Book Salon
The Bluest Eye
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This month we're reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Our faculty host is Peggy Phelan.
Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.
"The Bluest Eye is based on a searing encounter Morrison had with another child who whispered to her that all she wanted in her whole life was blue eyes. Morrison wrote the voice that is not heard anywhere in American Literature; the voice of the most vulnerable character she could think of, a young black girl."
How to Participate
Participate in this month's online discussion and interact with Stanford alumni around the world
About this quarter's book selection
Set in Toni Morrison’s girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, The Bluest Eye follows the life of an eleven-year-old black girl, Pecola Breedlove. The story begins with Pecola living in a home as a foster child whose tumultuous and violent upbringing leaves her with an inferiority complex. Watching the beloved blonde haired and blue-eyed children around her fuels Pecola’s desire to look like them—wishing to be loved and cherished just as they are.
In 1941 Pecola’s life changes in a terrible and devastating way. The Bluest Eye depicts the emptiness and isolation of this child’s heart, and the crushing reality that her wish will never be answered. Read the story that is rarely told in literature, a compelling reason why Toni Morrison penned this important piece of American fiction.
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