Vickie answers “What is the meaning of the 'See Jane run'...”

Nakya Butcher asked this question about The Bluest Eye:

What is the meaning of the 'See Jane run' sequences throughout the novel?

Vickie During that time period in the US, public schools used Dick and Jane readers to teach all 1st and 2nd graders. The books showed nothing other than the…moreDuring that time period in the US, public schools used Dick and Jane readers to teach all 1st and 2nd graders. The books showed nothing other than the "typical" American family: financially secure, white (with blue eyes, no doubt), mother, father, sister, brother, dog, cat, all living in a lovely house they surely own. They have toys and friends who play nicely with them. They are a happy family! No cares, no troubles. All is well in the world. When TV came on the scene, families were all depicted in the same way - Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show, etc., the only slight variations being the number and genders of children and inclusion or not of pets.

Yet in 1940, 12% of the US population was not white and the divorce rate was 22%. Nonetheless, in the ubiquitous Dick and Jane series there was never a nod, much less full inclusion, in a single paragraph about or illustration of any kind of family but the one described above. Dolls were all white, too.

So, to answer your question, I believe Morrison included the first perfectly written, sample of a Dick and Jane reader to show what the supposed typical American family looked like and what was presented day after day to millions and millions of students, many of whom could not relate at all. In fact, I guarantee you, the vast majority of all those kids were gettin whooped at home. Immediately following the first, perfect Dick and Jane sample, the same words are strung together in a smaller font without punctuation. That, in turn, is followed by the same words in a tiny font, again without punctuation, but also without spaces between words. The rest of the examples in the story are much like the third one, with one addition: words are simply cut off when the line ends, leaving them dangling. I believe the third example and all the subsequent ones represent the differences between the supposed real world and the world of the characters living in Loraine. Life there is not the American norm. Instead, it's chaotic, jumbled, hard to understand, confusing, difficult, unexpected, unreliable, disappointing. And yet, some of the basic elements are the same: there are mothers and fathers and children and a dog. They just don't live together, or if they do, they are a dysfunctional unit that eventually falls apart. There are houses, too, but unlike the lovely one Dick and Jane live in, the people of Loraine are lucky if they have a small, run-down house to rent from a white person.

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