Narrative Perspectives in The Bluest Eye

于歡歡

Abstract：Toni Morrison is one of the greatest figures in the field of contemporary American literature.The Bluest Eye， one of her earliest works published in 1970， has powerful influence in presenting the plight and struggle of black women who have long been silenced in a white and male dominated society. This article expounds the narrative perspectives in The Bluest Eye. the writer hopes that it will give readers a more broad perspective to know the author and the book.

Key words：Toni Morrison；Narrative Perspectives；The Bluest Eye

中圖分類號： I712.074 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1005-5312（2016）17-0282-01

一、The First Person Narrative Perspective

In The Bluest Eye， Claudias voice provides the reader with a personal feeling for this story， for Claudia takes us into her memories， personal experiences， girlish desires and fears， as she and her sister try to make sense of the often confusing world around them. By using the pronoun “we”， Morrison seems to invite the readers to take part in the story as a member of it.

By doing this， Claudias narration establishes a close relationship between herself and the reader. Claudia verbalizes this subject-object battle when she acknowledges that the Breedloves served to sustain an imagined wholeness for the members of her community. They “dumped” their “waste” on Pecola and “felt so wholesome after we cleaned ourselves on her. We were so beautiful when we stood astride her ugliness”.

Morrisons work elaborates the inability of blacks to obtain an imagined wholeness through the western standards of beauty embodied in the image of the Shirley Temple doll. Her parents scold Claudia for not loving the doll， their present of dominant culture to her， purchased at great sacrifice. But Claudia describes how the dolls hard unyielding limbs poke and scratch her， symbolizing the pain these standards inflict on the black consciousness， she desires “to dismember it... to examine it to see what， it was that all the world said was lovable. Break off the tiny fingers， bend the flat feet”. Claudia wants to destroy the white consciousness that objectifies her， as she earlier wants to destroy the white consciousness that objectifies her， as her earlier wants to obliterate Rosemarys subject position. She would rather assert her own subjectivity， to tell white consciousness that she wants not things for Christmas but to “feel something”， to experience acceptance and love：

“I want to sit on the low stool in Big Mamas kitchen with my lap full of lilacs and listen to Big PaPa play his violin for me alone.” The lowness of the stool made for my body， the security and warmth of Big Mamas kitchen， the smell of the lilacs， the sound of the music and， since it would be good to have all of my senses engaged， the taste of a peach， perhaps， afterward.

Contrasting the black affinity of the sensual， communal， and human with the dominant cultures love of things， the text expresses Claudias black desire. The passage presents Claudias nostalgic yearning for family to support and sustain her.

二、The Third Person Narrative Perspective

In The Bluest Eye， it is from the third person narrative perspective of Cholly as a marginalized black body that supports the desire of the dominant culture that the rape scene unfolds. Cholly is aware that he has had no model for parenting and no means of supplying a positive image to his children. “Having no idea of how to raise children， and having never watched any parent raise himself， he could not even comprehend what such are lationship should be[...] As it was， he reacted to them， and his reactions were based on what he felt at the moment”. The polarity of Chollys emotions reflects his lifes struggle to be subject in a society that defines him as object：

Morrisons technique leads the reader to rule out certain ethical responses without leading the reader to a clear position. However， without making a moral assessment， the reader still can draw a conclusion： Racism is the most anti-family institution in human history， which leaves no choice for slaves and forces them to take very drastic actions in the dilemma between living in humiliation and dying in dignity.

This thesis analyzes the narrative perspectives in The Bluest Eye， it widens the study of Toni Morrison， and in a broader sense to the study of African American literature.