Identity—Reconstruction of African American Females in Toni Morrison’s Trilogy

ZHU Xiao-li

【Abstract】Morrisons trilogy， Beloved， Jazz and Paradise， represents black womens traumatic life experience and reveals the significance of sisterhood to black womens identity-reconstruction.Then it explores the respective representation of sisterhood in Morrisons trilogy and points out black females can help and respect each other to reconstruct their identity in sisterhood.Also， their quest for self-identity brings vitality to all African Americans identity-reconstruction.

【Key words】Toni Morrison； trilogy； black females； identity-reconstruction； sisterhood

1 Introduction

As the first black woman writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993， Toni Morrison achieves the highest literature praise in her nine novels， among which Beloved， Jazz and Paradise form a trilogy as a unity by depicting African Americans life experiences.During their quest for identity， black women are always confused about three specific questions： who am I？ Where am I from and where will I go？ To resolve these questions， they should understand that “identity” is constructing and closely related to history， race， gender and so on.Stuck in a “genderized， sexualized， wholly racialized world” [5]4， black womens identity-reconstruction in sisterhood are urgent and significant.

2 Traumas which black females underwent in Beloved， Jazz and Paradise

As the most marginalized group in white-dominated America， black women are tortured by the whites and even black men so painfully that they lose their black voice so long.Thus， to reconstruct their subjectivity and identity， black women are forced to look back on their unspeakable past.

2.1 Three generations of black women in Beloved

Baby Suggs， a representative of the first generation， luckily gets ten years of freedom after sixty years of life under slavery.As a slave， she is randomly raped， and bear eight children.Unluckily， all of them are ripped away from her by the whites except Halle.Enslaved by slavery for sixty years， Baby Suggs is finally reduced to be a prey of slave life， “because slave life had ‘busted her legs， back， head， eyes， hands， kidneys， womb and tongue， ” [2]87.

Sethe， a representative of the second generation， is another slave and Baby Suggs daughter-in-law.At “Sweet Home”， “Schoolteacher” treats all the slaves so cruelly that Sethe decides to escape.But a few days after she arrives at No.124， “Schoolteacher” follows her trail and came there.To prevent her children from being the slaves again， Sethe commits the crime of infanticide.

Denver is the representative of the third generation.Unlike her mother Sethe， Denver grows up as a freeman but is also isolated by the black community.After hearing Sethes crime， Denver turns deaf unexpectedly for a long time.She feels painful because she struggles in the conflict between her desire to know about the black history and her resistance to face up to the cruel reality.After Beloved comes， she regards her as the ghost of her dead sister.Feeling so guilty to Beloved for her mother， she spares no efforts to take care of the ghost and even loses her self-identity.

2.2 Three images of black women in Jazz

As a traditional black female， Alice becomes meekly submits to oppression.To stay away from outside danger and violence， she isolates herself from the social news about current events.Facing her husbands betrayal， she only cuts and burns his clothes and shoes to show her anger instead of revenging on him.

Voilet is another diligent traditional black woman.After she moves to the Harlem with Joe， she struggles between her desire to a baby and her fear to racial oppression， which makes her split in personality.Because of her husbands betray， she even rushes to cut through the dead girls face with a knife.

Dorcas is anti-traditional， radical but self-sacrificed.Her trauma makes her betray the traditions by falling in love with old Joe and violates the traditional values bravely.But with the passion fading away， she continues to love someone else.Unluckily， Joe is so angry with her betray that he shoots her at a party.Before her death， she still doesnt regret for her radical choice.Her tragedy reveals that a single black woman cant step out of the long-term oppression.

2.3 Black Females in Paradise

In Paradise， two different “paradises”： the Convent and the Ruby develop parallelly.In Convent， five women with different skins come one after another from outside world except Consolata.Unlike Convent women， all Ruby women have black skin and are confined but partly independent.Influenced by the active Convent women， Ruby women realize the oppression of patriarchy and start to rebel against men partly.Arnettes whole life is also arranged and controlled by her father.Even after she is pregnant， she has no rights to make her own choice.Discriminated by other black people because of her light-skinned color， Patricia chooses to marry Billy Cato with the midnight skin in order to remove her humiliation.

3 Black womens identity-reconstruction in sisterhood in Beloved， Jazz and Paradise

Just as Collins mentions： “Women talk to one another， and their friendships with other women—mothers， sisters， grandmothers， friends， lovers—are vital to their growth and well-being” [1]104.Morrison uses the theme of sisterhood beyond skin to thread all her novels together.

3.1 Sisterhood in Beloved： A Common Fate Bonds

In Beloved， a common fate units them， be it black or white， together in sisterhood to reconstruct their identity.Sethe is a slave running away from the slavery， while Amy is an enslaved white servant escaping to Boston.The similar tragic fate makes Amy spare no efforts to help Sethe survive.Then with a black woman Ellas help， she arrives at 124 Bluestone Road where Baby Suggs gives her maternal care.Under Baby Suggs encouragement， Sethe reunites with other blacks in healing.Later， to save her family from starvation， Denver gets unselfish help from the neighboring black women.When the ghost threats Sethes life， thirty black women gather and sing together to help Sethe.It is a common miserable fate that makes them change their prejudices to Sethe.Finally， all black women succeed in going into “some kind of tomorrow” [2]273 that they desire for all the time.

3.2 Sisterhood in Jazz： Voicing and Healing

In Jazz， Voilet and Alice unit in sisterly love while speaking out their unspeakable trauma bravely.Voilet speaks out her female voice bravely by visiting and talking with Alice about her own experience and even the young girls past life.The same trauma makes Alice feel sympathetic to Voilet and mend Voilets cracked sleeve like a true mother， which symbolizes that she mends the cracks in Voilets mind.With the sisterly love， Voilet discards her insane self and forgives Dorcas.Alice chooses to sing a blues song with Voilet when they talk about their love and loss.By talking and singing， Alice understands Violets violence and learns to face up to her painful life properly.Thus， it is through communications in sisterly love that Alice and Voilet finally reclaim their female subjectivity as black women in Alices apartment， a healing space.

3.3 Sisterhood in Paradise： Love across the Color-line

In Paradise， guided by Consolata， five Convent women try on a therapy by sharing respective trauma in sisterhood while they lie naked on the cold floor and do their “loud dreaming” [4]264， which makes them recognize their self-values in collective healing.By contrast， Ruby women ask Convent women for help as an attempt to get their voices back.When Soane seeks support from them， they give her genuine caring.Arnette comes into the Convent because she is pregnant.Mavis and Grace even “drove off to shop for the expected newborn” [4]249.In return， when overhearing Ruby mens evil plan， Soane drives to warn Convent women.It is the sisterhood across the color-line that units all women together to love themselves， love each other and love in community.

4 Conclusion

Suffered a threefold oppression from racism， sexism and class prejudices， all black women desire urgently to step from the marginalization into the center.Morrison shows great concern to her black sisters outlet and points out that the effective way to reconstruct their identity is to step out of their isolated home into the black community where they can get the healing power from sisters beyond race.Most importantly， their quest for identity not only brings vitality to all African Americans but also helps to build up the harmonious relationship between black people and white people.

References：

[1]Collins，Patricia Hill.Black Feminist Thought： Knowledge， Consciousness，andthe Politics of Empowerment.New York： Routledge，1991.

[2]Morrison，Toni.Beloved[Z].Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.

[3]Morrison，Toni.Jazz [M].New York： Plume，1992.

[4]Morrison，Toni.Paradise[M].London： Vintage Random House，1999.

[5]Morrison，Toni.Playing in the Dark： Whiteness and the Literary Imagination.New York： Vintage Books，1993.

【基金项目】盐城师范学院人文社科研究项目“托尼·莫里森《宠儿》、《爵士乐》、《天堂》三部曲中的非裔身份认同研究”（14YCKW018）。

作者简介：朱晓丽（1979—），女，江苏盐城人，盐城师范学院外国语学院讲师，文学硕士，研究方向为英美文学、少数族裔文学。