...November 29th, 2013 Strangers and how we perceive them. I was appalled by the sight of a young girl, malnourished, dirty, in torn cloths crying and begging for money on Ahmedabad Street in India. Just as I reached for my purse to give her some money, my host, Dr. Dalal pushed me aside, gestured me inside our parked car, locked the doors and exclaimed “I should have warned you! Haven’t you seen the movie “Slumdog Millionaire?” I was left shaking, words cannot describe the horror I felt for not helping out a poor desolate child. How could this helpless child be a victim of an organized crime of self-made beggars? To answer this question would be an essay in itself, however, I describe this, as one of many etched incidences in my life to illustrate that I misrecognized the beggar and was influenced by someone else’s preconceived stereotype image of “other, a stranger described as a beggar” that was different then us. The notion of “other and misrecognition” is described in Toni Morrison’s essay “Strangers” (1998) when she explores this concept by depicting a stranger as an image of a bizarre fisherwomen dressed in men’s clothing; while Brent Staples portrays his own image as a stranger and depicts how he is perceived as a threat to others in his essay “Black Men and Public Space” (1986). Although both Morrison and Staples offer differing accounts of their experiences and feelings, they both share the same vision, the correlation between “how we see strangers” versus “how we are...
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...Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Realistic Saga of Black Female Slavery by Vaseem G Qureshi Margaret Atwood in The New York Times Book Review says about The Beloved by Toni Morrison as thus: In the book, the other world exists and magic works, and the prose is up to it. If you can believe page one – and Ms Morrison’s verbal authority compels belief – you’re hooked on the rest of the book. (Atwood, 1993, 35) Toni Morrison’s fifth novel, Beloved (1987) explores the degradation imposed upon all African slaves of America. The novel is about matrilineal ancestry and the relationships among enslaved, freed, alive and dead mothers and daughters. The text is so grounded in historical reality that it could be used to teach American history classes. The protagonist of the novel, Sethe’s character is based on a factual slave woman Margaret Garner in an exaggerated way. For Random House project, The Black Book (1974), “scrap book” of three hundred years of the folk journey of Black America, Morrison had to gather details for the text. A fugitive from Kentucky, Garner attempted to kill her children rather than having them re-enslaved when they were all captured in Ohio in 1850. She succeeded in killing only one, however, whose throat she slashed. Acknowledging that she had indeed conducted research while writing Beloved, Morrison told Martha Darling: I did research about a lot of things in this book in order to narrow it, to make it narrow and deep, but I did not do much research on Margaret...
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...Jimmeria Jones Professor Jenkins English 1102 December 9, 2008 Beloved: Memories, Manifestation, and Malice “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water” …“nobody saw her emerge or came accidentally by” (53). In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Beloved appears out of nowhere like a lost soul stumbling and stammering until she made her way to her predisposed destination the property of I24. The moment that Sethe see’s Beloved her bladder fills to capacity, “She never made the outhouse. Right in front of the door she had to lift her skirts, and the water she voided was endless” (54). This to me symbolized a woman’s water breaking before she gives birth; it is evident to me that Beloved is a manifestation and representation of Sethe’s inner most thoughts, feelings, secrets, and past traumatic experiences and Beloved has returned to shed light on Sethe’s past, present, and future self through painful memories. In a conversation about Beloved Morrison states, “she is a spirit on one hand, literally she is what sethe thinks she is, her child returned to her from the dead” (Darling 247). Sethe feels immediately drawn to Beloved after she states her name; “Sethe was deeply touched by her sweet name; the remembrance of glittering headstone made her feel especially kindly toward her” (56). There are...
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...Bildungsroman of Milkman Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, is a brilliant synthesis of a mythic journey, family drama and story of origin. This is the story of Macon Milkman Dead, heir to the richest black family in a Midwestern town, as he makes a voyage of rediscovery, travelling southwards geographically and inwards spiritually. Morrison’s narrative rendering of the black community along with her protagonist problematic relationship with himself, his family, and that community all lend them-selves to the very definition of a classic bildungsroman tale; though it is so much richer and fuller than anything that word could connote. A bildungsroman can be defined as “a class of novel that deals with the coming-of-age or formative years of an individual”. Furthermore, in a bildungsroman, a main protagonist usually undergoes some transformation after seeking truth or philosophical enlightenment. In Morrison’s novel, the plot follows the main protagonist Milkman as he matures within his community while developing relationships with others and discovering his individual identity. The symbolism of flying is very relevant to issues of identity. Milkman struggles to break away from dependence of Macon II is really the main struggle throughout the novel on an individual level. As he tries to break away and reach his full potential, he is able to fly at Guitar. He does not do this alone however, through all of the differing point of views, Morrison and her characters guide Milkman onto the...
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...1 Literature concerning the lives of African Americans during and after slavery explores the many horrific acts of violence. Violence manifests itself in people both physically and psychologically. Physical wounds may heal over time, but it is the emotional scarring that begins to take a toll on the human mind. The novel, Beloved, by Toni Morrison revolves around the character of Sethe, an African American woman who recently escaped from a slave plantation. Sethe's home on 124 Bluestone Road is haunted by her daughter, Beloved, whom Sethe murdered in order to keep her from the life of slavery. Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, explores both the uses and effects of violence through multiple characters. The character of Paul D is left traumatized from his days as a slave. The violence that Paul D endured leaves him only with fear, believing that revealing too much will bring him back into a past from which he may never escape. This is evident in Chapter 7, when Paul D recalls the painful memories of his days as a slave with Sethe, “Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from. He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut” (Beloved). Both Sethe and Paul D avoid having to deal with the past by repressing the memories of their days as slaves. The effects of violence have ultimately left Paul D with no other choice but to use this destructive coping mechanism. Paul...
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...Research Paper #2 Chloe Ardelia Wofford, most commonly known as Toni Morrison, is an American novelist and professor. She was born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio. She is the second child among her sister and two younger brothers. She came from a black working-class family that took pride in their heritage. As a child, Morrison enjoyed literature, unlike most children. She had a variety of favorite authors such as Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. She later on attended an integrated school with Europeans, Mexicans and Southern blacks. Since she adored literature, she was the only black student in her first grade class who could read. She maintained excellent grades and graduated with honors from Lorain High School in 1949. Wofford continued her education at Howard University, where she majored in English with a minor in classics. During this time, she alternated her name to Toni, since most people had difficulty pronouncing her original name. In the years she spent at Howard, Toni participated in a repertory company and graduated in 1953; more over, she later on attended Cornell University and achieved her master's degree in 1955. Wofford taught introductory English at Texas Southern University in Houston. A year or so later she met Harold Morrison, a Jamaican architect. The two ended up falling in love and eloped in 1958. They had their first son in 1961, who was named Harold Ford. Although, she was suffering from an unhappy marriage because she felt that her husband...
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...Kaavya Viswanathan was offered a two book deal with Alloy and a one movie deal with DreamWorks worth $500,000 and in 2006 Kaavya Viswanathan wrote and released a book titled “How Opal Mehta Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life”. A few weeks after it was released by Alloy it was discovered that she plagiarized several different authors. A few of the authors that she took portions of her work from and the books that they were from are Megan F. McCafferty “Sloppy First”, “Second Helpings”, Toni Morrison “The Bluest Eye” and Tanuja Desai Hidier “Born Confused” (Zhou, 2006) (Dave, 2006). After the plagiarism was discovered her books were taken off the shelves and she lost the contract for the movie. At the time this took place Kaavya Viswanathan was a student at Harvard University, the academic board met to go over the case and they determined that because it was not academic plagiarism that she would not be punished by the school, however she did take a leave of absence from school until all aspects of the case was settled (Dave, 2006). Plagiarism is when someone copies another’s work verbatim and puts their name on it taking full ownership of the work (iParadigms, LLC, 2013). Paraphrasing is also considered to be plagiarism if it is not cited giving credit to the original author of the work. There are a couple ways that someone could mistakenly plagiarize their work. The first is if the person does not know when or how to cite the source from where they got the words from whether it...
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...Jazz This was a very interesting piece of work by Toni Morrison. I have read other works of Morrison’s and she has a way of writing that can’t be only captured in one point of view or perspective in my opinion. There is always this underlying metaphor or meaning that isn’t recognizable from first glance. In Jazz I feel that there are two things that are the major overtones of the novel. The first is the different affects and types of desires and the other would be the comparisons that can be made back to jazz music. First I want to touch on her concepts of desire. Morrison is theorizing the nature of desire; particularly African American females desire (Cannon, 235). The desires of the two main characters in the novel are what give the story its flare and captivity of the reader. The first example would be the husband Joe. He gets caught up in a love triangle with his wife Violet and mistress eighteen year old Dorcas. First was his going and seeking out Dorcas and having found that sexual desire he yearned for he then kills her to “keep the feeling going” (Cannon, 235). This is what brings Violet’s emotions to light. With her finding out about her husband’s disloyalty drives her into an instant state of anger and depression. Initially Violet only understands sexual desire and that becomes confusing upon the finding of her husband’s doings. Now that everything is in the open her sexual desires then start to manifest into jealous rage. Her first outburst of this jealous rage...
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...and gender that have left individuals and communities alike subjugated and isolated. Toni Morrison, through her fictional novel Song of Solomon, tackles the desire for belonging that so many faced during the oppressive 1960s. Appeals to equal rights for African Americans were met with hateful discrimination and bloody discourse—ultimately dividing people from within groups. But Morrison pushes her discussion beyond just the confines of racism to the treatment of black women in society; the tyrannical repression they faced. Throughout Song of Solomon, a reoccurring theme of dependence and abandonment of women presides. Toni Morrison exploits women’s belonging to men and yet, also, their burdens for men’s freedom. In order to conquer the quest of the novel, the main character must recognize and overcome such female injustices. Foundational to the their societal repression, black women suffered not only from racial segregation but the social obligations to men, children, and their community. Women were the guardian of the family in the 1960s, and lacked the free-will retained by men. The man they married, the structure he created, defined a woman. Song of Solomon directly touches on the heavy racism circling the times. Milkman and Guitar actively talk about racism and the cruelty of the white “nonhumans.” The Seven Days group react to racist violence of whites with equivalent acts. But Morrison is not as direct with her comment on the despot that is men. This discussion, however...
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...Often, in some stories, authors give their characters pasts which prominently affect their present lives and behaviors. This is true in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel “The Secret Life of Bees” as the protagonist Lily Owens is haunted and motivated by the memory of how she killed her own mother at age four. Kidd uses this one event to lay way too many important plot points and give the piece meaning as a whole. In Lily’s memory she is four years old and caught in between a spur of the moment argument between her parents when her mother, Deborah, produces a gun. When the gun gets knocked from her mother's hand Lily scrambles to grab it, and the rest is history. As Lily says herself, “She was all I wanted. And I took her away” (Pg.8). One of the main motifs of the story, motherhood, is dependent on this one event. Deborah’s death leads Lily to leave her home town of Sylvan for Tiburon on a journey to find the truth where she unexpectedly finds a home and motherly love from those that she meets there. These discoveries of Lily’s center the novel around the idea of motherly love being the comfort and support you get from those who really care about you, and that which allows you to find strength within yourself, “ “You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside.”” (pg.288). This quote further proves Sue Monk Kidd’s idea that a mother can come in many different shapes or forms. The way that...
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...A family. One tight-knit, nuclear family who understands each other’s intricate personalities and complex backgrounds. This was the shadow that Sethe spotted on her way to the carnival that reeked of rotting roses. This is the shadow that represents her, Paul D, and Denver’s past, present, and future. This shadow embodies Sethe, Denver, and Paul D’s past because it represents the outline of a happy family that none of these characters previously possessed but so badly desired. Sethe fell in love and bewedded Halle while under the ownership of “schoolteacher”, their harsh, inhumane master, but still longed for a life of freedom and happiness, one where she could raise her children away from the struggles of slavery. Denver grew up at 124 loving her mother, Sethe, out of fear; a fear of her mother attempting, again, to murder her children. It was this fear that Denver previously held that never allowed her to truly love her mother and live with her as a family. Paul D was never given the chance at a family while under the possession of schoolteacher. He was poorly mistreated, like his fellow slaves, and was reprimanded with an iron to his tongue for plotting to escape with Sethe and Halle. This shadow represents Sethe, Denver, and Paul D’s present, the one of them strolling to the carnival, because it is an image that captures how they all felt at that very moment: together, as a happy family. Sethe is excited to see her old friend, Paul D, Denver is relieved to...
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...In Toni Morrison’s the novel “The Bluest Eye”, it provided a comprehensive understanding of how whiteness is the preferred beauty standards, which misleads the lives of African American women and children. Morrison is a master at examining the relationships between the races and genders. She also talks about the struggle between civilization and nature, despite the fact that if it is myth. Morrison has a unique way in her writing that causes the reader to get visual through her narrating stories. Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye demonstrates her creative techniques to express the struggles of how African American girl’s deals with society’s concepts of beauty, self-hatred, self-worth, and family. As many individuals may know that beauty is...
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...In the novel, Song of Solomon, the character Macon Dead’s son, who is named after him, gets stuck with the nick-name, “Milkman”. This nick-name has shaped milkman into a childish character that relies too much on his parents. His name originates from a scene in the novel where his mother is caught breast-feeding him past a normal age, and is a source of shame for both his mother and father. While this takes place at an age where he should remember the happenings of his youth, despite “his legs dangling almost to the floor,” his memory of this moment gets suppressed until he finally finds out the origin of this name. His name is also a major source of shame for his father, which puts strain on both the relationship between Milkman and his father...
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...Throughout Song of Solomon, readers are treated to a vast array of experiences, which reflect Toni Morrison’s themes of bearing witness to the disturbed past of black people, exploring divisions within a family that has lived through that past, and chronicling personal quests to reconstruct splintered identity at the personal, family and community levels. To create the conscious experience that brings so much of Morrison’s work to life, she imbues Song of Solomon not only with vibrant, directly encountered realism, but also magical themes and experiences. Magical Realism—in essence—is a way of telling a story with two sides. One based on a so-called rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the supernatural as everyday reality. Song of Solomon features many instances of the image of flight as it plays a major role in the narrative. Flight signifies true life and the living of it, as well as a sense of freedom and release for the main characters in the book. Of all the characters in the novel, one seems the most affected and that persona is Milkman—someone whom embarks on a journey of self-discovery and discovers the true meaning of flight. Milkman experiences flight in many different ways—through song, imagery and literal experiences. The onus is on us, the reader, to distinguish what is “real” and what is pure mysticism. The first instance of Morrison's use of the image of flight is at the very beginning of the book. "At 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 18th...
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...“Whose house is this?” The first four words of Toni Morrison’s new book greet — or assail — us before the story even begins. They’re from the epigraph, which quotes a song cycle written by the author some 20 years ago and therefore, it seems safe to say, not originally intended for this book, but an indication, perhaps, of how long its themes have been haunting her. And “haunting” is a fitting word for the lyric itself, in which a speaker professes to lack both recognition of and accountability for the strange, shadowy, dissembling domicile in which he finds himself. The atmosphere of alienation makes the song’s final line even more uncanny: “Say, tell me, why does its lock fit my key?” Thus the stage is set for “Home”: on the basis of its publisher’s description a novel, on the basis of its length a novella, and on the basis of its stripped-down, symbol-laden plot something of an allegory. It tells the story of Frank Money, a 24-year-old Korean War veteran, as he embarks on a reluctant journey home. But where — and what — is home? Frank is already back from the fighting when we meet him, a year after being discharged from an integrated Army into a segregated homeland. Since then, he has wandered the streets of Seattle, “not totally homeless, but close.” He has gambled his Army pay and lost it, worked odd jobs and lost them, lived with a girlfriend and lost her, and all the while struggled, none too successfully, against the prospect of losing his mind. The action begins with...
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