My Final Impressions of The Bluest Eye

When I finished reading The Bluest Eye, I had mixed feelings about the book.  On one perspective, I appreciate Toni Morrison's lyrical prose.  She uses words such as "softly, purringly," and "lovingly" to create beautiful symbolic imagery (Morrison 58).  There are even so many symbols Morrison uses, that it would take an entire year to decipher all of their meanings.  I even loved how Morrison conveys how racism is more complex than it seems, and can affect society in unnoticable ways.  On the other perspective, I would not recommend The Bluest Eye to anybody for leisure.  Nor would I want to read the book again.  I am even dissuaded from reading Morrison's other novels, including Song of Solomon.  My reasons do not just include the disturbing incest scene, but also the ambiguous ending.

I will not go into detail about Pecola's rape because it is too sensitive of a topic for me to write about.  Instead, I will criticize the ending dialogue for being too ambiguous.  It is ambiguous because their is absolutely no way to know for sure that Pecola was talking to an imaginary friend.  Morrison never even directly states that the friend was imagined by Pecola.  I know that there are some people who may argue that the italicized words prove that the friend was part of Pecola's thoughts.  My rebuttal is this: even though the friend's dialogue is italicized, it does not prove at all that he or she is imaginary.  (I do not even know the friend's gender).  Even Ms. Valentino's confirmation of the friend being made-up by Pecola is not enough.  She had not written the book, Morrison did.  Even if Morrison herself claims the friend was part of Pecola's mind, I would firmly ask her "Can you use textual evidence from the novel to prove your point?"  Maybe she would admit the ending was flawed in its clarity, or maybe she would say the ending was ambiguous on purpose.  If she replies with the former option, I would feel annoyed about how she made an obvious flaw.  If she replies with the latter, I would automatically ponder on the ambiguity's meaning in an exhausting way.  Regardless of which choice is correct, just thinking about it stresses me out.  I prefer to read a book that actually provides a relaxing escape from my stressful life.  The Bluest Eye just does the exact opposite.

Note:   If you disagree with me, do not be afraid to comment.  I won't delete it.