Why do readers like Toni Morrison?
Morrison is the first, and so far the only, African-American woman to win the literature’s most coveted award- the Nobel Prize. And Morrison is not like one of those writers that only devoted English professors know about. Morrison is a national treasure and as the Professor pointed out today- arguably the most important living American writer. And with her literature, you either love it or hate- there is very seldom in between. I have been a big fan of her ever since I have first encountered her short story “Recitatif”, before reading The Bluest Eye and Sula. But I didn’t want to read Beloved. Unfortunately I have seen the film, so I know the plot and the ending. But that is not the reason why Beloved was something that I wanted to hold on to. Morrison’s language, with it’s complicated syntax, picturesque lexicon and suspenseful rhythm, is not an easy read. I thought that in order to read a novel of such caliber, I needed to reach a certain literary maturity. The context of what she writes, no matter how brutal it is, is actually not the biggest challenge.
What makes Morrison’s writing so genius is her unique ability to place the reader into the mindset and the atmosphere of her stories without explicitly detailing every single experience. Her works make people feel the same emotions as the characters. Every time she recollects how the character was raped, or beaten, or punished, the readers are exposed to the character’s psychological open wounds, resulting in an extrasensory translation of emotions from page to mind. Morrison’s characters come to life not because of their overly meticulous descriptions, but of their energy that the writer pushes onto those who read her works. So far, we have read only a few pages, but we already have a very clear understanding of who Sethe and Paul D and Denver are, and their stories were not even fully developed yet. And the fact, that the title of the book is a sympathetic term that is usually used towards dead people helps to convey Morrison’s central focus- to bombard the reader with depression and misery, as her readers have a choice in not to read her book, but her characters, already written, have no choice in their lives and all of the generations of African-american ruined and traumatized by slavery have no escape from their circumstances.
One response so far
I agree Morrison’s writing is genius, by using free indirect discourse the reader is constantly bombarded with the heavy mindsets of these characters. For me, the challenge of reading this is trying to fully understand the lives of these characters. For example, I cannot fully imagine the mindset of Paul D walking from Georgia to Delaware and even Sethe being separated from her family. But I disagree with her characters not having a choice, I feel that this book is about their inability to make good choices for their group. Each character is presented with a choice but deciding which choice will benefit them alone or the family that they put together is what really sets the depressive atmosphere. For example, from what I see Paul D loves Sethe but he has a choice to stay or to walk away from everything that she offers him. Yes, it has already been written, but what if Paul D left immediately after his reunion with Sethe? or Sethe did not give her kids away to be watched by someone else? I think what Morrison does beautifully is present their choices and show that after these choices are made, these characters cannot fully express their grief, because how can they help another traumatized individual when they are already traumatized, which perpetuates their inner conundrums.