The bluest eye displays extremely well the toils and pitfalls of being black in 1940's America. Although slavery was abolished at this point, stigma was still in place for being black. The struggle that Pecola faces in the novel is one that can be represented to each and everyone of us in our everyday lives. Beauty is what people are rated on, in today's society, and it is a shame. Being ugly puts you at a disadvantage, portrayed in the novel and life itself.