Some works of literature are dependent upon a specific ethnic, cultural, or socioeconomic background. They often tend to concentrate on certain beliefs and acts of different generations. In the two novels The Bluest Eye, written by Tone Morrison, and Meridian, written by Alice Walker, cultural background deals with both gender and race, which affect not only the characters Pecola and Meridian, and the decisions they make, but their true identities as well.CRITICAL ANALYSIS on Meridian, written by Alice Walker, and The Bluest Eye, written by Toni Morrison.
In the novel The Bluest Eye, a young girl named Pecola Breedlove has totally failed in realizing reality and her true identity. The reason for this is because of her race and the society in which one lives. "Everyday she encounters racism, not just from white people, but mostly from her own race"("Toni Morrison"). In order to be someone perfect in that society, you had to be white with blue eyes. Unfortunately for Pecola, she was black with brown eyes, which only projected the outside hatred inward, towards herself. "She feels she can overcome this battle of self hatred by obtaining blue eyes, but not just any blue. She wants the bluest of the blue, the bluest eye"("Toni Morrison"). Knowing that she wasn't perfect because of her race only gave her idyllic dreams that she was perfect, and made her block out who she really was in reality.
As for the novel Meridian, a young lady named Meridian knew who she was and her true identity. The only problem was that the people around her did not. She fought a lonely battle to reaffirm her own humanity and that of all her people. Although she was well educated, her race, like Pecola's, pulled her away from her goals, and the fact that she was a female as well, only made things worse for her. She lived in a southern society which only she realized had collapsed because of the Feminism and the Civil Rights Movement, yet, risks her heart and her life for the people she loves. "She interacts with people as individuals, rather than by stereotyping them. A halo like light surrounds her head as she thinks of the history of her people and of her role in that history"("Walker, Alice"). She thought that it was inadequate either to see people solely in terms of race or solely in terms of individual personalities.
In both novels, the two characters have gone through many difficulties because of their race. The only difference was that Pecola didn't realize she was living a lie, and Meridian knew she was the only one who could change the lie in which her society was living. But even so, although both characters have faced betrayal by both their families and friends, each one had responded totally different. Pecola had given up from the beginning without realizing that she was driving herself straight to insanity. She had transferred all of society's dislikes into her own image and never gave herself a chance to grow and succeed. She blocked out all things from reality, which only led her to her final destruction. Meridian, on the other hand, took charge of what was going on. Unlike Pecola, she wasn't afraid of noticing the truth. She simply knew that she was only going to have one chance to succeed, and that was her time to take advantage.
In conclusion, both novels, The Bluest Eye, written by Toni Morrison, and Meridian, written by Alice Walker are based on ethnic and gender backgrounds. They contribute to the meaning of the works as a whole in that both characters deal with a lot of criticism and rejection because of their race. They seem to support an ethics based on personal interaction more than on universal rules.
