Morrison, Pt. 2

Appearances are a tricky subject. On one side of the coin there’s a saying that says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and on the other side it reads, “Appearances are everything.” Of course, practically appearances definitely matter as one often hears business majors telling one another, “Dress for Success.” I often wonder how much appearances matter, but after reading through Bluest Eye, I believe I’ve understood it too well. Appearances affect the opinion of individuals upon one another, but more importantly, they affect our opinion about ourselves.



Re-imagine the part of the novel where Pecola is being harassed by Woodrow Cain and his entourage. They repeatedly tell her, “Black e mo Black e mo-” (Morrison, 65). This single incident corroborates both of my points extremely well. Woodrow and his entire entourage and Pecola are all black. Yet, there is a divide somewhere that separates them from one another. Pecola cries within that vicious circle… A part of me wants to jump in, and then Claudia says something that takes a hold of my attention. She says, “We watched, afraid they might notice us and turn their energies our way” (Morrison, 66). How true is that? In a confrontational and conflicting situation like that, who would want to risk their own neck? The appearance of that situation instinctively causes Claudia to consider giving up without even putting up a fight. Frieda, however, is from a whole different planet altogether; she stormed in there and supplied the initiative and freed her friend! She didn’t care about appearances, so she got right to it.

Frieda Took Care of Business in a Similar Fashion


But Pecola still cried! She shed tears because she was unable to withstand the harassment. It’s not that she couldn’t break free from the circle herself, but she herself was afraid. She perceives herself as being ugly and therefore, she drains herself of her own power. Professor Bump puts this simply, “Every time we look in the mirror and see that we are not as beautiful as a movie star, not as beautiful as the television, magazine, and billboard ads tell us we should be, we feel the fear of rejection and abandonment” (Bump, 339). There isn’t a better way of stating that. Pecola feared the rejection and abandonment, and all that fear was hidden behind her perception of herself as ugly.

Don't Be Afraid to Capture Your Presence, Your Beauty


Appearances are important, but Frieda has shown that even humans can manifest more courage than the entire planet. So why let such a trivial feature get in the way of our everyday lives? Well, Claudia attests to that because she instinctively didn’t want to help. She too was afraid. However, appearances are of practical value as they change daily and by the second, so anyone can be king/queen of its domain for a second and then be a slave to it in the very next. So, the best thing to do is to keep yourself with a good self-image so that you unconsciously give others around you the permission to do the same, and even more importantly, this will allow you to look at your own eyes in the mirror while smiling bright. Appearances matter so make yours the best you can and be happy!

Have Some Pride!