The Bluest Eye Essay

“She thought they were pretty . . . they are ugly.   They are weeds.”   This minor example of how the little girl’s perception of the world changes within a few minutes is one of her many changing outlooks on herself and her surroundings.   At first she has a positive point of view, but after the incident with the white man, all her positivity is gone and replaced with anger and shame.   The author uses appropriate word choice, narrative pace, and descriptive imagery to dramatize the change from happiness to anger because of one carefree white man’s encounter with the little black girl.
The author uses appropriate diction in the story to reveal the girl’s changing perception of herself and her surroundings.   At first, she was a happy, untroubled little girl without a care in the world.   After describing the familiarity of the objects around her and her seeming possession of them, the author states “And owning them made her part of the world, and the world a part of her.”   This choice of words at the beginning of the story indicates that she feels included in her world, and that she belongs.   The statement’s diction dramatizes the fact that the girl believes she has an important place in the world.   However, later in the story, her view is significantly changed.   When at the candy store, she reaches to point to what she wants and the author describes her finger as “a little black shaft of a finger.”   The choice of words in this statement reveals one of the first indications that the girl’s view of herself has changed.   The description carries a negative connotation: that she used to pay no attention to her color but now that the white man seems to look down on her, she can’t help but notice it.   “She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people.”   The fact that this distaste for blacks “lurks” in whites’ eyes conveys that the girl knows they find disgust in her and they show it, even with their eyes.   This appropriate word choice dramatizes the fact that the...