The Bluest Eye
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” The Bluest Eye
Everywhere we go there are going to be stereotypes that can affect us in our daily lives. Even stereotypes from years ago are still sometimes present today. For years Caucasian blue-eyed dolls was considered the best and most perfect gift for every little girl. For this time period it was considered perfect but many girls did not have the features that the doll had. This in some cases would affect minoritys, who would come to think that their features such as dark skin, and nappy hair were ugly. In “The Bluest Eye”, Claudia a little girl receives a little white doll for Christmas. In receiving this doll Claudia shows that receiving one of these dolls does not make every little girl happy.
In this story Claudia receives a Caucasian doll for Christmas and describes it as a scary blue-eyed yellow haired doll. Her parents were expecting Claudia to be very happy and treat the white doll with care. The opposite of what was expected happened; she showed hatred and violence against the doll. This is a concern as to why she showed such ill feelings toward this doll.
Claudia analyzed the doll wondering what the world thought was so pretty about this doll, before she destroyed it. Her actions portray that she was jealous and almost insecure about herself. This story took place in the early 70s when African Americans were still oppressed and white people were considered a superior being. This can explain some of the feelings that this girl was feeling, and shows her negative reaction toward white dolls and even white girls.
“Dismembering the dolls was not the horror. The truly horrifying thing was the transference of the same impulses to little white girls”, this shows the long-term affects that a situation like this can have on a little girl. It can result in a low self-esteem for themselves and hatred to other white girls. This can lead to verbal and even physical abuse, which is something a little girl shouldnt be thinking about.
If the doll had some main features that Claudia had, maybe she would have reacted differently. If her parents had given her a doll with her qualities and said it was beautiful maybe then she would have accepted it and therefore appreciate her own beauty. She wanted something or someone to be with and love on Christmas not something that couldnt relate to her at all. This