Date of Award

2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Karem, Frederick

Subject Headings

Adult Education, African American Studies, African History, American Literature, Black History, Black Studies, Literature, Psychology, Secondary Education

Abstract

The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison’s troubling short novel which focuses on the lives of a traumatized and disempowered African-American family and the community in which they live. The book openly discusses a variety of social taboos carried out by various members of a Black community in Lorain, Ohio. The most disturbing being the rape of a young Black girl, resulting in pregnancy by her father. Through the omniscient narration of a teenage girl, readers are thrown into the lives and thoughts of the adults and children within this community as they attempt to deal with these extraordinary situations as they occur. The goal of this thesis is to show through a primarily psychoanalytical lens, how living in communities rife with racism and prejudices helped to mold the dynamics of the Breedlove’s lives.

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