“The eyes are the window to the soul” is a common saying used by many individuals today. This statement is especially true in the case of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. In this novel, Pecola Breedlove wants nothing more than to have blue eyes because she believes it will make her beautiful and she believes it will make people want to look at her. This brings up one of the central themes of the novel, sight. The act of seeing in this novel defines each of the characters identities or his/her importance because the act of seeing and the feeling of being seen defines the connection between each individual and the person or object being looked at, especially for the main victim, Pecola Breedlove and her father, Cholly.
Pecola is a young girl who lacks connection with other people in her community. She believes the fault of her lack of connection is through her eyes. She believes that she can’t make the connection because people don’t want to look into them. One of the most significant scenes for Pecola is when she is in the store buying candy from a white man. It reads, “He looks toward her. Somewhere between retina and object, between vision and view, his eyes draw back, hesitate and hover… He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see” (48).
When the salesman refuses to see her, it makes her feel disconnected and degraded. The feeling of connection with another person for Pecola is seen most significantly through eye contact and concept of sight. Later he does not want to form even the slightest connection with a young, black girl so he avoids looking at her eyes altogether. This action hurts Pecola because “this symbolizes difficulty in her becoming a ‘true’ human being” (11/26). She is not being treated as though she exists because the clerk wishes he didn’t have to see her at all and doesn’t want to make a connection, not making her feel seen or noticed.
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Taking this connection away from her takes away her individuality and agency. The act of seeing and being seen is seen very significantly in the story of Cholly’s past, as well. When Cholly is a young, teenage boy, he is losing his virginity in the woods when white men with light find them in the woods and force the two to have sex while they are watching. Cholly begins to look for something to make a connection with in order to bring comfort to him.
“There was no place for Cholly’s eyes to go. He searched about furtively searching for shelter, while his body remained paralyzed” (148). The concept of seeing something in order to feel safe is very important. “The familiarity of something he is searching for could bring him this sense of safety” (12/3). Seeing things can form a connection with them so he would not feel so alone or afraid. When Cholly is searching for something to see, it is because he wants that object to bring him comfort and help him through this very challenging experience.
Ultimately, this experience is so significant it changes Cholly permanently and morphs him into the hateful adult he becomes. This feeling could have partially been avoided if he had some way to find comfort through sight in this horrible situation. After he searches for something in the distance, he tries to look at his partner, Darlene, but she is covering her eyes. “Darlene put her hands over her face… [Cholly] looked at Darlene. He hated her.” (148). The hiding of her eyes places a figurative wall or divide between her and Cholly. “She separates herself from the situation and him by separating their connection through sight” (12/3).
Not only does this separate him and Darlene during this process, it consequently causes Cholly to feel hateful towards her. He must endure this experience alone because he has no object or person to connect with. This form of racism and hate is made even worse for Cholly due to his inability to feel any sense of security with anyone or anything through a connection of sight.
Eye’s and the act of sight are the most valuable part of making a connection with another individual in Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Avoiding eye contact avoids a connection and connection can sometimes bring on safety. Toni Morrison keeps a theme of the importance of sight and the development of characters throughout the novel. The most important factor in making connections and developing the individual is both the act of seeing and being seen.
