Toni Morrison A Mercy Analysis

A Mercy, by Toni Morrison, is an incredible novel that has grasped and captivated many readers who have taken the journey with Morrison and delved into the lives of the characters, and their enthralling journeys through racial and cultural discrimination, enslavement, patriarchal power and oppression. Through the use of her language, characters, symbols and imagery, Morrison allows us to gain an incredible insight into world and global issues that have affected societies and cultures, thus creating class distinction and patriarchal power. She portrays enslavement, oppression, corruption and exile through her influential characters, powerful imagery and intense atmosphere that surrounds the novel. Through the contrast between the fast pacing …show more content…
‘A Mercy provides a racially and culturally inflected geography’ and Morrison explores how Jacob's farm becomes home for those whose lives are in exile’. The loss of identity and self worth through enslavement and captivity is formed by the stripping away of opinions, perspectives and rights from each individual, as they are forced to live under oppression, corruption and patriarchal power. The novel forces us to question society, to question how someone be an individual in a make-shift world, but also part of a community. This confusion leads to exile and its presence amongst the vulnerable characters can be felt throughout the novel. We see a division of cultures and immigration, looking for their identities and a sense of safety and security. Morrison rewrites the story involving the quest for home using the voices of a worldwide group of displaced travellers in ways that foreground the creative use of language among a global community of migratory …show more content…
Toni Morrison opens our eyes and imaginations, allowing us to delve deep into history, and we are able to gain an incredible insight into the minds, emotions and thoughts that society and civilisations possessed, and the overwhelmingly claustrophobic atmosphere that encompasses them. In the aftermath of postmodernism, parody and deconstruction become weapons with which writers like Morrison can excavate and recreate history, and then question the legitimacy of established ‘truths’ of the master discourse on race and class, as we shall see in A Mercy’. Morrison strives to separate race from slavery, where slavery is constructed by an American institution in a unified country. Through gender issues, slavery, patriarchal power, exile and corruption, we are able to grasp a new and intriguing viewpoint of American history. Morrison allow us to journey beneath her beautiful and striking works and images, permitting us to discover the metaphors, symbols and truths that are interwoven throughout the words that she has crafted. Morrison’s rhythm and diction is incredible, permitting us to see her flawless ability to connect an entire collection of voices that sound and are perceived to be stirring, influential, and moving. Without a doubt, A Mercy is a fascinating novel, containing incredible and intriguing subject matter and it is a