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Introduction/Exposition:

The introduction gives readers a overview of the book as a whole: how Cholly raped Pecola and how she lost his child. The exposition introduces readers to Claudia, the narrator; Frieda; Pecola, who is living with the MacTeers because her tried to burn down their house.

Climax:

Pecola was unfortunately raped by her father.She was impregnated.

Falling Action:

Pecola visits Soaphead Church.He used her to kill the dog he despise. The community showed their hatred for her, because they say she allowed herself to get raped.

Denouement:

Pecola goes insane and moved to the edge of town. She believes she has blue eyes. Claudia thinks back on how bad everyone treated the poor girl.She reflected that she too mistreated her, but she still cares for her.

Conflict:

Racism can turn everyone's world upside down.

The Bluest Eye Plot Map

By: Raina Parker and Kendle Ramsey

Main Themes:

Analysis of Main Characters:

  • Society and Class: Even within African Americans their was a separation between the middle class blacks and the lower class blacks. An example of this theme would be Geraldine who comes from a "good black" neighboorhood where everyone has a job.She take pride in her house and her appearance. She has a "light-skinned" child and thinks they are better than darker "no-good, dirty" black boys.
  • Racism:The setting of the novel is when racism was very prevalent. Black people had self-hatred because they couldn't have what white people have. They saw them on the movie screens, magazines, and saw how unfair life was. Jealously and racism went hand in hand. It shows how race determined who was superior and inferior and black people always came last. The on-going theme in the novel and in real life is Racism.
  • Love: Everyone desires to love and be loved and to feel accepted by their peers. Love can be shown both physically and emotionally. Example would be how Cholly thought he would be the only one to love Pecola so he showed his "love" by touching her. It seemed like everyone had a twisted concept of love. Example would be Soaphead Church and his pediophile tendencies.

Conflicts:

  • Pecola Breedlove- The main character of the novel. An eleven year old girl who wishes to have blue eyes.Her character represents every person who has ever had trouble appreciating their self value and loving the way GOD created them. Her character is a reminder of human cruelty and of human suffering.Her only aspiration was for people to love her.
  • Cholly Breedlove- The father of Pecola Breedlove is a sad soul. He was violated and humiliated by white men during the loss of his virginity. He was shown how inferior he was based on his race and age. As a result he felt the need to show his superiority over black women more specifically his wife and daughter. He adds to the plot by showing the negative affects of racism.
  • Claudia MacTeer- She the narrator for most parts of the novel from when she was a child and when she was an adult. It added to plot by showing the events from an innocent, non-tainted point of view and from a mature,meditating view as well. She was the foil of Pecola; it showed how a loving family and different background can affect how you react and view life.She was a refreshing take on the subject.

Internal Conflicts:Pecola's internal conflict was her twisted sense of beauty and her yearning for love. It was an ongoing conflict within not just herself but with every character.

External Conflict:Sexual abuse from her father and her impregnation and her verbal abuse from her mother and everyone who bullies her for being an ugly black girl.

Symbolism

The Color White- It is symbolic for Pecola's Obsession with the American society's ideals of beauty. Example: the white milk Pecola all drank all the time, the white Shirley Temple cup. Whiteness is associated with beauty and cleanliness.

Blue Eyes-The color blue symbolizes sadness which is an emotion almost every character expressed especially Pecola.She desired blue eyes in order to feel beautiful and appreciated.

The Names-Morrison stragetically named Pecola's family The Breedloves. They ironically did not breed love but abuse.

Marigolds- Marigolds represent constant renewel and when they didn't grow that season, it showed how out of balance Pecola's life was after her father raped her.

House-It represents not only their social class but their emotional situations.For example, the Breedlove's apartment is dirty and disgusting as is their personality, but the white people's houses were clean.

More Literary Devices

Literary Devices:

Hereisthehouseitisgreenandwhiteithasareddooritisveryprettyhereisthefamilymotherfatherdickandjaneliveinthegreenandwhitehousetheyareveryhappyseejaneshehasareddressshewantstoplaywhowillplaywithjaneseethecatitgoesmeowmeowcomeandplaycomeplaywithjanethekittenwillnotplayseemothermotherisverynicemotherwillyouplaywithjanemotherlaughslaughmotherlaughseefatherheisbigandstrongfatherwillyouplaywithjanefatherissmilingsmilefathersmileseethedogbowwowgoesthedogdoyouwanttoplaywithjaneseethedogrunrundogrunlooklookherecomesafriendthefriendwillplaywithjanetheywillplayagoodgameplayjaneplay

  • Foreshadowing: The Dick and Jane narrative foreshadowed the events to happen in the novel.
  • Irony:The Dick and Jane narrative was ironic because what it talked about was the opposite of what happened in the story; it played a sick joke on her life. Also irony was shown when after Pecola was victimized by rape with her father, the community didn't see her as the victim but rather a scapegoat for everyone's hatred.
  • Mood and Tone: The mood of the bluest sympathy, anger, depression, and disgust.The author's tone was anger, empathy, and sympathy in the hopes that readers would not dehumanize the characters.

Setting:The novel was set in Lorian,Ohio right after the Great Depression in 1940-1941.

The story was told in different seasons.

Motify:The motify was the Dick and Jane narrative in the prologue. Each chapter began with a excerpt and the events went along with the opening phrase. The novels is split into four season and doesn't show us what we expect based off of our knowledge of the seasons. An example would be when Pecola's baby dying in Autumn which is suppose to be a time of harvest.

THE BLUEST EYE PLOT DIAGRAM

Rising Action:

Pecola gets teased by everyone.Readers see first hand how her innocent character is victimized.

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