Facing The Reality And Pursuing Self

Toni Morrison,one of the most outstanding and influential black female writers in American literary circle,enjoys an international reputation.Focusing on the life experiences of the black under the white hegemony,her novels aim at revealing the cultural conflicts between the white and the black and exposing the physical and spiritual oppression of black people.The Bluest Eye is one of the representative novels of Toni Morrison.In 1933,she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and The Bluest Eye gradually becomes the focus of numerous critics.So far,a mounting number of achievements have been obtained while the majority of them lay emphasis on the living conditions and the plights of African-American women.Comparatively speaking,the miserable life experiences of black males also deserve much concern.Dwelling on the post-colonial theory,this thesis tries to study the identity crisis of black male characters in The Bluest Eye and come up with feasible ways to solve the problem.This thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter gives a brief introduction of Toni Morrison and The Bluest Eye.The domestic and overseas literature review is also included in this chapter.Besides,the brief summary of related theories and concepts in this novel are also explained.Based on post-colonialism,the cultural identity crisis of black men in The Bluest Eye is elaborated in the second chapter.The third chapter explains the gender identity crisis of black male characters from family and social perspectives.On the basis of Homi,Bhabha's views of identity and the life experiences of some black male characters in the novel,the possible solutions to deal with the identity crisis are put forward in the chapter four.Depending on the analysis above,the conclusion can be reached in chapter five: the identity of black men is facing such great challenges and crisis that it is of vital significance to seek new ways to reconstruct the identity of black men.Through the interpretation of the black men's identity crisis in The Bluest Eye,readers can better realize the fact that not only black women suffer from identity crisis and that black men also undergo the identity crisis which provides a new perspective to interpret the realistic meanings of this novel.On the one hand,this thesis elaborates the cultural and gender identity crisis that black male characters are bearing.On the other hand,possible and feasible ways to help black men go out of the dilemma are also explored.As for the cultural identity,black men are supposed to have positive attitudes to review their own cultural and history vicissitude and be confident in the African cultures,pursue their self identities,and refuse the invasion of white hegemony.With regard to the gender identity,it is believed that black men need to shoulder their responsibilities in families and establish a normal and loving family relationship.