"Two Kinds" "TBE" "Miss Amer" One person can changing themselves or the people around them due to the pressure of society's interests and expectations. In Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye", Amy Tan's "Two Kinds", and Julia Alvarez's "I Want To Be Miss America", the main idea of society's ills is constantly mentioned and explored. In "The Bluest Eye", Pecola longed for acceptance, but in the long run her interactions with people, such as Maureen and Junior, and the idea of beauty negatively affected her self-esteem, thus degrading her idea of self-worth. Similarly, in "Two Kinds", Jing-mei Woo did not want to disappoint her mother and be a failure as her mother came to America for opportunity and to lead a better life. However, when she met Waverly, she realized what society expected of her, and knowing that it was difficult for her to meet those expectations further degraded her self-esteem. Finally, in contrast, “I Want to Be Miss America,” shows how the idea of beauty can negatively affect one's self-esteem as self-doubt can come into play. Therefore, the main character's interaction with other people and ideas negatively affects the main character's self-esteem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayIn "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, the main character and protagonist, Pecola Breedlove, is an eleven-year-old girl who has suffered two traumatic rapes as she is abused by almost everyone in the book. Trying to change her perspective on life, Pecola thinks that having light skin and blue eyes will give her a different perspective on life as she feels that being African American brings nothing but bad luck to one's life. Pecola's interaction with the people around her and her ideas had detrimental effects on her self-esteem by decreasing her self-worth after she was raped by her father. On page 63, Maureen Peal is introduced as she has and addresses interactions with Pecola, and as they develop an argument through Maureen asking the question, "Have you ever seen a naked man?" (Page 71). In self-defense, Pecola responded by saying, “No one's father would be naked in front of his own daughter. Pecola, at this point, has begun to regain vivid, descriptive details of her rape and the amount of shame that comes with it. When an argument began to arise between Maureen and Frieda about Maureen being crazy about naked boys, Pecola began to have a nervous breakdown and denied having ever seen her father naked. Unfortunately this led to “Pecola tilting her head in a funny, sad, helpless motion” (Page 72). Furthermore, not only does Maureen belittle Pecola, but she also belittles Junior. Junior invites Pecola to his house, saying there are kittens and being amazed to be able to pet them “He held the door open for her, smiling with encouragement” (Page 89). While he was giving the kitten to Pecola, he threw it in her face leaving a scar on her face and as Pecola tries to leave, Junior says that she is his prisoner. Geraldine calls Pecola a “bad little black bitch” (Page 92). By judging her and touching on a sensitive topic for Pecola, her skin color, Geraldine lowers Pecola's self-esteem and as a result she wants to fit in more with society, having blonde hair and blue eyes and light skin as she believes she can change. his reality or the current situations he finds himself in. Similarly, in Amy Tan's "Two Kinds", the narrator and main character Jing-mei Woo, recently.
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