Influence of Afro-American Folklore on Toni: There is a great influence of Afro-American Folklore on Toni. The Afro-American Folklore is the basis for Morrison's fiction, as for most Black American Literature. Themes like the quest for identity, freedom, the nature of evil and the powerful verses of the powerless became themes of Afro-American literature. This folklore encapsulates the history of Black and White interaction in the United States and also epitomizes the sentiments expressed in the Protest Literature. In her novels, she goes much deeper into the very roots of racism, sexism, and classism and exposes the ideological basis of these pernicious social evils. Introduction to 'The Bluest Eye': The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of language and boldness of vision. Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain Ohio, it tells the story of black eleven year old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola praised for her eyes to t...