Prejudice in "A Mercy"

John Perry Barlow once said, “Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonwealth, our governance will emerge.” To me this quote means that race is an imaginary thing, and that there are no physical differences between any two people who are of different race. The only thing that is different between the two people is what they have learned, what they accomplished and what their interests are as individuals. Throughout history the issues between race, gender, and religion have always been seen as a social issue that has created great conflict between people. This topic is prevalent in Toni Morrison’s novel, A Mercy, which is set in the 17th century. The various voices in this novel show how conflict is stirred with the social issues dealing in that century.

It has been said that there is a physical differences in between the blacks and whites, due to their skin color. In Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (264), “deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites… [who] only see the distinctions which nature has made.” The difference in color caused the formation of “parties, and [produced] convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.” With this notion created by the white race, controversy and racism was created.

Slavery has always been a difficult topic to talk about throughout the centuries’. The issue of race has always been associated with slavery. Ever since the begging of time, slavery and indentured servitude has been seen with a various amount of ethnicities. In the novel we meet Florens, a slave that Mr. Jacob Vaark accepts as a paymen...

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...fter Rebekkah is very depressed and lonely. Within the novel Christians are also portrayed in a different way. Lina, who is Christian, is churchgoing and still bathes everyday despite what usual Christians do. In the end Lina’s religious views helps out Rebekkah. With such tension dealing with religion it is hard for one to have any freedom without being judged.

The differences’ and conflicts between the color of ones skin, being someone’s property, roles of men and women, and the emergence of religion are all present within the novel A Mercy, by Toni Morrison. It has been said that, “Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonwealth, our governance will emerge.” With this quote being proven has resulted in the changes of others in a positive way.