Through the Eyes of a Child

I thought it was interesting to read about what Claudia thought of dolls because it starkly differed from my view when I was a child. The Bluest Eye reads, "Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs-all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured." Why yes, for me it was this way. I had too many dolls...in fact...but no, I could never have too many dolls. But to Claudia, one doll was way too many because all she really wanted was to have all her senses engaged and not necessarily have material things. What a wise child! In her quest to find "what it was that all the world said was lovable" about the doll, she mangled and destroyed it, and the resulting reaction from grown ups was "You-don't-know-how-to-take-care-of-nothing," etc.

"I destroyed white baby dolls." Its own sentence, its own paragraph. This syntax invokes the tones of being grave and also resigned. Resigned to the simple fact that she destroys white dolls. Claudia goes on to relate that "the truly horrifying thing was the transference of the same impulses to little white girls." These feelings were the result of envy of white girls who people loved and adored. "What made people look at them and say, 'Awwwww,' but not for me?" Claudia channeled her anger and inferiority toward the dolls which represented everything she was not, and could not have, which resulted in damaged dolls. These feelings should not be felt by a child, especially at an early age. Experiences and circumstances in childhood create and shape the future character of that child. If Claudia feels inferior and not accepted at an early age, then she will likely grow up to have low self esteem, which can greatly affect her attitude in how she handles challenges. A child needs to feel love and acceptance and also give love to others. These components in Claudia's life are missing. Her relationship with her mom is one in which, "[I] didn't initiate talk with grown-ups; [I] answered their questions." This suggests that there never was meaningful communication between mother and daughter and therefore a loss of the feeling of love which every child needs.