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In search of Identity
Most of African-American literature appears in the American canon as a literature of revolution and protest against a "white" world of supremacy. Yet many African-American authors have explored, analyzed and criticized "white" supremacy while, at the same time, exploring its affect on African-American life and individuals. In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the main character Pecola becomes a victim of world that enforces definitions of beauty which exclude Pecola and all other "black" individuals for that matter. Also, Morrison beautifully explores the influence of a "white" world on other "black" characters and how those individuals deal or not deal with their personal struggle of "identity" as well as with each other.
As a starting point we should consider James Baldwin's claim that "definition is death." In brief, Baldwin's personal struggles with the question of "identity" lead him to argue that when a social definition is constructed it soon becomes......

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Approximate Word Count: 1521
Approximate Pages: 7 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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