The Dark Blue Sea

The Bluest Eye finally came to an end. I don't think I enjoyed reading something this much since the Harry Potter series when I was in the 5th grade. The rawness of the book was something that I really loved. I don't think there is justice for the victims that experience the things that Morrison discusses if it were sugarcoated. Even if things aren't sugarcoated, "wicked people" who "love wickedly" still manage to get away with what they do, and the victims of the wickedness are left with injustice. I think this is why I loved reading her book so much. I really loved talking about the uncomfortable things. The uncomfortable things that also happen to be the important things that I care about. Until we had discussions in class about these issues, I had never really been able to talk about them just because it's not your typical "dinner table" conversation that you have with your family after a long day of school or work.

I think one of the most important issues to me that was brought up by Morrison was putting the blame on the victim. Many characters in the novel experience this. Cholly blames Darlene for the encounter they had with the white men. Pecola's own conscience blames her for not telling Mrs. Breedlove when Cholly tried to molest her on the couch while she read. While the simple solution to this is get rid of all of the evil people in the world who turn people into victims, that is sadly impossible. But the next best thing is to have communities help the victim, and denounce what the abuser has done. The worst case of this is when people blame a rape victim for what had happened to them. 

"Oh she was wearing something inappropriate."

"She/he was asking for it."

"Well he/she didn't say no."

"She/he was drunk." 

"He/she deserved it." 

"Why didn't she/he tell someone?" 

The list goes on and on, and sadly many of these will be used more against women. 

In class Ms. Valentino brought up that 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence, and from my own research, a Google search to be specific, 1 in 33 men experience the same thing. If you can't see how enormous of a number that is, just stand to the side of the hallway at school and count out five girls. That's too many people to be put into the "unyielding earth." The "land" should not be deadly for the "seeds." These victims should not have to change to be less at a risk. The abusers and the stigma around these victims should have to change because "when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live." Society needs to change, and quickly, for it was already "much, much, much too late" when Morrison released the book in 1970.