Book Review: The Bluest Eye at first struck me as a powerful book about the black experience, then I thought of it as a classic American story, and finally realized, as I should have, that it was all too human a narrative. The book is told from multiple perspectives and times, stitching together a quilt of views of the girl, a lost soul who becomes a troubled soul, and the various points of view make it all seem inevitable. Everyone is the way they are, and the way they are leads to one little girl, the least among us, never having anything and losing everything. For this girl there is no community, for the black community is complicit in the crimes against her. Blacks compete with blacks, judge each other, look down on each other; it seems there's more friction than comfort. But then Morrison looks at those complicit, looks at the societal pressures that shaped their lives, the humiliations, shame, anger. She looks at their perspectives, how they too were powerless when confronted with greater forces. Even the little girl's mother prefers the white family she works for, to her own family and children. Then outside that circle of guilt, there's yet another larger circle of hell, of failure. The Bluest Eye says at some point we all have responsibility for what happens in our society, and a responsibility to act. As this was Toni Morrison's first novel she had not acquired the skills that became obvious later, she wasn't quite yet Toni Morrison. Here she's a little clumsier, a little more obvious, maybe a little harsher than she needs to be. But while noticeable, none of that detracts from the powerful story, the important philosophy, and the strong emotions the reader feels. The Bluest Eye is a necessary book for anyone who wants to read great American authors. [4★]
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