Mary Jane

In the novel The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, Pecola goes to the store with three pennies to buy candy. The name of the candy is "Mary Jane" and it serves as a distraction to Pecola's ugly and violent life at home. The candies, which have a picture of a blond-haired, blue-eyed white girl on them, give Pecola a feeling of happiness she has not felt in a while. When humans eat sugar, it causes a rush of dopamine to the brain, a chemical that causes a feeling of euphoria and happiness, and will also cause that person to associate their circumstances with that feeling of happiness. Because Pecola is eating the Mary Janes, she now associates the white, blue eyed girl with happiness, and feels that this is the only way she can be happy. Another reason Morrison may have chosen the candy "Mary Jane", besides the fact that it has a picture of a white girl on the wrapper, is because the phrase "Mary Jane" is often associated with marijuana. Marijuana has the same purpose as the sugar has for Pecola; Marijuana is a drug often used by people to escape their temporary problems or situation, but in the long run, just ends up hurting them. Marijuana also causes the same dopamine influx that sugar causes, which makes the user feel a temporary "high" (sort of like a sugar high). Mary Jane may have also been selected because it even without the picture, the phrase "Mary Jane" invokes the image of a pretty girl. The name Mary Jane has been used to represent feminine and beautiful women many times in the media, from the girlfriend in movies like "Tarzan" or "Spider-man", to the subject of Tom Petty's hit "Last Dance with Mary Jane". All these connotations associated with the simple name "Mary Jane", make a great name for the candy that, while providing a temporary escape from reality, "Three Pennies had bought her nine lovely orgasms with Mary Jane", the happiness is only temporary, because soon, she will go back to hating herself and desiring to have blue eyes (Morrison 50). (Fun fact: orgasms also work by creating a rush of dopamine in your brain, just like the sugar and marijuana)