Secondary Sources - Reflection

Morrison’s literature is full of oppressed characters; economic or social oppression affects many of Morrison’s main characters.  This reflection focuses on the oppressed children one may find in Toni Morrison’s novels.

In the novel Beloved, Morison has many black characters who face the oppression of slavery, including children. One example is Sethe’s youngest daughter, Denver, who was born into a life of slavery. Denver lived the first eighteen years of her life alone and lonely, although she lived with her mother. She was ostracized from the rest of the community because of the actions of her mother. Denver never had playmates; instead, she found companionship in her ghost sister. She lived in constant fear of her mother, ever afraid that her mother would kill her like she did her sister. Denver’s childhood was full of disappointment, even when her sister, Beloved, returned. Beloved’s presence caused her mother’s downfall and left her in a helpless state. The young girl, Denver, was forced to ask the community to help the family. The black community did aid the family, but Denver had to take a job to provide for the family’s needs. Ironically, she took the very job that her mother so desperately tried to save her from, a servant caring for white people. Although Denver lived a rough life, she was a resilient character who triumphed over the oppression and gave readers the notion that she would survive and flourish in her community.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison also has characters that live under the oppression of others. Cholly was born in purity and innocence but quickly became degraded like many of the other characters of the novel and lived in a community that was socially oppressed. Cholly’s childhood living in oppression caused him to turn his emotions inward, which led to a life of depression and self contained rage. He is a character incapable of expressing love or compassion and is only capable of hate and anger. His emotions were ultimately expressed in violent sexual acts. Cholly became a man full of hatred and despised the weak and powerless members of society; they reminded him of his own past. The oppressed character, Cholly, finally took on the role of the oppressor and took out his frustrations on his daughter, Pecola. He expressed his anger from his traumatizing childhood by raping Pecola.

Pecola is another character whose life revolved around oppression. She was teased by many in the community because she was ugly and had no nurturing figure in her life. The raping and teasing quickly converted Pecola’s own thinking into believing that she was indeed ugly. Pecola never fought her father off when he raped her; this was the only form of love she received, although it did not result from any feelings of love. She was oppressed by the community and her family. All she ever wanted was to be accepted and to have the blue eyes that she believed would make her pretty to others.

Claudia is, perhaps, the most distraught character in The Bluest Eye. Claudia rebels against the oppressing white society because she is not popular within their white culture. The oppression turns Claudia to hating everything and everyone white. She even hates the white baby doll gifts from others because they remind her of a white childhood star, Shirley Temple, who danced with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Bojangles was her idol and Claudia became furious when she realized that black people were not ever going to have the privileges of white people. Her hatred of the oppressing white race drove her to dismember the white baby dolls she received as gifts. She refused to like anything white or light in color and rejected them for things of color.

Another novel illustrating oppressed children is Sula. This is a novel that slowly shows the destruction of the entire oppressed black community from the Bottom. The black community is oppressed in this novel by the white community. The whites control the majority of lucrative businesses and receive all of the lucrative jobs. Two of the main characters in the novel are two young black girls, Nell and Sula, who become best friends, but grow apart as adults. Nell found oppression at the hands of her own father. He arranged her marriage to a man, Jude, and forced her to exchange one life of oppression for another. Nell became oppressed by her husband and bound with motherly and wifely duties. Sula is the most oppressed character in the Bottom community and is considered by many as an outcast and labeled as evil. Together, Sula and Nell live through many horrendous acts throughout the novel, but both grow to become successful in one way or another. Sula is oppressed by the community her entire life even though her presence during adulthood actually helped the community. Nell lived an oppressing life in poverty and struggled to care for her children without their father present; he abandoned the family and left Nell forever in a life of hardship.

These are only a few of the novels Toni Morrison has written that include characters living a life in oppression. The oppression takes many forms and comes from different sources, but, never the less, it determines the life and mindset of the characters. Not many of her characters ever overcome the oppression, but some of the characters find reason to be happy in their life that is bound by the oppression. One has to read the majority of her novels to discover them and realize that even in a life bound by the oppression of others—happiness can be found.