The Bluest Eye Social IssuesWith The Bluest Eye, Morrison has not only created a story, but also a series of painfully precise impressions. As Dee says, “to read the book…is to thirst for the remedy” (20). But Morrison raises painful questions while at the same time managing to reveal the hope and encouragement that lies beneath the surface. A reader could easily conclude that the most important social issue presented in The Bluest Eye is that of racism, but that larger issues lie beneath the surface. . Pecola suffers harm from her abusive and neglectful parents. The reader is told that even Pecola's mother found her ugly from birth. Pecola's negativity may have initially been caused by her family's failure to provide her with identity, love, security, and socialization, all of which are essential to any child's development (Samuels 13). Pecola's parents can only offer her a childhood of limited possibilities. She struggles to find herself in infertile soil, which leads to the analysis of a barren life (13). Like the marigolds planted that year, Pecola never grew. The concept of physical appearance as a virtue is central to the social issues depicted in the novel. Thus, the novel unfolds with the most logical responses to this overwhelming sense of beauty: acceptance, adjustment, and rejection (Samuels 10). Through Pecola Breedlove, Morrison presents his reactions to the value of physical criteria. The standard of beauty that Pecola feels she must respect causes her an identity crisis. Society's norms have no place for Pecola, unlike her "yellow dream child" classmate, Maureen Peals, who fits the mold (Morrison 62). Maureen's influence in the novel is significant. "She delighted the whole school... the black girls would step aside when she wanted to use the sink in the girls' bathroom... She never had to look for someone to eat with in the cafeteria - they flocked to the table of his choice” (62-63). In contrast, Pecola's classmates insult her black skin by chanting “Black e mo Black e mo Ya papa sleeps naked/stch ta ta stch ta ta” (65). The most damaging color-related interracial confrontation involves Pecola and an adult, Geraldine (65). Samuel 12). When Pecola enters Geraldine's house at her son's invitation, Geraldine forces her to leave with deeply hurt words, saying "Get out... You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house."" (92).