CaLLs : Journal of Culture, Arts, Literature, and Linguistics
Vol 11, No 2 (2025): CaLLs, December 2025

Morrison's Use of Symbolism: The Significance of Blue Eyes in The Bluest Eye

Muahamad, Hajar Hassan (Unknown)
Salh, Pana Mahmud (Unknown)
Mahmud, Shene Jamal (Unknown)
Ahmad, Hedayat Muhamad (Unknown)
Abdlalla, Shabaz (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Dec 2025

Abstract

The symbolic and psychological meaning of blue eyes in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is critically examined in this analysis with a specific emphasis on the destructive effect of Eurocentric definitions of beauty on Black identity and self-esteem. Through the tragic Pecola Breedlove, Morrison lays bare how cultural definitions of beauty specifically the idealization of Whiteness and blue eyes result in internalized racism, self-loathing, and mental breakdown among African Americans. The study examines how these ideals are sustained in literature, the media, domestic life, and text materials to create a cultural discourse whereby Blackness is belittled. Blue eyes are used by Morrison not just as physical appearance but as Whiteness, acceptance, and worth attributes denied Blacks in the segregated world. By analyzing Symbolism, form, and periodization in the novel, this volume argues that The Bluest Eye is both a caustic critique of racialized codes of beauty and an imperative to rewrite cultural values on terms friendly to Black dignity, worth, and personhood.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

calls

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

CaLLs (Journal of Culture, Arts, Literature, and Linguistics) published by Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Mulawarman and published in June and December. CaLLs welcome articles and research reports utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture. The object materials of the study ...