By Sabrina Over the past year, I embarked on a journey to read more Black authors, specifically reading Black feminist work. In Winter Quarter I was able to take a seminar class on Toni Morrison and focus solely on her work and its major themes. I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to take that course and learn so much valuable information that I decided to share this newfound knowledge as well as encourage people to read these books. While some people were able to read some of these novels in high school, I never got that opportunity and since reading have realized how much I missed out by not reading her sooner. So this is a) an appreciation post for these wonderful books and their equally amazing author, and b) a sign to read them if you haven’t! First some background on who Toni Morrison was. Toni Morrison (1931-2019) Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio on February 18, 1931 and spent her childhood there. She went on to get a Master’s in English Literature and taught as a teacher before becoming the first Black female editor for Random House in New York City in the late 1960s. While working as an editor, Morrison used her position to help get other Black writers published, such as Gayl Jones and Muhammad Ali. Around the same time Morrison became an editor, she started writing herself and later published her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in 1970. She has gone on to write 11 novels in total, including Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), Home (2012), and more; her last published novel was God Save the Child in 2015 and was released 4 years before her death. Her novels revolve around the Black American experience and rejecting the white gaze, leading to criticism and the banning of some of her novels. In 1993, Morrison was fully recognized for her literary talent when she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, along with other awards and honors throughout her literary career. (If you want to know more, I highly recommend watching her documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019) on Amazon or Hulu.) Now about her writing! I was able to read five of her novels and her writing is exquisite, I’m looking forward to reading more so I’m sure any books you read by her will be great. However, I can only speak of the ones I have read, so below is a very brief synopsis and some symbolism that I found powerful to note or track while you read each novel. In addition to her novels, Morrison has also written some short stories and poetry (5 poems here). My personal favorite poem is “Eve Remembering” and is a reimagining of the Christian Original Sin story. I also highly recommend reading the short story “Recitatif” (an ok pdf copy here) which is about the relationship between a Black girl and white girl over the years from childhood to motherhood and tackles ideas of prejudice by utilizing ambiguity. (The quotes used are some of my personal favorite quotes from each novel, although most connect to a larger theme as well.) Her first novel The Bluest Eye tells the story of Pecola, a little Black girl who wishes for blue eyes, and her friendship with Claudia, another little Black girl and the narrator of the story. By framing the story through the perspective of Black girls, Morrison is making a commentary on girlhood and how young expectations of white beauty are thrust onto these children. (TW: this story includes depictions of sexual assault and incest.) Morrison builds on the idea of girlhood by looking at positive childhood friendships in Sula and what happens once those girls become women. Sula follows Nel and Sula’s friendship from girlhood to womanhood, noting the role that death and its impact, the community, and male relationships play in strengthening or weakening their friendship. In Song of Solomon, Morrison switches from a female perspective to a male one, but continues to write using a feminist lens. Song of Solomon follows Milkman as he tries to figure out who he is and find his place in the world, only being able to do so once he journeys South and learns about his family history. The relationships that Milkman has with the women in his life help show his connection to his surroundings and can be used to measure his growth throughout the novel. Morrison switches back to a female perspective in Beloved. The story centers on Sethe’s experiences as an escaped slave and the relationship she has with her daughters, Beloved and Denver. Unfortunately, Beloved was killed as an infant but is able to return as a young woman in the novel, and can be read as a physical manifestation of trauma. The relationship between Denver and the community or outside world is also a subplot worth paying attention to. The novel addresses the abuse that slaves got and the trauma it inflicted on them, while also investigating the power of a mother’s love, especially since female slaves were not typically allowed to actually be mothers. (TW: this story includes depictions of sexual assault and infanticide.) The final book I read was Home and this book was pretty different in style from Morrison’s other works. While the story focuses on Frank, a Black Korean war veteran with PTSD, and his sister Cee, there are multiple perspectives shared and the chapters switch between narration and Frank’s inner thoughts. The story follows Frank and Cee’s hero journeys and is a testament to the power of community as a source of healing. Toni Morrison was a truly gifted writer who was able to bring her characters to life and create a visceral reading experience by getting readers invested and able to feel the events of her novels. Her novels should be taught more often and with the care that they deserve to truly address the meaningful issues discussed within the text. I hope that one of these novels interests you and that by reading you are able to grow your mindset and perspective like I did, while also falling in love with Morrison’s work.
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January 2024
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