![]() ![]() In her 1993 afterword for The Bluest Eye, Morrison writes the following about her use of marigolds: ![]() Now the marigolds, who had a hostile year across the country, represent Pecola, who was not nurtured by her community and who is now all but dead. ![]() In the last pages of the novel, this symbolism is reprised, but also extended to encompass Pecola herself. But their seeds shrivel and die, and so does Pecola’s baby. If they “planted the seeds, and said the right words over them, they would blossom, and everything would be all right” (Morrison 3). In the opening pages of The Bluest Eye Claudia tells us that the marigold seeds she and her sister Frieda planted symbolized the health and well-being of Pecola’s baby. For the reader however, blue eyes and the power they hold over Pecola symbolize the rigid beauty standards of mid-20th century America, and the destructive power it held over black girls and women like Pecola. Thus, to Pecola, blue eyes symbolize beauty, happiness, and a better life. She fervently believes that if she were to have beautiful blue eyes like white girls and women that society idolizes, her life would exponentially improve. The subject of the novel, Pecola Breedlove, is a young black girl who grapples with crippling low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, and depression. ![]() From the title alone, it’s apparent that blue eyes have a particular significance in Toni Morrison’s work The Bluest Eye. ![]()
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