Black Girlhood Persists: Pecola's Persistence as Non/Child in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye1.

The article examines the persistence of African American girlhood and the rendering of African American girls as non/child in Toni Morrison's novel "The Bluest Eye," with focus on 11-year old Pecola Breedlove. It explores the resistance of African American girls to their systemic adultification that underlies anti-African American violence and their coping mechanisms such as deflection of mature topics and use of make-believe. It discusses Pecola's survival of the conditions of white supremacy.