RACISM, SLAVERY AND MOTHERHOOD IN THE SELECT NOVELS OF TONI MORRISON (Pages 11-15) by S. Bhuvaneswari in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

The present paper aims in tracing racism, slavery, and motherhood in the select novels of Toni Morrison. As a novelist, editor, and critic her novels have created space for Black feminist Text, changing the male dominance of the African American Literary canon. Racial discrimination, slavery, gender inequality, motherhood, oppression and marginalization are the main themes in the novels of African Women writer, especially the novels of Toni Morrison. The novels such as Beloved (1987), Bluest eye (1970), and Sula (1973) is chosen for the present paper. Morrison’s Beloved explores how slavery dehumanizes slaves, treating them alternately as property and as animals. Another theme in the novel describes about the bond between mother and her children, which is centered around the relationship between Sethe and her unnamed daughter ,whom She kills, as well as the strange re-birth of that daughter comes in the form of Beloved. The strength of motherhood is constantly pitted against the horror of slavery. Further, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is a tragic tale about young black girl’s desire for the bluest eye. For her, this symbol means to be beautiful and therefore worthy in society. The pivotal idea in the novel is the domination of blacks by the existing American standards of Beauty blue eyes, blond hair and white skin. It portrays in poignant terms the tragic condition of blacks in a racist American. Finally in Sula, Morrison narrates the struggle of a black community in Ohio, which states that the social conditions are inadequate when people try to make a meaning for their life. Hence, the present paper concludes in finding out the racialised and oppressed conditions of black women through the select novels of Toni Morrison.he present paper aims in tracing racism, slavery, and motherhood in the select novels of Toni Morrison. As a novelist, editor, and critic her novels have created space for Black feminist Text, changing the male dominance of the African American Literary canon. Racial discrimination, slavery, gender inequality, motherhood, oppression and marginalization are the main themes in the novels of African Women writer, especially the novels of Toni Morrison. The novels such as Beloved (1987), Bluest eye (1970), and Sula (1973) is chosen for the present paper. Morrison’s Beloved explores how slavery dehumanizes slaves, treating them alternately as property and as animals. Another theme in the novel describes about the bond between mother and her children, which is centered around the relationship between Sethe and her unnamed daughter ,whom She kills, as well as the strange re-birth of that daughter comes in the form of Beloved. The strength of motherhood is constantly pitted against the horror of slavery. Further, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is a tragic tale about young black girl’s desire for the bluest eye. For her, this symbol means to be beautiful and therefore worthy in society. The pivotal idea in the novel is the domination of blacks by the existing American standards of Beauty blue eyes, blond hair and white skin. It portrays in poignant terms the tragic condition of blacks in a racist American. Finally in Sula, Morrison narrates the struggle of a black community in Ohio, which states that the social conditions are inadequate when people try to make a meaning for their life. Hence, the present paper concludes in finding out the racialised and oppressed conditions of black women through the select novels of Toni Morrison.Key Words: Racism, Motherhood, Slavery, African Americans