Top 5 The Bluest Eye quotes
“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.”
Preface
The novel begins with an excerpt from a reading primer that presents an idealized childhood setting featuring white children, and their pleasant parents. The African-American children in the novel do not inhabit a reality that is remotely similar to the setting described in the book, and this sets them up to compare their conditions to the ones in the book.
"So when I think of autumn, I think of somebody with hands who does not want me to die."
Claudia, Autumn
Claudia MacTeer grows up in a household with financial difficulties, but Claudia never doubts the feelings that her parents have for her. The same cannot be said for Pecola, who never experiences the love of her parents, but only their disinterest.
"Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence."
Pecola, Autumn
Pecola is exposed to sexuality at a very young age through her parents’ often unwilling lovemaking, and her conversations with the prostitutes that live above her house. Pecola doesn’t yet understand love, never having received any from anyone, and begins to assume that love is only ever expressed through violent sex.
"'I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute!'
Maureen Peal, Winter
Maureen has a lighter complexion than the other three girls in the novel, consequently, she is treated much better by nearly everyone around her. She internalizes the belief that her lighter skin tone makes her superior to others who have darker skin tones.
"She became what is known as an ideal servant, for such a role filled practically all of her needs.”
Pauline, Spring
Pauline’s life story depicts the limited opportunities that black people had during the 1940s. She had been an ambitious woman who was willing to work hard, but the very best that she could imagine herself was being a servant.
