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.

Not Enough Life Boats: Social Class in the Titanic and the Great Gatsby

     When the unsinkable “Ship of Dreams”, Titanic, hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912, during her maiden voyage, roughly 1500 people perished in the icy waters of the Atlantic.  This great maritime disaster has been immortalized in popular culture through James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.  In addition to being a touching love story, the movie delves into the reality of social class boundaries in the early twentieth century, that the social strata into which a person is born defines their life, and even death.  Among the first class, people are not permitted the freedom to marry for love or befriend inferiors because of the necessity to maintain the money and titles in the hands of the aristocrats; their lives become void of surprise and emotion.  The people who attempt to transcend the borders of class, the “new money” passengers, still face condescension from those of “old wealth”, even though they possess the same monetary status because they are seen as “infected” by their poor past.  Despite all of the passengers being “in the same boat” as the ship plunges into the depths, their socioeconomic roles decide their fates because those holding first class tickets have priority of survival over the people in the second and third class. 

     The protagonist, Rose DeWitt Bukater, is an upper class, seventeen-year-old girl whose betrothal to thirty-year-old Cal Hockley was arranged by her mother so as to maintain her wealth after her father left them greatly in debt.  Near the beginning of the film, Rose attempts to commit suicide by jumping off of the stern of the ship because she sees no other way out of her societal prison–her strictly regimented life in which she has no control or freedom.  The elder Rose, who narrates the story to treasure hunters in the modern day, describes her dilemma:

“I saw my whole life as if I'd already lived it. An endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts and polo matches. Always the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter. I felt like I was standing at a great precipice, with no one to pull me back, no one who cared... or even noticed.”

Despite having the greatest privileges, Rose is trapped by her status because the thrill of all of the activities which she attends is blocked by the deliberate lack of emotion in all of the gatherings.  She calls her acquaintances “narrow” and “mindless,” showing that, to them, the world is a playground, and none of the world’s problems strike them with initiative.  She feels that the upper class is a cold place where people do not care about anyone besides themselves, money, and the family name.   One of the major decisions in her life, her husband, was made for her, demonstrating that in her world, people’s fates are determined whether they like them or not.  To take control of her own fate, Rose nearly dives into the Atlantic, but a young third class passenger, Jack Dawson, persuades her to climb back onto the ship.  Over the course of the movie, Jack teaches Rose how to go about life looking forward to new, exciting things, living from day to day.

This spontaneity intrigues her, but Rose is constantly wavering on her connection to him because her mother looks down upon Jack, persisting in advocating on behalf of Cal.  She finally decides to abandon her place in the upper class world in pursuit of love, reclaiming her freedom and breaking away from the social class pyramid.   

 

    Outside of Jack and Rose's love story across the social hierarchy,  the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown faces discrimination from the other first class ladies because she is "new money."  Instead of welcoming her into their high society, they look down upon her.  When she tries to join them for tea, they see her coming and leave the room.  Her last name, "brown", is a common surname with no particular associations to royalty or wealth, proving that to truly be accepted in the plutocratic world, you must both have money and a title.  Without both, the dream may as well be dead.  Still, Molly does not give up on her American Dream, and even tries to help Jack fit into his surroundings.  She gives him the means to dress like a gentleman, as well as provides him with pointers on how to interact with the elite.  

"Ain't nothing to it, is there, Jack? Remember, they love money so pretend like you own a gold mine and you're in the club."

While she does not quite understand that she is not entirely welcome in the aristocratic society, she at least makes the effort to leave the door open to success behind her, instead of slamming it shut like the rest of the first class passengers.  

     When the Titanic becomes a life or death situation instead of a pleasure cruise, a seat in a life boat suddenly becomes the most valuable thing in the world.  Instead of carrying adequate space in life boats for all of the passengers aboard, Titanic had only twenty boats, enough for about half of the little over two thousand customers.  When boarding the boats, women and children are loaded on first–women and children of the first class, that is.  

When Rose and her family are ushered over to one of the lifeboats, her mother is more concerned with class separation than everyone's survival.  

Ruth: "Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded."
Rose: "Oh mother, shut up! Don't you understand? The water is freezing and there aren't enough boats. Not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die."
Cal Hockley: "Not the better half."

It is clear that even in the face of a terrible disaster, Cal and Ruth are still so caught up in their own superiority complex that they deny the meaning of the life of a third class passenger.  Unfortunately, the ships crewmen, too, operate on this philosophy that the lives of the rich are more valuable, locking the third class ticket holders behind bars in the lower decks.  Some of the lifeboats are only loaded to half capacity, trying to increase the comfort and safety of those aboard.  At one point, Cal tries to bribe his way onto a boat.  Once the Titanic is fully submerged, and fifteen hundred people are treading the freezing water, Molly Brown tries to convince her life boat to turn around to rescue some of the people, but gains no support from her selfish shipmates.  

     Like on Titanic, in early twentieth century America, the setting for F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, class determined fate.  When Gatsby falls in love with Daisy, he knows they are doomed because as a member of the lower class, he "had no real right to touch her hand" (Fitzgerald 149).  Similar to Jack Dawson, Gatsby feels like he does not belong in the upper class world, that every second he spends with Daisy is a moment stolen.  When Daisy is given the choice between financial security and class with Tom and Gatsby's "spectroscopic gaiety", she makes the opposite choice from Rose, allowing her fate to be controlled by her name instead of her desires.  Daisy, like Rose's mother, considers "new wealth", the American Dream, to be appalling because it "herded its inhabitants along a shortcut from nothing to nothing" (107).  Daisy views this emerging class in the same way that the first class passengers see Molly Brown–as an invasion into their exclusive club of money and titles.  In the same fashion that the third class deaths from Titanic are seen by the first class women as "collateral damage" or unimportant, the deaths of Gatsby, Myrtle, and George are forgotten by Tom and Daisy Buchanan because they "smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness" (179).  Daisy does not return for Gatsby's funeral despite her role in causing his death, but rather simply moves on with her life, staying in her comfortable, upper class, carefree lifestyle with her husband Tom.    Likewise, once the lifeboat carrying the first class women is safely away from the sinking ship, it does not come back to save the lives of others.  The rich proceed with their lives like a "deathless song", while the poor or formerly poor suffer and die around them (96).  Titanic and The Great Gatsby both imply that, in this time period, the social hierarchy was incredibly hard to overturn, and when it came down to life and death situations, those at the top of the pyramid would prosper while those below would perish.  

Across The Universe: The Call to Action

Across The Universe: The Call to Action

          As we are all reminded through everyday experiences, life is about choices.  We are given the free will to think and act as we please, but there can be a distinct and often frustrating indecision which complements the opportunity to think for ourselves.  The Beatles' legendary "Across The Universe" speaks of the lack of human confidence often caused by being uncertain of what to do; when we can't make up our own minds, our instinct is to rely on someone or something else to make decisions for us.  The choral repetition of "nothing's gonna change my world" can be viewed as an ideal desired by all but reached by few: to be a perfectly self-sustaining yet free-thinking individual capable of staying true to one's self.

        However, in the verses surrounding the chorus and its noble concept of this paragon, Lennon gives insight into how easy it is for human lives to be swayed by even the slightest outside influences.  Many of Fitzgerald's characters in his classic The Great Gatsby face a similar problem; even upon their first introduction, Daisy and Jordan are described as "buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon," with "dresses rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house" (8).  This image of ungrounded fluidity is used by Fitzgerald to make a point about these women's generally uncertainty, and foreshadows the difficulty they will face when it comes time to make decisions.  Lennon similarly describes his "words," which represent the decisiveness of his direct thoughts, flowing endlessly and "slithering wildly as they slip away across the universe." This indecision is what inevitably leads to a loss of self purpose, as Lennon then states himself as being "possessed and caressed" by a variety of emotions.

                             

           A desire to think and prosper through personal jurisdictions fits alongside the concept of the American Dream and 'making it' in life through one's own work, but this goal cannot be reached without overcoming certain obstacles.  Daisy yearns her whole life for independence and success in her romantic affairs (yes, pun intended), but still finds herself with ambivalent feelings and a faltering certainty when Tom and Gatsby officially confront each other about their individual relationships with her.  "Her eyes [fell] on Jordan and [Nick] with a sort of appeal" as Daisy struggled with the decision she faced, hesitating as if she had "never intended doing anything at all" (132).  This is not only a turning point in Daisy's life but in the lives of everyone in that room, and her response is to look towards two people unrelated to the situation in supplication for guidance.  What's more, her "looking at [Gatsby] blindly" parallels Lennon's "meandering thoughts tumbling blindly," as both are unable to see with certainty where they are being led as consequences of their irresoluteness.

"You ought to have a church, George, for times like this.
You must have gone to church once.
Didn't you get married in a church?" (157)

                                                                  "God is Watching"

       One reason that religion plays such a critical role in human life is that being able to put trust in a higher-power deity is comforting and provides guidance during confusing times.  Upon suspecting his wife of adultery, George Wilson tells Myrtle that "she might fool [him], but she couldn't fool God" (159).  George is lost and distraught over his suspicion, but is able to hold himself together in spite of this by trusting God to see exactly what happens.  Although indecisiveness often does lead to a loss of self purpose, having faith in a guardian figure to straighten everything out can serve as an extremely useful outlet in times of doubt.  Lennon similarly calls upon a theistic guardian in "Across the Universe," repeating the Sanskrit "Jai Guru Deva Om" to symbolize his gratitude for the presence of a higher power helping guide him through life.


         A modern-musical was made in 2007 titled Across the Universe, which manages to incorporate over 30 songs by The Beatles into a single plot set during the Vietnam War era.  The song from which the musical took its name is used at a point in the movie when the main character Jude ("Hey Jude") has lost his girlfriend Lucy ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") due to their conflicting views over the war abroad, and is at a loss of where to go next with his life.  Despite singing "nothing's gonna change my world," he finds himself drawn to an anti-war rally where Lucy is being held by police, having seemingly been led by "images of broken light dancing before [him] like a million eyes" on the subway.  This interpretation of the song brings up yet another complication: just how "free" are the choices we make?