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Communities in conflict / Lisa M. Medor

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Identifier	Thesis 1785
Author	Medor, Lisa M., 1972-
Title	Communities in conflict / Lisa M. Medor
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication	2004
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Abstract	The focus on communities and their impact on characters, individually and in groups, is a major theme that runs throughout Toni Morrison's novels. It is when the communities are in conflict with each other and their members that Morrison reveals the importance of these integral bonds. Through a close reading of Toni Morrison's Beloved, The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon, I have shown that the characters are unable to survive either physically or psychologically in the absence of community, as Morrison defines this term. First, I analyzed the importance of specific communities in the novels. In order to define community as it appears in the novels, I discussed the similarities between the novels, as well as subtle differences, when they existed. Each novel is set in a different time period in or near Ohio, and each reflects themes from African American history, yet Morrison does not simplistically use place and time, but complicates her historical contexts with the philosophical, psychological and physical struggles of her characters as they react and act within their communities. Further, community groups, not just individual characters also act and react to larger hegemonic forces such as institutionalized racism. Immediate and extended families, kinship groups, friendships, and segments of the African American community defined by class and gender are in cooperation and conflict at different times within each novel. Each novel is highlighted when situations occur where community interacts with the characters, or when the absence of community is apparent. The research shows that the demise of a character often correlates with their inability to embrace or interact with the surrounding community. For example, Sethe and Denver in Beloved are ostracized from the larger African American community around them, and, more specifically, from the women around them, beginning with the overly generous feast at Baby Suggs' house, and then further by Sethe's physical violence. This isolation deepens as the past encroaches on their present, and it is through Denver's reaching out again to the larger community of women that Sethe escapes physical and emotional death. In The Bluest Eye family and social groups are juxtaposed and compared even when they do not directly interact. Yet Morrison explores the effects of the same social/historical forces, such as racism, sexism, and domestic violence on each cluster of characters, and employs the single character of Pecola as the fellow victim and the link between the communities. The different forces that exist within the community are analyzed in each novel and have at least one chapter each. There are many rules that exist within the communities that determine how others view a particular character and it is once these rules are broken that the character begins to experience pain and alienation. In the examination of these forces and rules, it is clear that the characters within Toni Morrison's novels need to connect with the larger community in order to thrive.
Subject	Morrison, Toni -- Characters
Department	Department of English
Advisor	Mentzer, Melissa
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	61660275
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Communities in conflict / Lisa M. Medor

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