Bluest Eye Part 2

There are two incredibly striking aspects of this second section of the Bluest Eye: the idea that hate becomes cyclical, and that emotional detachment from one's children can have extraordinarily detrimental affects on the child. These two ideas are very much connected, as it is this very cycle of hatred that leads to the parent's emotional coldness. For example, Geraldine's detachment from her son Junior, stems from her subconscious hatred of her "perfect" situation, her having been taught her entire life what happiness looked like, but not what it felt like. In turn she lacks the capacity to feel real emotional attachment to her son, and only fulfills those most basic needs that he requires. The treatment is cold and calculated, and leads in turn to the son taking pleasure in causing others pain, as he is never taught real empathy. This nearly psychopathic behavior is particularly directed toward females, and the only true object of his mother's affection, the cat. "As he grew older, he learned how to direct  his hatred of his mother to the cat, and spent some happy moments watching it suffer. . . More and more Junior enjoyed bullying girls. It was easy making them scream and run." (Morrison, 84-86) This nearly psychopathic behavior that Junior develops stems directly from his mother's lack of empathy, her inability to love other human beings. Indeed, when Geraldine sees so obviously that her son has tormented both their cat and Pecola, she only sees her prejudice and hatred, rather than her own error as a mother. She has the perfect life, and Pecola must have hurt the cat, as she is a lesser being. "Get out. . . You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house." (Morrison, 90) She and her son both lack real empathetic emotion, and the cycle of hatred continues.

Another example of this detachment from one's children, caused by cyclical hatred and prejudice, is shown in the story of Pecola's mother, Pauline. "Polly" deveops a near hatred for her children, specifically Pecola, because she sees in them what she also lacks in herself. Pauline becomes obsessed with beauty, and begins to define everything in her life by deciding whether or not the thing in question is beautiful. She does so because she does not deem herself beautiful, and in her own eye's in unworthy of anything. To Pauline, Pecola is ugly, and therefore also worth nothing. She beats this ideal into Pecola on a regular basis. "I knowed she was ugly. . . into her daughter she beat a fear. . . of life." (Morrison, 126) She forced her children to take on he fears, biases, and in Pecola, the same self-image that she had. I hating and neglecting herself and her life, she hated and neglected her own children. The cycle Continues.

In this novel, Toni Morrison pours masterful emotional understanding and extrapolation, allowing us to "learn how to occupy the subject position of the other. . . to feel like 'the other'". . . which is "a prerequisite of morality." (Anthology, 596) In emotionally engulfing her audience into these stories, we develop a desire to in our own lives do the opposite. We become determined to break the cycles of hatred. And in doing so, Morrison aids in her own way the development of a greater, more empathetic world.

The Bluest Eye

"Here is the house it is green and white it has a red door it is very pretty here is the family mother father dick and jane live in the green-and-white house they are very happy. . . ." (Morrison 1)

Concepts of the norm. The societal understanding of perfection, of what is perfect and beautiful. How hurtful and exclusionary humankind can be. None are perfect, but some are allowed to pretend at it more perfectly than others. The rest are left to wallow in their own inadequacy and eventual hatred of all those whom are what is beautiful in their mind. A major theme of The Bluest Eye, perhaps the theme, is the affects that self-perception and self-worth-- or lack thereof-- can have on the human mind. The characters involved in this work, even though it at times is subconscious, deal with constant reiterations of the fact that they are less than worthwhile, a nuisance to family and society. They will never amount to the societal concepts of what is beautiful or the norm, nor did their parents, and are accordingly punished for it every day. "What did you puke on the bed clothes for? Don't you have sense enough to hold your head out of bed?" (Morrison 9) Claudia, one of the major protagonist and the only character narrated through first person, is made very early on to understand that she is pain to her family and society as a whole, second class. She responds to this lower citizenship with rancor and violence toward any object that is considered to be beautiful or perfect by traditional standards, such as Shirley Temple or dolls given to her at Christmas.

Soon a white girl comes to the school that Claudia and her sister Frieda attend. She seems to enchant everyone she comes into contact with-- except for the two sisters. "Frieda and I were bemused, irritated, and fascinated by her. We look hard for flaws to restore our equilibrium, but had to be content at first with uglying up her name" (Morrison 61). They felt this way about the girl not because of anything in particular she had done, but because they knew that by societal definitions, she was above them, more perfect and beautiful than they could ever be. Later encounters with her only serve to further confirm their beliefs, the girl shouting "I am cute! And you ugly!" (Morrison 71) at them repeatedly. Pecola, another narrator of this sad tale, shares these beliefs and is told in an even more violent and destructive way that she is worth nothing. She, in contrast, responds by hiding herself from the world. "Pecola tucked her head in- a funny, sad, helpless movement. . . as though she wanted to cover her ears." (Morrison 70)
We must ask ourselves, as a society: is conceptualized perfection something we still use to exclude those who do not possess "it". the overwhelming answer is yes, of course we do. Those who "have it" are paraded about in front of us in every media form at our disposal, making us feel less than they are, less human, less important. We do all we can to buy beauty, with one product or another, but always seem to find ourselves at a loss. Woman especially, are constantly degrading for not looking like the societal  ideal of perfection. Can we stop this vicious cycle? In some ways we have tried. "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." (Anthology 586) In some ways we have even succeeded, but it seems that exclusive is part of the human condition, and ways will always be found to  employ it based upon physical criteria. Maybe one day the gene pool will thin and we'll collectively be ugly or beautiful. Although I hope for the latter, I'm sure at that point we'll base discrimination on some other criteria.

Student Essays-- Asian American

What struck me the most emotionally in these passages, especially the first two- other than literally wanting to kick a few of the characters' asses- was the upending of what are traditional ideals of good parenting versus in actuality being a good parent. In the first of the three essays, Anthony Luckett has lived a life of anything but ease, having been transferred from household to household because his mother couldn't afford to keep him herself. Although at first Anthony resents his mother deeply for doing so, he comes to realize that her actions were done because she wanted him to have a better life. "My mother gave up her life so that I might have a better chance at success than she." To most outsiders, it would seem that his mother had sent him to foster homes repeatedly because she hadn't wanted to care for him, yet this is not the case. She is being the best parent she can be by understanding that to keep him with her would be worse for him than paying for him to stay with others. In reality, a very selfless decision, as you come to see that she cares deeply for Anthony.
 
In contrast, the parents Johnny Lee care for him in a traditional sense, as they provide for him, yet treat him in utterly abhorrent ways because they believe that he is doing something sinful, thus embarrassing them and their family. ". . . no matter how much I was aware of my parents' hatred of gays, I never truly believed they would respond so harshly." Johnny's parents emotionally scar and torment him, believing that they are in the right and that Johnny is wrong for being gay.
In this, it is clear to me that oftentimes the relationship of parent and child cannot be judged by what is on the surface. The average person would condemn Anthony's mother for "abandoning" him, while the Lee's family would seem normal, had one not known of their harsh attitudes. This contrast is striking, in its irony power. I simply wish I had a way of getting hold of Johnny's parents at that time, so I could kick their teeth in. This type of hyper-religious, ignorant disapproval is something I've witnessed first hand, and the kind of emotional effect it has on the children subjected to it. Maybe in time this situation will lessen, but only if we as a community convey our approval and acceptance of all people, in government and in attitude.
 

Student Essays-- Hispanic-American

One of the most prevalent fears that we as humans experience is that of "labelization." Far worse a feeling than being labeled is being labeled as an outsider, as not fitting into a community or a status quo. This fear is definitely something we all feel at the outset of the college experience. Thankfully we do not all have to experience this labelization in racial or sexual ways, as Miguel Ramirez did. "I arrived at Dartmouth, found I wasn't 'gay enough' for the gay students and that I was noticed by others for being Hispanic before I was Miguel." (Ramirez Anthology 528)

 In coming to a place that is wholly new and foreign to us, one of our greatest desires is to find somewhere that we "plug in" to our new environments. This is also something we are told to expect in coming to school. Parents or friends will say "College is where you find what you want and where you belong". It seems to me that because of this fear, there are times that we panic because we seem to be failing in that regard. Even in this "failure" is transient, students think that they are doing something inherently wrong: that they should have gone to that last party, or maybe even studied a bit less. We do not realize that so many others around feel the exact same way, and wish for the same sense of belonging that we do. Our success at finding a place in college seems to be directly correlated to our success in the future, and any sort of failure- socially or academically- is terrifying. We all feel for a time, as Norma Andrade phrased it, "a kind of uncertainty that I couldn't place." (Andrade Anthology 531)

Although we all deal with this uncertainty of ourselves and our surroundings in differing ways, what we have to realize is that every one of us is feeling these emotions. Of course, some of us have high school friends here with us, or simply feel comfortable alone, but we all long for new connections and relationships that reinforce our image of ourselves. I had a conversation last Thursday with a friend from high school whom I hadn't seen in a while. She at one point asked me, "Do you feel like you've really found people you relate to yet?" I responded with a no. "I'm trying, but I think its simply less immediate than we'd like it to be." It was comforting to hear her say she felt uncertain, as I definitely had, especially during that week. This led me to the conclusion that if we all worked hard to open ourselves to the people around us, not to allow our uncertainty to get in the way of striving for new relationships, we'd all be better off. Although there are some aspects of who we are that we cannot or do not want to change, we are lucky enough to now live in a place where there is something for everyone. All we have to do, is go out there and find it.

Black Elk Speaks-

Black Elk Speaks is an incredibly raw, honest narrative that hearkens back to a culture all but lost in our modern society. Reading it brought me a sort of sorrow, as our current way of life in comparison seems to be so shallow and out of touch with our spiritual selves. It also made me feel ashamed to be considered among a group that was responsible for the demise of this culture. We placated them with promises we never intended to keep. "You can see it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten."(490). As a culture, we wasichus seemed determined to ignore our most basic emotions and spirit in order to show that we are "logical and fully functioning members of society". A lack of emotional or spiritual connectedness is somehow akin to maturity. We seem to believe that logic is the center of all truth. But if the acquisition of knowledge has taught us anything, it is that there is so much that is unexplainable. Furthermore, we seem as a race to have a certain imperial complex. That is to say, we long to dominate others, and in our infinite greed take all that we can, by force or otherwise. This trait has led us to subjugate millions of people over the course of history.

Another striking aspect of the narrative was the way that Black Elk began to treat animals in response to his vision. "I felt queer again, and remembered that I was to be like a relative with the birds." (504) He suddenly understands that there is in an equal value to all life, and thus all life is sacred. Even though we as humans must kill animals in order to eat, we should only do so when we must, and in doing so always carry a reverence for the animal within us. Similarly, in Vizenor's "Squirrel", the narrator discovers this very same concept. "I would not shoot an animal again unless my life depended on the hunt." (5) This is a concept that we Wasichus have forgotten, perhaps never known. In our greed we take more than we need, and then some, never able to have our fill. In my opinion, we do so because of a lack of respect for life. Hopefully we discover this truth- that all life is inherently equal and worth respect- before it is too late, and we destroy what we have left entirely. Although as history has evidenced, this is unlikely ever to occur.

Alice and Diversity

What struck me the most in regards to Alice and her relations with those she meets upon her adventures, is the ease with which she takes into stride how strange the world she has been placed in seems to be. There are multitudinous creatures Alice comes into contact with along the way, included a White Queen that evidently lives backwards, a pair of twin brothers that seem to make it their mission to befuddle her, and a mad hatter whom is stuck at one specific time of day. "Alice thought it would never do to have an argument at the very beginning of their conversation, so she smiled and said 'If your Majesty will only tell me the right way to begin, I'll do it as well as I can.'"(195-195) Alice, rather than forcing her preconceived ideas of the way things are and should be upon the people that she comes into contact with, as many adults do, she simply learns to see things from those she meets' point of view. This tactic, this ability of Alice's to at least attempt to see other's ideas as true in their own respect, is a quality that we all could emulate more often. As adults, even as teenagers, we seem to develop a tendency to believe we already know "all there is to know", and that as such any of point of view or lifestyle presented to us is "wrong". However, I believe one of the goals of Alice, and coincidentally one of the major goals of the University of Texas, is to force us to allow other ways of life to seep into our own, to open our minds to all the possibilities surrounding us, and as a result become more enlightened and well-rounded individuals. Then, like Alice, we will come upon those as different to us as a backwards living White Queen, and easily find a way to relate.

Why am I here?

         As I began the attempt to come up with an answer for this blog, I found myself at a complete loss. In the past week, I have asked this question of myself on countless occasions. "Alright Dane, now what do you want to do?" There are too many answers for this question. I've felt that I am at a crossroads, where, having decided not to pursue music as a career, I must start fresh in my future plans. Do I want to become a lawyer, a writer, a college professor, or businessman? I have trapped myself into making a decision, believing, in contradiction of Flawn, that knowledge is merely a means to something beyond it. . . ." (258) However, maybe I am asking myself the wrong questions. Rather than asking "what do you want to do", maybe a better query would be "Who do you want to become?" Although the answer to this question is not yet completely clear, I feel that it would set my feet upon the right path, to understanding that "Knowledge is capable of being its own end." (260) Knowledge in and of itself must be the stepping stones which I use to decide who I want to become, and then by extension, what I want to do.

         It is for these reasons that I am so happy to be involved in the Plan II program. I feel that by fulling taking advantage of what the curriculum has to offer us, we will create for ourselves "a life organic and yet shaped", (265) and ultimately find our "way to the green city", to lead a life of heightened intellect and ideal.
         At this point in time, I am still tossing back and forth ideas of what I would like to become and do once I leave this wonderful place I now get to call home. Maybe I will decide to become a lawyer, or a journalist, but I hope whatever I do, it will feed the inner beast that David Brooks so affectionately call "the Big Shaggy".(274) As for why I am here, I know it is to find these answers, to fully know and understand myself, and hopefully to find where I am meant to be in the world as well.



-Gray Wolf