Analysis Of The Book ' By Toni Morrison

of four children to George and Ramah Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, USA.

Davon Johnson English III 4/14/2015 Mr. Thomas Sula paper Toni Morrison is an American novelist and a famous African American writer. Her novels are known for their great themes, clear dialogue, and highly detailed characters. Toni Morrison is very symbolic when it comes to her works, and she uses symbols generously to convey meanings that add more depth to her novels. Morrison is generally contingent on symbols and makes them very obvious for the reader to point out.

In all of Toni Morrison’s writing, race is a present theme. In “Recitatif,” she challenges the reader to question what they see as actions commonly done by one race. She accomplishes this by giving Twyla and Roberta stereotypical traits from both races in her story. For example, when their mothers come to visit St. Bonny’s, Roberta’s mother is portrayed as physically large, as well as by the religious symbols she carries. In contrast, when the two characters meet again, the racial stereotypes have been flipped. Morrison states, “I was dying to know what happened to her, how she [Roberta] got from Jimi Hendrix to Annandale, a neighborhood full of doctors and IBM executives. Easy, I thought. Everything is so easy for them” (9). The whole story

Halloween, for many, is the best time of year. For some, it’s because of the free candy. But for people like me, it’s the power to express my creative, childhood imaginations and morph into any character for a day. But why can’t I become someone else forever, especially if it would make me happier? For Sula Peace and Nel Wright, in Sula, defining oneself in a pool of racism and varying moral standards is by no means challenging. Through a vivid and consistent emphasis of color and physical appearance, author Toni Morrison effectively outlines Sula and Nel’s attempts to comprehend and create their personal identities separate from the own mothers’ influences. Based on their situations, it appears that anyone can easily alter their character and self to fit their desires. However, Morrison ultimately emphasizes that one does not have complete control over their identity because of overwhelming familial and sociological barriers.

The slave era of the 17th century forced blacks to be in the lower class of the economic scale. This is due to slavery being created for white elites to have black men work for them without pay. Because slaves are not paid and are constantly under systematic oppression, they do not have the opportunity to gain power and oppose black stereotypes. Black males are automatically labeled as inferior since whites control the lives of the black men. Class status dictates the concept of black masculinity as inferior to white, since wealthy men tend to have more power and are providers; while the roles of lowerclassmen are uneducated and lethargic. In 1977 Toni Morrison creates characters of the Dead family in her novel Song of Solomon to explain

In Jazz, Toni Morrison travels through the mindset of Joe Trace, the neighborhood “good guy,” which everyone loves and adores because of his mannerisms and character. Living in a less than satisfactory marriage, Joe decided to cheat on his wife in the pursuit of his own happiness. Joe has put up with Violets unstable mindset and unreceptive behavior for years to the extent where he no longer benefits from their relationship. He justifies his cheating because he is “still taking care of her” (47). Because Joe still lives with Violet, he is her sole caregiver, while also paying the bills and keeping her safe. As a result of him still taking care of his wife, he does not see cheating on her as a problem. This brings to light the moral question of how could a man, so perfect and innocent, who “likes women...I don’t mean he flirts with them, I mean he likes them without that” (206) cheat on his wife. With the only justification being that he is “still taking care of her” (47).

The slave era of the 17th century forced blacks to be in the lower class of the economic scale. This is due to slavery being created for white elites to have black men work for them without pay. Because slaves are not paid and are constantly under systematic oppression, they do not have the opportunity to gain power and oppose black stereotypes. Black males are automatically labeled as inferior since whites control the lives of the black men. Class status dictates the concept of black masculinity as inferior to white, since wealthy men tend to have more power and are providers; while the roles of lowerclassmen are uneducated and lethargic. In 1977 Toni Morrison creates characters of the Dead family in her novel Song of Solomon to explain that the different levels of class status further enhances prejudice and competition between black men. Toni Morrison’s critique on black masculinity is that an equal economic level must be formed between black and white communities to eliminate systematic racism and stereotypes against black men.

Toni Morrison once said, “In this Country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” In the novel Black No More, by George S, Schuyler, the main character Max lives in Harlem, New York as an American citizen during the renaissance period, but he doesn’t feel as though he belongs. It wasn’t until max receives a transformation to become white, that he feels like he is a man who can play an important role in society. Max is living in a whole new world now, one that if full of wealth, power, and acceptance. He no longer has to feel like a burden on society due to the fact that he’s now white. This was seen as the only true definition of an “American.” As Max’s transformation takes place, one can see the oppression

Through place and time, there are those who find themselves questioning. For there are choices and risks in every relationship. There are good and evil in each and everyone. In this time it is the 1900s set in Medallion, Ohio. Toni Morrison 's Sula takes readers on a journey through pillars, betrayals and tragedies surrounding two girls; Nel Wright and Sula Peace.

Before she was seasons, imprisonment, reincarnation, or tragedy, Persephone was curious. Like the rest of her fellow maidens, flowers intrigued her, delighted her, caused her to be temporarily suspended from reality as they clung to her desire. While they represented beauty for her, they were an accessory to manipulation for Zeus and Hades. Employing the flowers’ mesmerizing qualities, they exploited Persephone’s personal need to fill her basket. The flowers clouded her thoughts long enough for her to be captured by Zeus as she reached for their beautiful buds. It was in Persephone's curiosities, those tendencies to consume what drove her search for satisfaction that led to the danger that befell her. In the story Beloved, desire limits the

Perception is everything. People never know what is going on with the other race or side. In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” she brings up racism and the societal normal. She never reveals race of either of the girls in this story. Never knowing the race of the girls other than they are two different races so how one race never knows that the other is thinking about or where they are coming from. In this story two girls meet and become friends and go separate directions. They continue to meet throughout their lives and try to rekindle the childhood friendship as adults. In this story two girls from very different back grounds and different races become fast friends. This shows how children do not know the differences or the color lines that society has put into place. As children gender, race, and religion is never an issue. Racism is something that society has created. Society has made racism one of the main barriers throughout the world. In the story the two girls are friends and live in a group home. The girls were witnesses to some bad things carried out by the older girls in the home. They end up separating and going different ways in life. When they meet up later while rekindling their relationship begin to reminisce about their childhood. They come to find out that their perception and memories do not exactly match up. The way things are perceived can change an outlook on life, after finding out how others see the same situation it might change who you are and what you

Morrison takes experiences and characteristics, such as violence, love, family, hatred, race, beauty and ugliness and illustrates them in a way that is clear, but painful. These experiences are not toned down to seem less serious; they are heart breaking parts of life that are illustrated truthfully. To expose the harsh life lived by many, Morrison creates strong relatable characters. These characters create a need for empathy towards them, but the purpose is to take this love to traumatic victims in the real world. Morrison’s use of narrator change and choice of language gives the novel impactful perspective to the lives of african americans in a society where the color of your skin determines who you are.

Any mother could say that their most redeeming quality is their children. Often, children save their mother’s emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. This facet of motherhood is a very important motif in both Morrison and Faulkner’s stories. In Beloved, the reader is presented with a sad and depressed portrait of Sethe. Her life seems dark and bleak. However, once Beloved enters into her life, the reader sees an apparent shift in Sethe as a character. She begins to see color again, and it is Beloved who brings about this sudden transformation (Beloved, 65). And in the end, after Beloved has left, Sethe states, “She was my best thing” (321). Beloved was her redeeming quality, her best thing. Similarly, Addie tells Cora that Jewel will be her salvation. “He is my cross and he will be my salvation. He will save me from the water and from the fire. Even though I have laid down my life, he will save me” (As I Lay Dying, 168). As I Lay Dying builds upon this motif of salvation that the reader sees in this scene. In both novels, the children play the role of the mothers’ saving grace. The color change, signifying Sethe’s transformation, helps the reader understand what Addie means when she states that Jewel will be her salvation. Through color, the reader sees Beloved save her mother, as she transforms her mother’s bleak world into one of exponential love and joy. Likewise, Jewel’s transformation into a man saves Addie because she finds contentment in knowing that her child

In modern society, women continue to be victimized by an illusory culture that offers the affectation of equality and hope but a reality of gender inequality. The little acts of chivalry conducted by men are just prolonged sugary illusions meant to hide the unpleasant truth of women and their strained relationship with the media 's’ perception of beauty. Many women who are subjected to society 's’ views of beauty often aim to convert to theses said beauty standards. This desire can, at many times, become unhealthy and lead to problems such as anorexia, bulimia, and self-hate. There is clearly a need for re-self-identification within the Black female community. With focus on self-hate one can see that this problem particularly becomes apparent in African American communities, author Toni Morrison in her novel The Bluest Eye not only highlights this self-hated within the Black community but also displays an urgent need for feminism within the black community, through her characterization of Pecola, and Claudia. One indication of Morrison’s intentions is her creation of Pecola as an African American female character who apparently think that she is worthless, as she does not fit society 's strict beauty standards of being white and or fair skinned. Secondly, Morrison portrays the narrator Claudia as a strong African-American female with an aversion to the beauty myths of her society. However, Morrison exposes Claudia fighting feelings of anger and self-hate towards not only

Beloved by Toni Morrison opens in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1873 set in the Reconstruction era of American history. Sethe eighteen years ago escaped slavery with her children to live with her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, in a house on 124 Bluestone Road often referred to simply as 124. The novel unfolds on two different time periods, that of Sethe’s time at Sweet Home plantation as a slave and that of the present. Her qualities of motherhood have overtaken Sethe’s life and have driven away her two sons, left with her only surviving daughter, Denver. A ghost of her evidentially daughter, Beloved, haunts the house out of grief. Sethe considered death better than a life of slavery for her children, and Beloved then killed as result of this belief.