Pecola is perceived as poorer, and therefore more unworthy of respect. As they are both black children, it’s not exactly an act of racism–it’s an ideology sprung from poverty. Jimmy, therefore, bullies Pecola and mocks her for her blackness. Colored people were neat and quiet niggers were dirty and loud” (87). She had explained to him the difference between colored people and niggers. While black, Jimmy’s mother, Geraldine, “did not like him to play with niggers. The difference in how people of the same race react to poverty is further emphasized through another child, Jimmy. The differences between the MacTeer and Breedlove families presents an idea that while race may be a cause of poverty, it does not predetermine their behavior. Henry is not put out, he is put “outdoors.” Later in the novel, when Pecola is raped by her father, her mother beats her and the assailant faces no consequences. Her parents become angry at Henry, and throw him outdoors. In the MacTeer house, Freida is molested by their boarder, Henry. Another way in which these differences are expressed is how the parents react to the sexual abuse of one of their children. This is represented in the state of their homes, the loving house is neat and the house without love is a dirty. Cholly is a drunk and Pauline does not care about her family. The opposite is the Breedlove home, a converted storefront where “they lived because they were poor and black and stayed there because they believed they were ugly” (38). always kept neat by the authoritative, though steadfastly loving Mrs. The MacTeer household, while poor, is not without affection. The novel largely features the stories of two different families: The MacTeer family, with young daughters Claudia and Freida and the Breedlove family, with father Cholly, mother Pauline, son Sammy, and ‘ugly’ daughter Pecola. However, the ways in which people react differently to poverty are explored. The characters in The Bluest Eye are poor and black, but also poor because they are black.
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It is another ontological difference that the nine-year-old narrator makes: a person “outdoors” may seem alive in the sense that they still have a pulse, but they are effectively dead. There is also a social death that comes with being “outdoors” as that person has been completely rejected by society. This death is not simply the reality of the elements, starvation, and all the other life-threatening elements that come with homelessness. “Outdoors” is more than homelessness, it is death. However, “Outdoors, we knew, was the real terror of life” (17). The difference being that when someone is put out, they can move in with a friend or family member. One of the first ways the novel addresses poverty, early on, is by addressing an ontological difference between being “outdoors” and being “out.” According to the sometimes-narrator Claudia, “There is a difference between being put out and being outdoors” (17). As I do plan on teaching this novel at some point, developing lessons that address its themes but handle the more difficult sexual content will be a large challenge. While the novel is frequently taught at a high-school level, it’s scenes of sexual pleasure, rape, and child molestation find the novel frequently banned or challenged.
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It may be short, but it is certainly one of the most difficult novels I’ve ever read. Within its brief 205 pages, the novel deals with themes of poverty, vision, and social definitions of beauty. It is an absolutely beautiful novel and one of the best about racism that I’ve ever read. Recently I finished reading the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.