“NOBODY PAID US ANY ATTENTION, SO WE PAID VERY GOOD ATTENTION TO OURSELVES”: GIRLHOOD IN TONI MORRISON’S THE BLUEST EYE

Abstract

​This article analyzes Toni Morrison’s ​The Bluest Eye in order to demonstrate how the age, gender and race of the main characters influence the narrative and in fact make the story what it is. The analysis is based on the idea of ​ritualistic violence discussed in Azevedo (2001), the common denominators of American childhood listed by Mintz (2009), the significance dolls have in American girlhood, as explored by Jacobs (2008), and the characteristics commonly found in transitional chapter books specifically about African American young girls discussed by McNair and Brooks (2012). The article demonstrates the ways in which these factors work together in shaping the lives of the three young girls that are in the center of the narrative.