In "Black Naturalism and Toni Morrison: The JOurney away from Self-Love in The Bluest Eye", author Patrice Cormier-Hamilton, dicusses the how the idea of loving one's self for who you are is damaged by the social standards around us and that without the proper support, one can lose that sense of Self-Love. In mentioning The Bluest Eye, Hamiltion is trying to show how the "blackness" has been adapted to fit the society. She takes the idea that while naturalism maintains that one's identity is reaffirmed and molded by the community, she takes it one step further, that a person is shaped more by themselves than those around them, a psychological perspective that I have not encountered before, but seems to make some sense. Pecola wants blue eyes, to be white, because she as internalized this set of values and is now in conflict with herself because she cannot imitate her values.
This essay, though confusing at times, is helpful in understanding the pyschological idea of being one "race", but longing to be like the other. I feel that I will be able to use this essay as a foil to bounce Pecola's assimilation off of May Angelou's non-assimilation in I know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
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