The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young girl living in Lorain, Ohio, who faces harsh conditions from a young age. The Pecola family has a reputation for “ugliness,” a reputation for which their country despises them. Pecola herself believes the accusations that she is ugly are true, not only because of the constant abuse she witnesses in her own family, but also because she has been told she is ugly her whole life by everyone around her, including adults. The novel explores the standards to which Pecola is held, as well as her reactions to not meeting them. Some of the supposed qualities of his “ugliness” are his race, his family's income, his father's sleeping habits, and his eye color. With these criticisms as impetus, Pecola strives for beauty and tries to solve the material problems in her life. Pecola, however, is not alone; other characters in the book are also heavily influenced by physical goods and propaganda advertising. In The Bluest Eye cultural standards are imposed on the characters by their consumer goods. The narrator, Claudia, realizes from an early age that conformity is rewarded when she receives a doll for Christmas. She doesn't find the prospect of dolls funny, because she has no interest in fake, or real, motherhood. Claudia wants to understand why everyone loves the doll, so she takes it apart. She notes that, "Adults, older girls, stores, magazines, newspapers, signs in the windows – the whole world agreed that a doll with blue eyes, yellow hair and pink skin was what every girl valued " (20). He discovers nothing while dismembering the doll, except his mother's reaction. Most adults see this act of curiosity as a sign that Claudia is not… middle of paper… people will compare themselves to unrealistic body types and hate themselves because they don't have them. Many parents fear that their children will develop eating disorders due to the portrayal of thin people in advertising. According to CNN, eighty percent of ten-year-olds are afraid of gaining weight, and forty-two percent of girls in first through third grade wish they were thinner. Although beauty has changed since the time the book is set in, its message about the dangers of insecurity still resonates today, as beauty is an ever-changing standard. Society expects people to meet this unattainable standard and makes them feel bad when they don't. By highlighting the dangers of insecurity, Morrison brings attention to the self-hatred evoked by an ideal image and inspires readers to fight the unrealistic archetype of beauty..