Toni Morrison Themes

This poignant story takes place in the states of Ohio and Kentucky, in the late 19th century before, during and after the civil war. This novel is based on a controversial subject: the plight of blacks in the United States since the end of slavery, which still remains a sensitive topic even today due to the existing inequalities. On the narrative level, Morrison tries to restore the voice of victims by giving them a folkloric dimension, bringing them closer to their true roots. Toni’s writing style is often epic, rhythmic, leaving the reader breathless and holding him or her spellbound. She gives credibility to her characters, allowing them to assert by offering them the opportunity to speak in some trivial way, the least popular and stripped

In psychology, identity is the awareness that an individual has of oneself and by the recognition of others, of what that individual is as well as of his or her ego. It allows the individual to perceive what is unique about him or her, that is to say, his or her individuality. The characters are the heir of several generations of slaves. They just gained their freedom while their ancestors were the property of someone else: the slave masters. Sethe was nineteen years old when she escapes from Bon Abri and Paul D just a few years older. What were, therefore, the objects of self-identification while families were separated and the slaves treated like animals? Toni Morrison presents the character of Seth, who as a slave had already lost her status of an individual. Despite the goodness of her masters, the Garners, Sethe is just a woman among the other slaves to white people. To blacks, she is part of the community. She, therefore finds herself at the border line of anonymity and esteem. If Toni Morrison decided to present the character of Sethe to the reader because she represents well what the black community is: always oscillating between identity and anonymity. How to establish this identity while being a slave,

Paul D. Garner, Paul A., Paul F., No. Six, therefore had nothing, not even the sense of belonging to a particular family or a particular region. The names chosen by Morrison have a meaning. She offers the reader wittiness in the absurd with grotesque names to represent slavery along with the loss of identity experienced by the black community in which the ex-slaves indulge themselves in a way. They were given names that they could not identify with, including the fact that they were deprived of owning a full name like the whites. Concerning the white character one is distinct. School Teacher is noticeable by his name and what he personifies. The other whites have typical names. The purpose of the author here is to induce the reader to overlook the one with common names and focalize on School Teacher. Despite a short appearance in the novel, School Teacher is the reason behind the pain afflicted to Sethe. He is the only white who is not identified by a first and last name, but by a nickname instead. Through that, he represents the authority over the black people of that time and what white people were to black: their “teachers” who set the