Internalization, Resistance, Tolerance

As the first Afro-American female winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Toni Morrison is one of the most outstanding black writers in contemporary American literature. The Bluest Eye is her first novel, which establishes her literary reputation as a renowned black writer. The survival of the African-Americans in the white mainstream society has been a hot topic of post-colonial study. This thesis explores the theme of the survival of African Americans by analyzing three different attitudes towards white culture in The Bluest Eye:Pecola and her mother Pauline’s internalization, Claudia and Cholly’s resistance and Mrs McTeer and the three prostitutes’tolerance. Through the analysis the thesis reaches a conclusion that internalization or rejection of white culture can only lead to the loss of blackness even self-destruction of black culture. Only by sticking to the essence of black culture, and in the meantime, tolerantly accepting the excellent white culture can the African-Americans gain the opportunity for survivals and black culture obtain the space for development. The thesis explores solutions for black culture including inheriting the essence of black culture, such as blues and rebuilding black community.