The Idealization and Self-Identification of Black Characters in the Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison: Using Voyant Text Analysis Tools

Abstract

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison discusses about the life of an African American women in the early periods of the twentieth century, who were greatly influenced by the standards of beauty at that period. According to Olson (54), these women lived in a society which was full of prejudice and many other forms of injustices, and the females suffered from both sexism and racism. It is noted that the black women were treated based on the colour of their skin and eyes, instead of being judged based on their intentions and deeds.  Toni Morrison deeply explores how the blacks suffered from racism and explain the impact the racist’s view of beauty in relation to the whiteness on the construction of one’s identity and self-hatred.  The main character presented in this story is Pecola, who is used to show some of the worst effects of double marginalization and racism. It is a fact that what she perceives as her ugliness as the main reason why she is mistreated by the people around her.  According to Koopman (305) it hurts to be rejected and so she becomes so pessimistic to a point where she started to hate her real identity, which she perceived as being different for that she wishes to possess. This change is the perception of her self-identity can only be as a result of the abnormal perception of women during that period.  This paper will analyze Toni Morrison’s book, The Bluest Eye to reveal the idealization and realization of self of a black character, specifically, Pecola. This study will make use of the Voyant tool to analyze the text and find the most common words in the text and their relationships.  The paper concluded that beauty, which as observed is not normally based on a person’s appearance, has become the new standard for accepting people. The central character, Pecola, believes that it is only through the blue-eyed girl that a person can be trusted and accepted by others. It is further revealed that Morrison’s main focus was to put an accent on the importance of self –identification and acceptance.

Keywords: The idealization, self-identification, Voyant