In 1941, in Lorain, Ohio, nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer and her ten-year-old sister Frieda live with their parents, a tenant named Mr. Henry Washington, and Pecola Breedlove, a temporary See more

• Pecola Breedlove: Her insanity at the end of the novel is her only way to escape the world where she cannot be beautiful and happy due to her family situation and the beauty and social standards of that … See more

When asked about her motivations for writing The Bluest Eye in an interview, Morrison stated that she wanted to remind readers "how … See more

Black girlhood
Morrison's writing of the book began because she was "interested in talking about black … See more

Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye breaks the long tradition of narratives that discuss the hardships of war and depression in the 1940s, and according to University of Oxford professor Tessa Roynon, who studies African-American literature, she … See more

The novel received minimal critical attention when first published; however, it was placed on many university reading lists in black-studies departments, which promoted further … See more

The Bluest Eye has frequently landed on American Library Association's (ALA) list of most challenged books because it contains offensive language, sexually explicit material, and controversial issues, as well as depicting child sexual abuse and being unsuited … See more