The Appalling Tragedy: Sexuality, Beauty Standard, and Racism in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Öz

Being about the tragic lives of African American black families who encounter traumatic circumstances, the novel The Bluest Eye especially focuses on the unbearable life of a little black girl, Pecola. The horrible atmosphere of the novel can be seen from the beginning pages. It is heart-wrenching to see from the beginning pages of the novel that a young girl is raped by her father; consequently, she is pregnant. Pecola is so severely affected by the traumatic events such as the racial discrimination, internalized ugliness as being black, whiteness as the accepted beauty standard, and sexual abuse by her father that in the end, she goes mad and hallucinates a dream friend seeing her blue eyes. As a child, she associates blackness with the burden of her life and she considers that having blue eyes would be the solution to all her sufferings. Moreover, other black male and female characters such as Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina are affected by the racism, sexual abuse, beauty standard, discrimination, and humiliation in the society. They have an internalized belief of blackness and ugliness; for this reason, they believe they experience poverty and discrimination. The aim of this paper is to discuss the traumatic tragedy caused by beauty standards, sexual abuse, and racism.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Beauty Standard
• Sexual Abuse
• Racism
• Class
• Toni Morrison
• The Bluest Eye

Dehşet Verici Trajedi: Toni Morrison’un En Mavi Göz Romanında Cinsellik, Güzellik Standardı ve Irkçılık

Öz

Travmatik koşullarla karşılaşan Afrikalı Amerikalı siyah ailelerin trajik hayatlarıyla ilgili olan En Mavi Göz romanı özellikle küçük siyahi kız Pecola’nın dayanılamaz yaşamına odaklanır. Romanın dehşet verici atmosferi ilk sayfalardan anlaşılabilir. Romanın ilk sayfalarında küçük bir kızın babası tarafından tecavüze uğramış olduğunu, dolayısıyla hamile olduğunu görmek yürek parçalayıcıdır. Pecola ırk ayrımı, siyahi olarak içselleştirilmiş çirkinlik, güzellik standardı olarak beyazlığın kabul edilmesi ve babası tarafından cinsel istismara uğraması gibi travmatik olaylardan o kadar şiddetli etkilenmiştir ki sonunda aklını kaybeder ve mavi gözlerini gören hayali bir arkadaş halüsinasyonu görür. Bir çocuk olarak siyahiliği hayatının sıkıntılarıyla ilişkilendirir ve mavi gözlere sahip olmanın tüm sorunlarının çözümü olacağını düşünür. Aynı zamanda Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina gibi diğer siyah kadın ve erkek karakterler de toplumdaki ayrımcılıktan, güzellik standardından, istismardan, ırkçılıktan ve aşağılanmadan etkilenirler. İçselleştirilmiş bir siyahlık ve çirkinlik inancına sahiptirler bu yüzden de yoksulluk ve ayrımcılık yaşadıklarına inanırlar. Bu yazının amacı güzellik standardı, cinsel istismar ve ırkçılığın sebep olduğu travmatik trajediyi tartışmaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Güzellik Standardı
• Cinsel İstismar
• Irkçılık
• Sınıf
• Toni Morrison
• En Mavi Göz

Kaynakça

1. Bloom, H. (2009). Bloom’s Guides: The Bluest Eye, Infobase Publishing. http://library.lol /main/ C77FDBA837F1EA0615A29016AF501376
2. Borey, E. Stewart, A. ed. (2019). Bluest Eye. GradeSaver, Retrieved 21 October 2021 from https://gradesaver.com/bluest-eye/study-guide/.
3. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2021). Toni Morrison. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 October 2021 from https://britannica.com/biography/Toni-Morrison.
4. Bump, J. (2010). Racism and Appearance in The Bluest Eye: A Template for an Ethical Emotive Criticism. College Literature, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 147–170. EBSCOhost, https://search. ebscohost.com /login. aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.20749587&lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.
5. Camp, S. (2015). Black Is Beautiful: An American History. The Journal of Southern History, no. 81, pp. 675-690. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283737126_Black_Is_Beautiful_An_American _History
6. Course Hero. (2017). The Bluest Eye Study Guide. Course Hero. Retrieved 28 October 2021 from https://coursehero.com/lit/The-Bluest-Eye/.
7. Hyman, R. L. (2009). Pecola Breedlove: The Sacrificial Iconoclast in ‘The Bluest Eye’ CLA Journal. Vol. 52, No. 3, College Language Association, pp. 256-264, https://jstor.org/stable/44325476
8. Khan, R. H. & Rahman, S. (2014). The Framework of Racism in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye: A Psychosocial Interpretation. Australia, Vol. 5 No. 2. doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.5n.2p.25

9. Mahaffey, P. D. (2004). The Adolescent Complexities of Race, Gender, and Class in Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye.’ Race, Gender & Class, vol. 11, no. 4, Jean Ait Belkhir, Race, Gender & Class Journal, pp. 155–65, www.jstor.org/stable/43496824.
10. Miniotaite, D. (2014). The Problem of Racialised Identity in Toni Morrison’s Novel the Bluest Eye. Language in Different Contexts / Kalba Ir Kontekstai, vol. 6, no. 1, Part 1&2, pp. 51–58. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bo&AN=101206744&lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.
11. Morrison, T. (2007). The Bluest Eye. Vintage eBooks. http://library.lol/ main/2216B915530577 5A82EF191BCFEFAC52
12. Portales, M. (1986). Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’: Shirley Temple and Cholly.’ The Centennial Review, vol. 30, no. 4, Michigan State University Press, pp. 496–506, https://jstor.org/stable/23738990.
13. Preetha, B. and Balachandran, K. (2020). The Narration of Tragic Suffering of Black Women in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Writers Editors Critics, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 49–56. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db = obo& AN= 145893107 & lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.
14. Sparknotes Editors. (2005). The bluest eye. SparkNotes LLC, Retrieved 02 December from https://sparknotes.com/lit/bluesteye.
15. Vimalan, A., and Subbiah S.. (2018). Redefining Beauty in Toni Morrison’s the Bluest Eye. Literary Endeavour, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 150–152. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db = obo&AN=134369612&lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.
16. Walker, S. C. (2019). Rape as Literary Theme. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=100551480&lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.
17. Wylene, R. PhD. (2021). Beauty and Race. Salem Press Encyclopedia. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=148526956&lang=tr&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid.