Abstract

The bluest eyes, written by Toni Morrison, mainly tells a story about the tragic and grievous life of an eleven year old black girl, named Pecola Breedlove who is desperately eager for the acceptation of the society and the people around her. She is despised and badly treated by her friends and neighbors, so she is eager to have blue eyes, white skin and blonde hair, which is the social yardstick of beauty. Beginning with white culture of that time, this thesis further its analysis by demonstrating racial discrimination and some other human causes.

Key words: the bluest eyes, tragedy, white culture, racial discrimination, human causes
 
摘要

托妮•莫瑞森的小说《最蓝的眼睛》主要描述的是女主人佩克拉的痛苦的悲剧人生，一个十一岁的黑人小女孩渴望被社会和身边的人所接受，她被朋友，邻居歧视，虐待，所以她极其渴望拥有符合美国社会审美标准的蓝眼睛，白皮肤，金色的头发。本论文旨在分析促成佩克拉悲剧的多方面因素。本论文从剖析当时美国社会的白人文化大环境开始，进而展现了种族歧视和佩克拉身边的人对其造成的影响。

关键词：《最蓝的眼睛》；悲剧；美国白人文化；种族歧视；人为原因

1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to Toni Morrison
    Toni Morrison, as the first African American woman novelist to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993, became widely acknowledged and gained international fame in literary world. The Nobel Prize citation reads：Toni Morrison，“who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”(http://www.docin.com/p-455925868.html) Morrison was born in a black family. Her parents moved to the north to avoid poverty and live a better life. When she was young, she has suffered through all kinds of discrimination and insults. This experience was definitely unforgettable and has paved the way for her writing. The Bluest Eyes(1970), Sula(1974), Solomon(1977), Tar Baby(1981),Beloved(1987), Jazz(1992), Paradise(1999), Love(2003), and A Mercy(2008) are the representatives of her masterpieces. Her masterpieces are all influential and outstanding whose themes ranges from African American life reality to history. Morrison looks deeply into the dark side of the society and sharply blasts at the dominant culture. Most of her novels are concerned with the fate of African American women and their tragedy, and unfolds the conflict between the white culture and the African culture under the background of racial discrimination in American society.