“This Soil is Bad for Certain Kinds of Flowers:” Racism in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Readers’ Comments on Amazon and Common Sense Media

Abstract

This paper examines racism and its underlying mechanisms in the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and in the comments this novel has received on Amazon and Common Sense Media. It showcases how The Bluest Eye depicts systemic racism realistically and accurately, although the comments discussed in this paper interpret the novel differently. It gives an impression of how racism operates in the novel and in a concrete, real-life situation, namely in these online comment sections. It furthermore explores how discussions about racism are realised online and how a greater awareness of the systemic reality of racism could be achieved on the internet. Feelings of fear, anxiety, and anger, as well as the act of ‘internet-trolling’ are presented as pitfalls to meaningful discussions online, and should be avoided in order to successfully encourage anti-racist behaviour through online interaction.