The Doubted Certainties: Morrison's Critique of American Ideals

Rules are inevitable. The disastrous nature of human conduct generates the need of a governing central power and of policies that everybody must abide to as lawful citizens. Scientific and mathematical developments also bring about theorems and rules that are universally accepted as certain and true. While these essential and fundamental laws establish themselves in human minds, so do other more obscure and abstract social rules and standards of beauty and hierarchy, driving people to accept and follow the ideals and creating social division and hierarchy.

The Golden Age of Certainty

Isaac Newton, 1642 - 1727

The Age of Reason, often referred to as the Enlightenment or the Mechanical Age, depicts an era of physics development when the scientists aimed to take everything apart and to analyze them thoroughly. They believed in the possibility of defining and interpreting the behavior of all particles with mathematical analysis and proposed that the motion of an object from one stationary point in time to another is always connected and continuous. This idea of continuity suggests that if the position and momentum of a particle are determined, its state at any time in the future can also be predicted. Isaac Newton, an important physicist and mathematician of the era who developed the use of calculus (the mathematics of continuity) in his laws of motion, put forth a relevant idea: the clockwork universe theory. He stated in the theory that the world functions as a clock created by God, and all the particles in the universe advance, just like machines, with the linear progression of the clock and follow the general rules of Newtonian mechanics, leaving all moments in time entirely predictable. However, as Newton argues for the predictability of future events, he completely abandons the idea of free will. Since everything is certain and predetermined, nothing happens on the basis of human will.

The Age of Uncertainty

Quantum mechanics, however, deconstructs the widely believed notions of the Age of Certainty and challenges the Newtonian mechanism. Originally proposed by Heisenberg and later revised by Kennard, the uncertainty principle asserts a limit to the precision of the momentum and position of an object that can be determined. Heisenberg argues that the more precisely the value of one is known, the less precisely the value of the other can be determined. The principle challenges Newton’s earlier idea of continuity, in which the predictability of future states is based on the knowledge of the position and momentum of the particle in its present state. Another central argument of the quantum theory is that particles do not move in a continuous way, but instead come in discrete units. For instance, the position of an object at one moment in time is completely independent of its position in the previous moment; likewise, its position in the next point in time is also absolutely random and uncertain.

Certainty in The Bluest Eye

These two opposing extremes can be applied to Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye. In the novel, Toni Morrison depicts a society that functions similarly to the one presented in the Age of Certainty. The society displays the seemingly certain and inalterable ideals of beauty and hierarchy and runs like Newton’s clock, leaving no free will or possibility of change to the minorities in the society. The poor, instead of appreciating their unique natural self and their own identity, strive to approach the standards of the whites and to be accepted by the society. Geraldine, a middle-aged black woman, rejects her own identity and conforms to the certainties of the society:

They come from Mobile. Aiken. From Newport News. From Marietta. From Meridian. And the sounds of these places in their mouths make you think of love. When you ask them where they are from, they tilt their heads and say "Mobile" and you think you've been kissed. They say "Aiken" and you see a white butterfly glance off a fence with a torn wing. They say "Nagadoches" and you want to say "Yes, I will." (81)

          As an introduction of her in the book, Morrison chooses not to present a specific character but instead to generalize with the plural “they,” emphasizing Geraldine’s lack of individuality and her conformity to the American ideal of beauty as presented in the Dick and Jane story. She, along with many other black girls, tries to look and behave like the whites, searching for ways to straighten her hair and soften her skin. The girls have no pride or appreciation for their ethnicity and culture and show resentment towards their own race in attempt to fit into the white society and to approach the certainties that the white society present them with.

The Deconstruction of Certainty

Despite the failure of various characters’ attempts to challenge the fixed system of ideals and their ultimate conformity to the standards, Morrison attacks the certainty of the society by alluding to the harm and destruction it brings to the characters’ life. Morrison opens the novel by presenting the Dick and Jane story, which serves as an embodiment of the American ideal and are taught to children not only for English-learning purposes, but also for them to understand the American culture and the accepted values such as gender and family roles:

Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? See the cat. It goes meow-meow. Come and play. Come play with Jane. The kitten will not play. See Mother. Mother is very nice. Mother, will you play with Jane? mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile. See the dog. Bowwow goes the dog. Do you want to play with Jane? See the dog run. Run, dog, run. Look, look. Here comes a friend. The friend will play with Jane. They will play a good game. Play, Jane, play.
  

Here is the house it is green and white it has a red door it isery pretty here is the family mother father dick and jane live in the green-and-white house they are very happy see jane she has a red dress she wants to play who will play with jane see the cat it goes meow-meow come and play come play with jane the kitten will not play see mother mother is very nice mother will you play with jane mother laughs laugh mother laugh see father he is big and strong father will you play with jane father is smiling smile father smile see the dog bowwow goes the dog do you want to play do you want to play with jane see the dog run run dog run look look here comes a friend the friend will play with jane they will play a good game play jane play  

 HereisthehouseitisgreenandwhiteithasareddooritisveryprettyHereisthefamilymotherfatherdickandjaneliveinthegreenandwHitehousetheyareveryhappyseejaneshehasareddressshewantsToplaywhowillplaywithjaneseethecatitgoesmeowmeowcomeaNdplaycomeplaywithjanethekittenwillnotplayseemothermothErisverynicemotherwillyouplaywithjanemotherlaughslaughmOtherlaughseefatherheisbigandstrongfatherwillyouplaywithjaNefatherissmilingsmILefathersmileseethedogbowwowgoestheDogdoyouwanttoplaydoyouwanttoplaywithjaneseethedogrunRundogrunlooklookherecomsafriendthefriendwillplaywithjaNetheywillplayagoodgameplayjaneplay (2)

 Over the course of two pages, however, Morrison takes away the spacing and the punctuations, destroying the vision of the ideal household and leaving the whole piece meaningless and insignificant. By tearing the story apart, Morrison hints that underneath the façade of certainty, the values in the Dick and Jane are only fabricated deceptions that bring children to learn to respect the idealized and constructed cultural values and lose their own individuality.

The Destruction of Certainty

Pecola Breedlove, a poor black girl who stands at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, barely receives any love in her childhood experience and learns that the reason her mother prefers the white little girl more than her and the reason her classmates mock and isolate her is because she is poor, ugly, and, unlike the popular white girls in her school, does not have blue eyes. Driven by the longing for love and people’s attention, she accepts “blue eyes are beautiful” as an established and certain rule, yearning and praying to attain them. 

Ironically, Cholly, the only character who is willing to reach her and offer his love, does so in a perverted and inappropriate way. He, just like Pecola, did not grow up in a loving environment, has not been loved, and does not now how to love because of his low social status and his race. Pecola, as a result of the sexual violation his father repeatedly performs on her, is driven mad at the realization of the remoteness of the ideals from her. She, as Claudia points out, almost becomes an embodiment of ugliness that they look upon to uplift their own esteem. Because of the pressure the ideals and the so-called certainties have put on her, Pecola has to comfort herself with a imaginary friend and imaginary blue eyes to get a sense of confidence and involvement in the society. 

By demonstrating the effect these constructed ideals of beauty and American values have on Pecola, Morrison effectively depicts and argues against the destructiveness of certainty. 

Likewise, the ideals turn Soaphead Church into a pedophile.

Geraldine, in her appreciation for white beauty, abandons her own family. 

The carefully constructed world of ideal values and certainty is gradually falling apart. 

The Appreciation for Uncertainty—Morrison's Call for Naturalness

Morrison's attack on certainty also reflects through her writing style. While the Age of Reason proposes a linear progression of time, Morrison sides with the uncertainty and intentionally offers a more free-styled and circular narrative with the use of seasons and multi-perspective in the book. Her rather random form of narrative, with multiple narrators speaking in erratic orders, coincides with the idea of independent and discreet units in quantum theory, where the next moment is always uncertain and subject to change, implying the possibility for the minorities in the book to change their fate and to advance in the social hierarchy. Morrison, mainly through the voice of Claudia in The Bluest Eye, attacks the certainty of ideals and standards of the American society and calls for appreciation for the black’s unique “funkiness of nature” (83).

Unlinked Sources:
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye: A Novel. New York: Vintage International, 2007. Print.

The Bluest Eye and Dove Beauty Campaign

Everyone is faced with the challenge of living up to a created, idealized perception of beauty. Society has fabricated this perception and enforces it every day through ads in magazines, movies, ect. The goal of the Dove Beauty Campaign is to increase awareness that "our perception of beauty is distorted" and to encourage people to find beauty in themselves and boost their self-confidence.

In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison critiques society for teaching racial self-loathing to African Americans through the media and advertising. Likewise, the Dove Beauty Campaign advocates for women to recognize that the models we see everywhere are fake and should not determine what we define as beautiful since their beauty is oversimplified and in this case, a product of very effective photoshopping:

During the photoshopping scene in this video, the model's neck is elongated, and her eyes and lips are enlarged. People have agreed that these features are the most important features on the human face, and the more prominent they are, the more beautiful that person is. Similarly, Claudia recognizes that "shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs-all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured" (20). During the time period in which The Bluest Eye was written, society was especially keen on white skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Claudia can't understand this phenomenon, and dismembers the white dolls she receives for Christmas "to see of what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty" (20). Once Claudia pulls apart the dolls, however, there is nothing left but "a mere metal roundness" (20). Hence, there is nothing that makes white people more beautiful than black people; it is merely society determining what is beautiful or not. Society, the "mysterious all-knowing master," has determined that being poor and black is synonymous with being ugly. The Breedlove family has no choice but to believe society, since "they had looked about themselves and saw nothing to contradict the statement; saw, in fact, support for it leaning at them from every billboard, every movie, every glance" (39). The boys who taunt Pecola for being black do so out of "contempt for their own blackness" (65). Society has "smoothly cultivated [their] ignorance" of their own unique beauty. They are described as having "learned self-hatred" and their hopelessness is "designed" (65). Morrison indirectly states that society has planned blacks' hatred of themselves, by bombarding them constantly with images of whiteness as more superior in regards to physical appearance. 

Toni Morrison begins her novel with an excerpt from a Dick and Jane storybook, one of the many books used for teaching children how to read. However, the subtext of storybooks like these teach children what is "good," "normal" and "beautiful." A child reading Dick and Jane would learn at a very early age that to be beautiful is to be like Jane, who is white, has blond hair and blue eyes. What is "normal" and "good" is a functional family with time and money on their hands to play cards and bake cookies with their children on rainy days. Morrison criticizes the Dick and Jane storybooks, advocating that real life is more complicated than what is presented in these fairytale books, and not every family or person fits into a precise mold of "good" or "beautiful" according to societal standards. 

                                           

Throughout her novel, Morrison selects sentences from the Dick and Jane excerpt and places them above the chapters corresponding to the individual characters of the Breedlove family, providing a sharp contrast between real life and the over-simplified, idealized life of the family portrayed in Dick and Jane storybooks. For instance, above the chapter about Pauline Breedlove, the excerpt is:

SEEMOTHERISVERYNICEMOTHERWILLYOUPLAYWITHJANEMOTHERLAUGHSLAUGHMOTHERLA (110). 

However, Pauline certainly does not play with her own daughter Pecola. Instead, she rebuffs Pecola after Pecola accidentally drops a pie on the ground in favor for the little Fisher girl Pauline works for. But in this chapter Morrison also provides us with a detailed background of Pauline's life, not to excuse her behavior towards her daughter, but to make her actions more understandable given what her life has been like. Morrison argues that not every mother can be like the mother in Dick and Jane, but we cannot simply label them as bad mothers because a) a "perfect" mother like the ones in storybooks don't exist and b) we don't know everyone's full history. Pauline's dislike for herself and Pecola's blackness is not due to some biological defect; it is a societal construction. Pauline has learned through the movies to equate "physical beauty with virtue," therefore collecting her "self-contempt by the heap" (122). Thus, her self-hatred for her herself and her race extends towards her daughter and her husband, which is why she neglects her family in favor for the Fisher family.