This paper will describe how physical beauty and romantic love are destructive to the character Pecola, in the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Young women, like Pecola are constantly shown picturesque ideals of beauty by "Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, and window signs" that are ingrained into the psyche as the definition of beauty (p. 20). This novel takes place in the 1930's, and it is disappointing that approximately 60 years later it is evident that this problem still exists. In this novel Morrison uses her critical eye to reveal to the world the evil that is caused by a society that has adopted the beauty of whiteness and the ugliness of blackness. She also speaks to the masses, both white and black, imploring them to take notice of how destructive.
