"They're playing nasty, Mrs. McaTeer. Look. And Claudia hit me' cause I seen them!"" page 30
This quote leads into the part were Pecola had started her ministration cycle. Pecola's mom was told that the girls were playing nasty. Pecola's mom reacted by grabbing a switch to whipping Frieda and then Pecola. A girl first started their ministration cycle is shocking, may think something is wrong and then have their own mom react like she did something wrong when she didn't. There should have been compassion and love to help the girl through this experience for the first time.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:08:08 pm
"others" page 160
This quote is right before Pecola gets raped by her dad. Her dad is speaking about his life as a child growing up and how he didn't ahve any ideas of how to raise children. A child being raped by anyone would be terrifying. A child being raped by their own dad who should be protecting them would be humiliating, scary, and shameful. Reading this part I would never imagine my father who loves me so dearly doing something so awful like this. My dad is like my hero. He is loving, understanding and keeping me from harm.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 01:29:32 pm
Ii couldnt agree more!! Horrible scene in the book.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 02:06:55 pm
Agreed. I think that this book went a little too far in terms of sexual explicitness. After reading the rape scene, even I had to put down the book because I was like what the hell? When I am a father in the future, I will protect my kids from everything I possibly can.
Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 02:36:40 pm
I think we all agree this scene was the big game changer on why this book should stay banned. It is too much for younger kids to handle. Like you said Dakota on having to put the book down, I did that exact same thing. I was just in shock!
Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:13:36 pm
"I can do nothing for you, my child. I am not a magician. I work only through the Lord. He sometimes uses me to help people. All I can do is offer myself to Him as the instrument through which he works. If he wants your wish granted, He will do it." page 174
This quote was talking about how Pecola would like to have blue eyes. She wants to be beautiful. The preacher would like to grant the wish for her. Every girl who turns into a woman has beauty with in themselves. No matter if they have facial features that are pretty. Most of all beauty comes from within a person's heart and into being.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:14:01 pm
"I can do nothing for you, my child. I am not a magician. I work only through the Lord. He sometimes uses me to help people. All I can do is offer myself to Him as the instrument through which he works. If he wants your wish granted, He will do it." page 174
This quote was talking about how Pecola would like to have blue eyes. She wants to be beautiful. The preacher would like to grant the wish for her. Every girl who turns into a woman has beauty with in themselves. No matter if they have facial features that are pretty. Most of all beauty comes from within a person's heart and into being.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:14:09 pm
"I can do nothing for you, my child. I am not a magician. I work only through the Lord. He sometimes uses me to help people. All I can do is offer myself to Him as the instrument through which he works. If he wants your wish granted, He will do it." page 174
This quote was talking about how Pecola would like to have blue eyes. She wants to be beautiful. The preacher would like to grant the wish for her. Every girl who turns into a woman has beauty with in themselves. No matter if they have facial features that are pretty. Most of all beauty comes from within a person's heart and into being.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:15:15 pm
It kept showing it was not posting. Sorry now it shows it many times.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:33:11 pm
"Have mercy. I be damn." page 14 in Song of Solomon
This quote was said when Ruth was caught breast feeding her son, which was beyond infant years. Freddy saw and commented about how old folks said that was okay to do. This part of the book wasn't harsh. A high school student could handle reading this part and understand this part. The Bluest Eye was harsh reading.
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Candice Seamster
4/14/2013 01:50:32 pm
"Send one around back to the emergency office. Tell him to tell the guard to get over here quick. that boy there can go. That one." page 7
This quote was talking about a nurse sending Guitar around the back of the hospital to get help to help Ruth because she was in labor. Ruth was the first black to have any service done at that hospital. The hospital was called, "No Mercy Hospital" by the blacks. This day and age anyone can into any hospital of any race to receive help. This is something major that could happen but reading about it is minor because we can get help today in a hospital. This is horrible it happened at one time. If a high school student would read this they might get angry or upset but compared to the Bluest Eyes, this book is mild in reading.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 11:14:49 am
"With a violence born of total helplessness, he pulled her dress up, lowered his trousers and underwear." Pg. 148
This quote is only a fragment of one of the sexually explicit scenes throughout the book. Words used like "helplessness" makes the reader feel sick to their stomach. The book contains multiple sexual content scenes and many scenes involve pedophilia. As the oldest son of my family, I could never see my father committing such disturbing acts towards any child in general. This quote reminds people that events like this still are happening today.
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Candice Seamster
4/16/2013 04:50:31 pm
I agree my own dad would never do something like that and the book made me sick to my stomach as well. The book was difficult to continue reading because of the details and content of sexual activity. The word helplessness is awful feeling just reading the word.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 11:20:15 am
"So when the child regained consciousness, she was lying on the kitchen floor under a heavy quilt, trying to connect the pain between her legs with the face of her mother looming over her." Pg. 163
This quote occurred when Pecola had been forced into sexual intimacy by her father. This part of the book is by far one of the most disturbing scenes and I had a bad reaction. I strongly believe pedophilia and incest is inhumane. I could never fathom what goes through someone's head to commit such a gross act. The fact that Pecola's mother had let the rape happen was very sickening. I don't think someone in the high school level should read about content that even I had to take a moment for and put down the book.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 11:22:48 am
"You are ugly people." Pg. 39
This quote occurs when the master calls the Breedlove family ugly. The family had taken the verbal abuse and didn't question his statement. As I grew up, I was taught to treat every girl respectfully regardless of their differences. When Pecola was called ugly and ridiculed throughout the book had only resulted in self-hatred. In today's world, there are many cases of young women committing suicide over verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. I don't think anyone on this earth has the right to make negative judgments towards a person and who they are.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 01:27:19 pm
This comment pretty much sums up the book.Short and simple quote.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 11:30:16 am
"I told you Negroes didn't like water." Pg. 35
This quote represents only a small portion of the book's racism. Throughout the book racial slurs are thrown around from every angle. I was raised in a proper family who didn't judge or classify people by their skin color. After reading these passages, I was shocked to see how much black hatred the book had contained. Racism can still be found today, so I believe the high school level can read this book and not feel as uncomfortable as reading the Bluest Eye.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 02:50:49 pm
Everyone in the world needs water to live so you could discuss the fact that whites thinking African Americans not needing or liking water is seeing them as something other than humans. This quote shows that whites saw African Americans as a different "breed." It shines more light onto exactly why it is racist.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 11:52:04 am
"Before the first colored expectant mother was allowed to give birth inside its wards and not on its steps." Pg. 4
This quote at the beginning of the book had showed how this book's perception of skin color, was going to result in many judgmental statements. Toni Morrison, the author of both the Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon had a large amount of racism. Both books relate through the multiple prejudice acts that are committed throughout the book. Although, Song of Solomon in my opinion is considered mild to a high school reader compared to the Bluest Eye. The Bluest Eye had contained many disturbing scenes involving incest and pedophilia.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 12:49:43 pm
"The line between colored and nigger was not always clear; subtle and telltale signs threatened to erode it, and the watch had to be constant." (p. 87)
The omniscient narrator tells the reader how Junior's mother tried to control how people saw him. She put lotion on his face in the winter, to keep it from appearing ashen.
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Dakota Culbertson
4/16/2013 02:09:48 pm
I definitely agree with you. A big portion of the book had to do with the physical aspects of the colored people. This book wouldn't have had the same impact if there wasn't racism in the book.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 12:50:48 pm
"Her simplicity decorated us, her guilt sanctified us, her pain made us glow with health." (p. 205)
The narrator says that Pecola's pain and guilt made other people around her feel superior to her.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 12:51:51 pm
"Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live." (p. 206)
The narrator says that Pecola's baby died because it was hated and viewed as having no right to live.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 02:30:00 pm
I agree with this comment being one of the reasons for "challenging" or banning the book. The fruit is symbolism for Pecola's unborn child. Saying that a baby that has not even entered the world has no right to live is viewed negatively because in our culture children are the epitome of innocence and purity.
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Candice Seamster
4/16/2013 04:55:03 pm
How can someone state a message of a baby not having the right to live before or even after the baby is born. I think it is cruelty. A baby is a gift and a joy to have here.
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 01:21:40 pm
"It’s not about living longer. It’s about how you live and why." p.177
What is the meaning of life? Guitar believes that to give meaning to one’s life, one has to be deliberate in the living of it. One has to have purpose, goals, and beliefs to get behind. But still, we can’t help ask the same question on Milkman’s mind: can the murdering of random white people give a life meaning?
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Denise Rico
4/16/2013 01:25:00 pm
Maybe it’s you I should be killing. Maybe then he will come to me and let me come to him. He is my home in this world. And then, aloud, "He is my home in this world."
"And I am his," said Ruth. p. 152
Hagar and Pilate seem to think it’s possible for a human being to be your home. A home is a place where you sleep and eat and hang up pictures on the wall. How can Milkman be that place? Ruth and Hagar seem to interpret a home as a place of refuge. Milkman, a place of refuge? Really?
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 02:14:18 pm
"Tough shit, buddy. Your tough shit." Pg. 36 The Bluest Eye
This is just one example of the foul language that is used throughout the book. Toni Morrison does not hold back when it comes to cursing. Many parents were offended by the use of language and did not find it appropriate. I do not think the cursing is that big of a deal because kids hear curse words on the daily from friends, tv, music, and celebrities. The word choice seems like nothing though compared to the other reasons behind the banning of the book.
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 02:23:20 pm
"...she will make rapid movements with her hips, press her fingernails into his back, suck in her breath, and pretend she is having an orgasm." Pg 84 The Bluest Eye
This quote occured in one of the explicit sex scenes. The vivid detail and imagery that Morrison uses requires a mature audience level and understanding. She goes into great depth of what is occuring and many high schoolers would not be comfortable discussing this in class. Even I felt a little uncomfortable reading it, so it it completely understanding why parents are concerned about their children being exposed to it. Just like in the movies, I feel like The Bluest Eye should have a rating because of the sexual content.
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 02:31:19 pm
"Cholly stood up and could see only her grayish panties, so sad and limp around her ankles." Pg. 163 The Bluest Eye
This quote occured after Cholly raped Pecola. In this scene, it has extreme detail of a father raping his daughter. I have never felt more sorry for a girl in a book in my life, Morrison really makes you feel helpless for Pecola. After reading this scene I had a very strong reaction on why this book should continue to be banned. No high school class should read this and have a discussion about it. The maturity level just is not there yet.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 02:45:04 pm
"Get on wid it, nigger" Pg 148
This quote is said when Cholly and Darlene are caught having sex in the woods by two white men. Making love to someone is seen as a very intimate thing, when the white men come and watch Cholly it is violating. When one of the white men says the quote above it shows that they want to turn something as intimate as having sex into some sort of entertainment for the white men. This brings race into the picture showing that the white men thought it was amusing to make Cholly finish having sex with Darlene just because they knew that they could make them. This quote not only uses a racial slur but it means so much more. It symbolizes how the white men thought the African Americans were just there to "perform" for them.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 03:01:02 pm
"She had to explain the difference between black people and niggers" pg.87
This quote contains a racial slur and a word of oppression for the black community. The N word is a word in our society that is seen as something extremely negative. The actual defintion of the word is "a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons." This quote also says that there is a difference between a black person and a "nigger" which is offensive due to the negative stigma attached to the word. As Americans we know there is no such thing as a "n" word, that it was just a word put into place to make someone feel less than what they truly are. I know when I see this word it makes me feel sick to my stomach and uncomfortable to read, I can imagine many parents felt this way to.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 03:08:50 pm
"...Mama should take me to the doctor, because I might be ruined..." pg 101
This quote is brought up after Frieda is molested by Mr. Henry. Having such a young girl be touched by an older man is seen as something unnatural in our culture. Men are seen as protectors in our society. Frieda felt safe around Mr.Henry because that is how her surroundings have made her feel, and that trust was violated. When Frieda thinks that she may be ruined because she was molested it made me tear up. I felt so emotional because what happened wasn't her fault in the least and it did not ruin her. Having a child be molested is something that I think a lot of people feel strongly about because it is so unnatural. I can see how a teenager reading about a young girl being taken advantage of can make them feel uncomfortable.
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 03:41:38 pm
I agree with this completely. I too felt emotional when reading this part simply just because it makes you feel so helpless for Frieda. The sad part is this type of thing really does happen in the world.
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 03:32:54 pm
Pg. 296. Song of Solomon
On this page the "f" word is used multiple times. Just like in The Bluest Eye, cursing happens a lot throughout the novel. I do not think Song of Solomon should be banned because of it though when comparing it to The Bluest Eye. These words do not seem like a problem at all when looking at the rape seen in The Blest Eye.
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Candice Bomar
4/16/2013 03:37:21 pm
"You country niggers got it all over us." Pg. 281 Song of Solomon
This quote was by Milkman. Again with the word choice I can understand why parents would want this book banned. They do not feel comfortable with their children being forced to read these words.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 03:39:18 pm
"124 was spiteful, full of a baby's venom" Beloved
This quote uses two words that don't seem to belong together and that is baby and venom. In our culture babies are seen as innocent and pure of heart and venom as something that kills or paralyses. In Beloved you discover that a baby is killed by it's mother and that is why the place that the mother lives is filled with so much hate. Killing something so innocent like a child is seen as criminal and deplorable in our society. The reason I don't think this book should be banned is because the baby was killed as a sacrifice. Sethe did not want to subject her child to a life of slavery and pain so she decided to take her life. This is how Toni Morrison differs in the way a baby dies in The Bluest Eye vs. Beloved, making one of them seem cold and in need of banning and the other a tale of sacrifice.
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Kiah Bradley
4/16/2013 03:45:25 pm
"Beg to differ, Garner. Ain't no nigger men" pg.12 Beloved
This quote contains a word of oppression and pain to the black community but the way this book is written I don't think it should be banned. This book flashes back to times of slavery and one of the flashbacks is where this quote is from. This word was casually used and this was actually said on a plantation. This story is the truth of slavery and for Morrison to exclude this word it would not have the same effect. Morrison's writing has such a strong effect because of the use of this word. For her to truly tell the story of slavery and the sacrifices made she needed to use raw language.
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