Literary Writing Activity Prompt
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Chuka University College *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
MATH 856
Subject
English
Date
Nov 24, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
8
Uploaded by ChefApe1226
Surname 1
Name
Instructor
Course
Date
The Use of Themes in the Bluest Eye and the Yellow Wallpaper
Introduction
Toni Morrison's book The Bluest Eye follows a young African-American girl named Pecola as
she matures in the years after the Great Depression. Most of the work focuses on Pecola, a
character who faces prejudice and discrimination because of her skin color. Because Pecola
associates whiteness and attractiveness with having blue eyes, she begins to yearn for them. As a
result of being judged as unattractive by others, she begins to feel like an outcast by comparison.
Toni Morrison gives the book its significance by drawing on many literary devices. In contrast,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short novel The Yellow Wallpaper tells the tragic tale of a lady
suffering from severe postpartum depression. The Yellow Wallpaper, written in the last years of
the 19th century, is illustrative of the mental and emotional abuse that women endured in that
era. Gilman writes this narrative as her "reaction" to this treatment. This paper aims to examine
how Toni Morrison and Charlotte Perkins use the theme as a literal device to communicate their
ideas and give meaning to their works.
Themes in Blue Eyes
The Bluest Eye makes excellent use of the theme to convey the story's significance to readers.
The novel's focus on the contrast between beauty and ugliness explains why Pecola is so fixated
on acquiring a pair of blue eyes. Whiteness in the book is associated with perfection in
Surname 2
appearance. Pecola is conditioned to feel she deserves the abuse she receives because she is
black. This belief stems from the black community's socialization to embrace the white-centric
definition of beauty. When we are first introduced to the Breedloves, we learn that, as a family,
they have always lived in poverty due to their insecurity over their appearance. This is the first
page in a two-hundred-page exposition on the indestructibility of aesthetic appeal. The
Breedloves believe that a lack of money correlates with an unsightly appearance, whereas
financial success is associated with a more attractive one. They accept their fate of failure and
poverty because that is what society expects of them. Therefore, physical attractiveness functions
as a kind of money, and the Breedloves are economically disadvantaged due to their lack of this
asset. Similarly, Pecola's deep depression and hate stem from her belief that she deserves the
scorn, neglect, and violence she has experienced since contrary to popular belief, she is not
attractive by traditional standards. Pecola hopes she will wake up with blue eyes, the ultimate
hallmark of beauty, rather than changing society. Pecola gets her mother's self-destructive
outlook on life.
The Bluest Eye presents several examples of female sexuality. The first is the girls' (Claudia,
Pecola, and Frieda) immature and muddled sexuality. Pecola does not understand what is
happening to her during her first period, so she wonders whether she will die. Her mother is a
girl's first and most influential source of knowledge about her body and sexuality, and it is clear
that she has not spoken to her about or otherwise prepared her for this transition. On the other
hand, Frieda can understand what is going on since her mother invested in teaching her about her
body and ensuring she understood essential bodily functions. Though Mrs. MacTeer is angry
with Rosemary Villanucci's accusation that her kids are "playing nasty," she understands the need
Surname 3
to teach her daughters about female sex development. Further, the female characters in this book
have a tangled history with their sexuality. These women do not seek sexual fulfillment from
their husbands and are afraid of passion and funkiness, so they just put up with sex as part of
their wifely responsibilities. Unlike young females, these ladies do not act clueless about their
sexuality. Instead, they show little interest in sexual education or self-discovery. Compared to
their sexual desires, the need for cleanliness and order always comes first.
In the narrative, violence takes several forms. Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove routinely engage in
vicious altercations, the most evident manifestation of domestic violence. Pecola also suffers
physical abuse; her peers hurl rocks at school, and her father rapes her at home. Since her mother
now holds her responsible for the rape and hits her as punishment, this is a kind of sexual trauma
from which she will never recover. In addition to physical assault, Pecola is subjected to verbal
harassment and social exclusion. No one will sit next to her in class, boys will call her names and
accuse her of seeing her father nude, and Geraldine will talk hatefully to her, all of which add up
to a cumulative kind of violence that is both subtle and harmful. Eventually, Pecola's psyche
breaks under the cumulative stress of her parents' physical abuse and the cumulative stress of
these micro-aggressions.
According to the book, race is defined by more than a person's genetic makeup but also by their
financial situation, level of education, and country of origin (Morrison, p. 177). The book
establishes a correlation between whites and purity, virtue, and worth, whereas blacks are
associated with filth, immorality, and a lack of value (Tripathy, p.12). A little black girl named
Pecola is badly impacted by the novel's underlying topic of racism due to her exposure to various
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Surname 4
examples of prejudice throughout the plot. Morrison uses a grocery store setting to show how the
protagonist, Pecola, buys sweets from the business's chief proprietor, Mr. Yacobowski. Mr.
Yacobowski, a white elderly man, displays his racism in several ways, such as when the narrator
says, “Pecola unfolds her fist, showing the three pennies… He scoots three Mary Janes toward
her—three yellow rectangles in each packet… She holds the money toward him. He hesitates,
not wanting to touch her hand” (Morrison 49). In today's America, Mr. Yacobowski's treatment
of Pecola would not be tolerated since everyone has been taught the importance of accepting
people of all races.
The Yellow Wallpaper
The subjugation of Women in Marriage
Gilman employs the tropes of the psychological horror story to criticize the marital customs of
her period, particularly those of the "respectable" classes, in The Yellow Wallpaper (Gilman).
According to Gilman, women were kept in subordinate roles because traditional middle-class
marriage in the nineteenth century made a clear separation between the "domestic" duties of the
female partner and the "active" roles of the male partner. The story shows that the strict
adherence to gender roles served to keep women in a perpetually immature state of mind that
stunted their potential for growth and development. John's hubris causes him to misread his wife,
treat her like a child, and control her all in the name of "helping" her (Gilman). The narrator has
resorted to behaving like a sulky brat because she cannot defend herself without coming across
as unreasonable or disloyal. Because she has no control over anything in her life, the narrator
turns to her obsessive fantasy as the only place she can feel empowered by her thoughts
(Mambrol)
Surname 5
Self-Expression
More than the physical restraints, the narrator's mental shackles drive her mad. She has to
pretend that she is doing well with her depression treatment and that her marriage is blissful by
concealing her concerns and worries (Sustana). The mandatory stillness and inactivity of the
"resting cure" have always been the most uncomfortable part of her therapy. She has no choice
except to become docile and give up all mental activity. A strict no-go zone is writing, and John
repeatedly stresses the need for self-discipline to prevent her wild imagination from getting the
best of her. Of fact, it is the suppression, not the manifestation, of the narrator's creative strength
that leads to her ultimate insanity. She keeps a private notebook that she has referred to more
than once as a "relief" to her mind since it allows her to express her thoughts and feelings.
According to Gilman, a mind that is compelled to be idle will inevitably destroy itself.
“Resting Cure” evils
Since Gilman almost lost it all due to S. Weir Mitchell's "resting cure" for depression, it is no
surprise that she used that experience to shape her novel as an attack on therapy. A mind already
troubled by worry may degrade and begin to gnaw on itself, as shown in "The Yellow
Wallpaper," when it is restricted from healthy exercise and labor. Mitchell listened to Gilman's
critique of the "resting cure" and eventually abandoned it (Gilman). Rather than criticizing only
the treatment method detailed in the narrative, Gilman intends to skewer any medical practice
that puts the patient's needs second to those of the doctor. Since John is both the narrator's
husband and doctor, it is evident that there is a correlation between the subjugation of women in
Surname 6
the home and the doctor-patient relationship (Sustana). Although both the spouse and the doctor
have good intentions, Gilman hints that they might be misused. Women are infantilized or worse
when they are the quiet subjects of this power.
Gender roles
These divisions of labor were solidified by the nineteenth century. The author, however,
disagrees with their views and says so. Gilman's writings on women's roles were very popular at
the time, and she was a significant figure in the burgeoning feminist movement. John represents
the archetypal family patriarch; his judgment is final and cannot be questioned. (Mambrol) He
talks down to his wife and disregards her opinions as silly. Even so, casting him as the story's
unambiguous bad guy would be a mistake. When John does anything, he usually means well. His
final response to the story's events is indicative of this. As if that were not bad enough, he has
also been badly impacted by these old-fashioned, stringent norms. Nothing he can do will stop
the destruction of his family bonds; therefore, he has no choice except to follow them. The
narrator submits to her abusive spouse and does not work outside the house (Gilman). Her
defiance against him is shown through the journal, nevertheless. She relates so closely to the
shadow on the wall covering because of her sense of confinement in the household routine and
the woman's position. By the end of it all, she has a nervous breakdown. The premise that
women are compelled to be housewives may lead us to this conclusion. Furthermore, the author
may argue that patriarchy is to blame for all domestic strife.
Conclusion
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Surname 7
Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye does a great job of conveying Pecola's and her community's
experiences, as well as the effects of society on their well-being. In The Yellow Wallpaper,
Gilman describes a woman's mental decline while she and her family are on a so-called "rest
cure" at a leased country home over the summer. The writers successfully connect with the
audience via various subjects while still delivering the message. These threads connect the many
works of literature, making it easier to convey the same concept in each. Using how the concepts
are woven into their works, there is a clear line of communication between the writers and the
readers.
Surname 8
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins.
The Yellow Wallpaper
. The New England Magazine, Jan. 1892.
Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s the Yellow Wall-Paper.”
Literary
Theory and Criticism
, 27 Apr. 2022, literariness.org/2022/04/28/analysis-of-charlotte-
perkins-gilmans-the-yellow-wall-paper/
Morrison, Toni.
The Bluest Eye
. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1970.
Sustana, Catherine. “Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper by C. Perkins Gilman.”
ThoughtCo
,
ThoughtCo, 23 Mar. 2014,
www.thoughtco.com/analysis-of-the-yellow-wallpaper-
2990476
.
Tripathy, D. N. . (2020). Racism and Representation of Racialized Beauty in Toni Morrison’s
The Bluest Eye.
SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH
,
8
(10), 164–174.
https://doi.org/10.24113/ijellh.v8i10.10812