White vs people of color, self-expression vs. stifled, neglected vs. abuse,
The Breedlove family has no love or affection, or understanding for Pecola. All she sees is the sadness, despair, unhappiness, physical and emotional pain, and anger of her parents. She witnesses the abuse and fights her parents have. She can't bear to watch. Her parents show no love or affection for their daughter. When Pecola is abused. How does she deal with it? But as we continue reading the novel. Toni Morrison's writing style pulls you and gives you a chance to see Cholly in an empathetic light. I can't give you anymore as it will give away the story.
The book has been banned for many years. I can understand why. The language, and violence in the book at times I wanted to turn my head away. But, I think it has many themes that need to be discussed in our society. If we cut it off and do not educate, it's a mistake. Without the power of books, we will never understand ourselves and become educated, and become better human beings. I still think it should be read with the discretion of the teachers and educators. I don't want to get into politics. But, I think we as parents never.
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