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Stream of Consciousness
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The Bluest Eye lacks the structured story beats found in traditional narrative fiction, particularly that written before the turn of the 20th century. Morrison instead shifts narrative focus often, extemporizing on the psyches of her characters as they go about their daily lives. This style bears greater similarity to stream-of-consciousness writing than it does to traditional structured narrative. The Bluest Eye is even distinct amongst stream-of-consciousness fiction, featuring an unnamed third-person narrator who analyzes the novel's characters in an unfiltered "stream" of thought. It is unconventional for novels written in the third person to include such a narrator.
In addition to her stream-of-consciousness narration, Morrison attempts a stylized breakdown of language in The Bluest Eye, often dismantling conventional sentences for artistic effect. This deconstructed writing parallels the novel's deconstruction of the human psyche.
Take, as an example, the following excerpt from Chapter 1. In this passage, Claudia discusses adults' reactions to her dismemberment of white baby dolls:
Grown people frowned and fussed: "You-don't-know-how-to-take-care-of-nothing. I-never-had-a-baby-doll-in-my-whole-life-and-used-to-cry-my-eyes-out-for-them. Now-you-got-a-beautiful-one-and-you-tear-it-up-what's-the-matter-with-you?
In the above sentence, Morrison throws traditional English writing conventions out the window for stylistic effect, connecting every word to the next with a dash. This is done to illustrate the adults' terse manner of speaking: they are upset by the doll's dismemberment, likely speaking quickly and angrily, possibly slurring words together. Morrison alters traditional sentence structure as a means of illustrating this anger, making it appear as incomprehensible as it feels to young Claudia.
