I loved this book and always wanted to hear discussions and thoughts on it, especially from black people.
When I was little, like around 6th grade, I thought black women with brown skin and brown eyes and brown or black hair were the most beautiful women in the world. I wanted to be one, because I wanted to be beautiful, and I didn’t think I was beautiful with my strawberry blond hair and gray eyes. I grew up a bit naive and ignorant to what was going on within the black community, I just saw beauty, and I didn’t see beauty in myself.
So when I read that book, I was amazed a beautiful black girl wanted what I had, and I wanted what she had.
I like the interpretation that what Pecola wanted was safety and acceptance, and blue eyes symbolized that. She was perhaps looking for the privilege of whiteness to save her. A good question I wonder about, if a child in pecolas situation did have blue eyes and blond hair, would she have been saved? Would the privileges of being white kicked in and saved her?
Did blue eyes symbolize being loved? That what Pecola really needed was to be loved, and society loved whiteness?
I’d love to hear any thoughts on this. So glad you started the discussion.