Perceptual Corruption

       In The Bluest Eye, Morrison characterizes men and women differently. On a physical level, the men and women in the novel share the same “ugly” black skin. However, the “ugliness” within the Black community in The Bluest Eye isn’t a result of their skin color but rather the emotional corruption that causes instability within the community. Morrison contrasts the men and women in the novel but shows that perception within both genders is the ultimate cause of “ugliness”.

       Every single male in the bluest eye is portrayed as an alcoholic/rapist/racist/in jail. This moral corruption that exists within the African-American male community is because they fail to perceive the negative effects of their actions.  Cholly Breedlove doesn’t perceive that “fighting”(Morrison 119) Pauline not only affects his wife but also prevents his children from understanding the true definition of love and a home

      Every single female is portrayed as a lonesome mother who has a skewed perception of the world that causes her to believe that being beautiful is greater than being moral, that dreams are greater than reality, and that having a morally corrupt husband is better than having no husband at all. Pauline only wants “clothes and makeup”(Morrison 119) so that other women “cast favorable glances her way”(Morrison 119). She doesn’t understand that favorability is based on morality not “looks”. But because this is the 1930’s, racism skews Pauline’s perception making her believe that because she is “black/ugly” she has to improve her beauty rather than her character. Morrison shows that having eyes that perceive the world properly is more important than having the “bluest eyes”.