The Bluest Eye - Pg. 74

Pg. 74:

"We were lesser. Nicer, brighter, but still lesser. The Thing to fear was the Thing that made her beautiful, and not us."

This section particularly stood out to me. The main reason being that it shows, yet again, a prevailing theme of the book: ideals of beauty. Throughout the novel, Claudia makes observations that she is percieved as inferior and/or ugly because of the color of her skin. Although this is indeed the reason for her mistreatment, it's hard for her young and ignorant mind to comprehend why it matters. One of the most frustrating feelings we can experience is lack of knowledge and understanding, and it seems as though the girls in the novel are constantly plagued with this feeeling. It's easy to see why the girls are continously yearning to be what society has convinced them is "beautiful", such as the wish for blue eyes by Pecola. I feel like the section I chose summed up a few of the most common emotions in the novel: disappointment, confusion, anger, and jealousy.

Claudia seems to have the strongest will power to remain secure in who she is, which surprises me for her age. How long could you uphold your self confidence and self worth if you were constantly being led to believe that you are ugly, worthless, and "lesser"?