“I got blues in my mealbarrel
Blues up on the shelf
I got blues in my mealbarrel
Blues up on the shelf
Blues in my bedroom
‘Cause I’m sleepin’ by myself”
(Morrison 51).
Blues is a reoccurring theme in The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison. The
section above is but one quote of many examples of that musical style. Blues is a form of gospel music derived from
the “deep south” (Google sources). The
characters in The Bluest Eye move to the north in order to find more peace but discover
it is no different than the south.
Morrison includes the reference to the Blues Music in order to convey
that the south is still very present in the characters and brings about the
theme of heritage. No matter what skin
color a person is, everyone has some sort of past or heritage. Heritage is one thing that unites every
person. Lastly, Morrison connected the
theme of blues into the opening of the book.
The story describes a “cat” and “dog” which are actually nicknames that originated
from blues/jazz artists (Blues and Jazz History). Therefore, Morrison uses the blues musical
genre-throughout her novel- in order to serve as a heritage trait from the
south that unites all people: white or black.
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