In her novel, The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison explores the burdens that society places on its weakest members and the negative effects they have on mental stability and individual's self-esteem. Society has expectations of beauty and value that teach the individual to be dissatisfied with himself and to look for certain characteristics: blue eyes, blond hair, light skin. In Pecola's case we see society's judgment imposed on her because of the color of her skin, her gender, and the poverty in which her family lives, all of which are contrary to the American ideal of the time. The discrepancies between perceived perfection, which no one will ever be able to live up to, and reality, foster the insecurities present in each of Morrison's characters. The constant barrage of preconceived notions, particularly when compared to the Breedloves, contributes to the superficial nature of society that Morrison sheds light on to promote the idea that unrealistic expectations foster a flawed mindset that distracts from a person's inherently good nature. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Pecola and all African Americans are marginalized in the novel. Morrison writes: “Being a minority of both caste and class, we nevertheless moved on the fringes of life, struggling to consolidate our weaknesses and resist, or to creep singularly into the main folds of the garment.” There was no way for African Americans to significantly increase their social status because they could not change their skin color. Even “colored people,” who thought of themselves and, in some ways, were more educated and orderly than the “niggers” they chose not to associate with, were still considered lower class. The color of a person's skin literally determined their value to society, not their merit. This hostile and seemingly permanent perspective is harmful to the mindset of all African Americans in the novel, especially Pecola and her family. Unlike other families in their community, the Breedloves have little emotional connection and familial support with each other. For Pecola this makes her especially vulnerable to outside influences because she has no loving place to return to to tell her she is beautiful. Instead the entire family almost takes pleasure in being “ugly” and wallows in self-hatred. The Breedloves live in a store that shows the world their poverty and flaws; they want to leave, but "They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they thought they were ugly." They have no ability or willpower to leave because society has given them only one choice: to be poor, black and ugly. In the midst of this situation, Pecola dreams of something better; is a sad commentary on the state of our society when an innocent little girl believes that being white will solve all her problems. Pecola idolizes the dolls and “Shirley Temples” of the world because they have the stability she craves. Pecola attributes the love and care they receive to the color of their skin and therefore wants a pair of blue eyes of her own. Pecola's childish, yet extremely insightful association between skin color and quality of life is used by Morrison to highlight the way society is run. Even today, skin color has an effect on opportunity, so it doesn't seem like such an unreasonable thing to try to change your appearance to afford greater social mobility. People try to change themselves, like Pecola wanting blue eyes, to meet expectations; but it's the expectations that need to be changed,,.