Henningfeld is a professor of English at Adrian College. In the following essay, she examines the critical history of The Bluest Eye and how various aspects such as characterization, plot, and structure contribute to its portrayal of racism and the search for identity.

Tom Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye was published in 1970. Set in Morrison's home town of Lorain, Ohio, the novel tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl convinced of her own ugliness who desires nothing more than to have blue eyes. On the first page of the novel, Morrison tells the reader in advance everything that will happen in the pages to follow. Indeed, Morrison alludes to the central event of the book in the first two sentences:

"Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was...