摘 要

《最蓝的眼睛》是托尼·莫里森在1993年获得诺贝尔奖的处女作。小说讲述了美国黑人群体在白人主流文化侵蚀下的悲惨生活。小说的主人公佩科拉的内心扭曲和悲剧性的结局引人深思。自小说问世以来，很多学者从女性主义，种族主义，后殖民主义等多个角度探析白人文化对黑人心灵的冲击。然而，鲜少有学者用心理学视角探析他们的悲剧生活的原因。本来试图用马斯洛需求层次原理解读小说主人公佩科拉自我身份认同的心灵扭曲，并进一步证明其不完全的自我认识注定了自身悲剧性结局。本文首先通过分析佩科拉低级需求的缺失导致她懦弱自卑，对于黑人文化失望。然后通过分析佩科拉高级需求的缺失导致她缺失身份认同感，最终酿成了自身的悲剧。

用马斯洛需求层析原理分析佩科拉的悲剧性结局为研究《最蓝的眼睛》提供了新的视角,加深了对这部作品的理解。同时本文关注满足需求才能促进人的发展。对佩科拉悲剧的研究可以帮助人们更好的了解人类自身需求，从而不断进步。

关键词：佩科拉； 需求层次原理； 身份

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………1

2. Demonstration…………………………………………………………………….2

2.1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs………………………..........................2

2.1.1. The Importance of Theory......................................................…..…………….3

2.1.2. The Theory Applies to The Bluest Eye……………………………………….4

2.2. Deficiency of Lower-order Needs of the Protagonist………………..................5

2.2.1. The Lack of Physiological Needs of Pecola...................................…………..5

2.2.2. The Lack of Safety Needs of Pecola....................………………....................6

2.2.3. The Lack of Love Needs of Pecola…………………………………………...7

2.3. Loss of the Higher-order Needs of the Protagonist ............................................9

2.3.1. The Lack of Esteem Needs of Pecola...............................................................9

2.3.2. The Lack of Self-Actualization Needs of Pecola..............................................11

3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..12

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………....13

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...14

Lack of Identity: An Analysis of the Character of Pecola in The Bluest Eye from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. Introduction

Toni Morrison was a black American woman writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She is the only African-American woman writer to date with the Nobel Prize for Literature. She has a profound influence in today's literary world. Her works are passionate, brief and poetic. Most of her works base on black living in the United States. Morrison creates many popular novels throughout her life, of which the most prestigious work among them is The Bluest Eye. This novel uses a number of points of view to represent the development of the mental state of the girl named Pecola. And she records a series of injuries for white culture. Through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, this thesis interprets the mental distortion of Pecola’s identity, and further proves that her incomplete self-awareness leads to her tragic end.

Scholars at home and abroad have long been discussing The Bluest Eye. Many scholars have conducted lots of researches to analyze the feminism, ethical criticism and structure features. Keith E. Byerman (1990) has analyzed Pecola's tragedy from a cultural point of view as a complaint about the social soil that causes the tragedy of her life. In the thesis “Dangerous Freedom: Fusion and Fragmentation in Toni Morrison’s Novels,” Philip Page (1995) has mentioned that the black people ideologically use a pair of blue eyes to see themselves and the world. Then the soul is distorted and alienated, and the spirit gradually moves towards division and absurdity. His research highlights the consequences of racial discrimination and cultural colonization on black people. Besides, Christian Barbara (1980) has analyzed The Bluest Eye from the aspect of writing skills. The three main structural features of the novel are the contrast between Dick-Jane and the main plot, the season as the main frame of novel and the change of narrative angle.

As for domestic researchers, Zhou Yehan in the thesis “An Analysis of Pecola’s Tragic Fate in The Bluest Eye” has pointed out that it is the family’s influence, the internalized racism, the white’s powerful and the dominant culture that lead to Pecola’s tragic fate. In addition, Gao Lili (2017) has analyzed the difficulty of black women from the feminist perspective. She believes that black women who lose their identities under the dominant white society rooted in their own traditional culture, for only in this way can they maintain the subjectivity in the white supremacist society.

In recent years, more and more people have concerned about the issue of personal psychological health which is caused by deep social pressure in modern society. Therefore, many scholars have attempted to study characters in literary works from the perspective of psychological theories. The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was proposed by Abraham Maslow who was the American psychologist in 1943. A lot of researchers have completed their own essay under the guidance of this theory.

It turns out that many scholars have realized the importance of using this theory to analyze textual figures. Therefore, this article will use the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to analysis of Pecola's self-identity which leads to her tragic fate. We can get the analysis of her lacking needs in this paper. If it can stimulate our readers to ponder on their own needs profoundly and help them find out a reasonable way to meet their lacking in needs and produce good motivations, it will be much better to promote their own and the healthy development of society.

1. Demonstration
   1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow is one of the most popular psychologists of the 20th century. In 1943, he published the paper “The Theory of Human Motivation” which became one of the most popular theories in the world. It is a theory of mental health that aims to prioritize the needs of the innate human and end in self-realization. Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs not only has a profound influence on the field of psychology, but also has been fully reflected in many other fields. His theory is widely accepted.

2.1.1 The Importance of the Theory