Free Essays on Toni Morrison

From her chldhood days in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison learned from her parents, Ramah Willis Wofford and George Wofford, the importance of racial pride but also the tragedy that can result when a black person internalizes alien, often white, values. These lessons surface repeatedly in Morrison's first novel The Blues Eye and in many of her other works. Morrison was born Chole Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, to parents who were very confident in themselves and their race. They stressed the importance of an education, which is reflected in the fact that Morrison was the only child entering her first grade class who could read. Her love of books continued as she devoured the works of European writers, including Jane Austen, Gustav Flaubert and Leo Tolstoy, as an adolescent. After graduating from high school in Lorain with honors, Morrison earned a B.A. In English from Howard University. Two pivotal events for Morrison occurred at Howard: she changed her name to Toni because many people could not pronounce Chloe, and she became acquainted with black life in the South while touring with the Howard University Player. In 1955, Morrison earned an M.A. In English. Again, events at Howard were pivotal as she met her husband, Howard Morrison, a Jamaican architect, ther. Morrison rarely discusses her marriage, which ended in divorce after the births of two sons, Harold Ford and Slade Kevin. Raising two sons alone, Morrison moved to Syracuse to take an editing job iwth a textbook subsidiary of Random House, and to combat isolation, she wrote. She first worked on a story she had begun in her writers group at Howard. This story about a little black girl who longs for blue eyes was the genesis of her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in 1970. Since the appearance of The Bluest Eye, Morrison's successes have multiplied. In 1970, she took an editorial position with Ramdon House in New York and began writing regularly for the New York... Free Essays on Toni Morrison Free Essays on Toni Morrison In Toni Morrison’s novels, she describes the racial tension, the heritage of Blacks, and the struggles Blacks have to overcome in a world that doesn’t accept them. While exploring these various emotions, Toni Morrison also changes the styles in each novel. In The Bluest Eye, the main character, Pecola Breedlove, feels as though she is not beautiful as society says she should be. â€Å"The American culture of the early 1940’s defines beauty in terms of such actors as Greta Garbo, Ginger Rogers, and Shirley Temple† (Magill 243). Morrison â€Å"uses the contrast between Shirley Temple and Pecola†¦ to underscore the irony of black experience† states Phyllis R. Klotman (Metzger 413). Racism is an everyday issue for Pecola. She faces the problem from whites, and blacks as well. Pecola assumes that by having blue eyes she will be accepted in society. â€Å"She wants the bluest of the blue, the bluest eyes† (McEwen 1). The Bluest Eye consist of four section that make up the novel. These sections are: â€Å"â€Å"Autumn,† â€Å"Winter,† â€Å"Spring,† and â€Å"Summer†Ã¢â‚¬  (Magill 243). Claudia MacTeer, the nine year old narrator, starts the story off by taking a chilly look at her lifestyle and begins to concentrate on Pecola’s stay with her. Pecola is staying with Claudia because her father dishonors the Breedlove name. â€Å"Autumn ends with a sketch of three misanthropic â€Å"whores† who, unsentimentally, provide Pecola with the little warmth that she experiences† (Magill 243). Describing the face and nakedness of Claudia and Frieda’s father is how the second section of the novel, â€Å"Winter,† starts. Seeing his nakedness, only by accident, the girls are not threatened. â€Å"It leaves Claudia and Frieda more astonished than offended† (Magill 244). This section comes to a close while Pecola is at the home of two arrogant African Americans, Louis and Geraldine. They think people like Pecola are trash. Junior, Louis and... Free Essays on Toni Morrison TONI MORRISON Toni Morrison was the first black woman to receive a Novel Prize award. In 1970 Toni Morrison wrote her first book called â€Å"The Bluest Eye† which soon after gaining the attention of both critics and a wider audience for epic power, unerring ear for dialogue and her poetically expressive depictions of Black America (www.nobel†¦). Toni was born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, a steel town twenty-five miles west of Cleveland, where she grew up most of her early life (Colby). She was born Chloe Anthony Wofford. Her parents Ramah and George Wofford were not poor, but were a black working class family. She was the second of four children. Her father was a shipyard welder. Her parents moved to Ohio hoping to find better opportunities and to escape the racist attitudes. She was brought up to be proud of her heritage. This is where she heard many songs and tales of Southern black folklore. She displayed an early interest in literature. When she went to a school in first grade she was the only black student and she was the only one that could read. She was friends with many of the white students and it was when she got older that she was discriminated against (www.cob†¦). She loved the arts and she wanted to become a dancer and she loved to read. She was an excellent student and she graduated with honors from Lorain High School in 1949. Rotolo 2 She majored in English at Howard University where she got her B.A. in English. She then went to Cornell University where she received a master’s degree in1955. Cornell University is where she wrote her master’s thesis on the works of Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. Since people couldn’t pronounce her name correctly she changed it to Toni a shortened version of her middle name. Her real name was Chloe. In 1955 she went to Texas Southern University to teach introductory English. In 1957 she returned to Howard University as ... Free Essays on Toni Morrison From her chldhood days in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison learned from her parents, Ramah Willis Wofford and George Wofford, the importance of racial pride but also the tragedy that can result when a black person internalizes alien, often white, values. These lessons surface repeatedly in Morrison's first novel The Blues Eye and in many of her other works. Morrison was born Chole Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, to parents who were very confident in themselves and their race. They stressed the importance of an education, which is reflected in the fact that Morrison was the only child entering her first grade class who could read. Her love of books continued as she devoured the works of European writers, including Jane Austen, Gustav Flaubert and Leo Tolstoy, as an adolescent. After graduating from high school in Lorain with honors, Morrison earned a B.A. In English from Howard University. Two pivotal events for Morrison occurred at Howard: she changed her name to Toni because many people could not pronounce Chloe, and she became acquainted with black life in the South while touring with the Howard University Player. In 1955, Morrison earned an M.A. In English. Again, events at Howard were pivotal as she met her husband, Howard Morrison, a Jamaican architect, ther. Morrison rarely discusses her marriage, which ended in divorce after the births of two sons, Harold Ford and Slade Kevin. Raising two sons alone, Morrison moved to Syracuse to take an editing job iwth a textbook subsidiary of Random House, and to combat isolation, she wrote. She first worked on a story she had begun in her writers group at Howard. This story about a little black girl who longs for blue eyes was the genesis of her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in 1970. Since the appearance of The Bluest Eye, Morrison's successes have multiplied. In 1970, she took an editorial position with Ramdon House in New York and began writing regularly for the New York...