Toni Morrison’s novel tells the tragic story of Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl growing up in 1940s America. Living in poverty and an abusive home, Pecola internalizes society’s racist beauty standards and believes that having blue eyes would make her loved and accepted.
As her difficult life worsens, she suffers deep emotional trauma and eventually loses her grip on reality, convinced she has finally been given the blue eyes she desires.