The Unsung Heroes: Morrison’s Examination of a Mother’s Identity Audrey Grace Pettit 11th Grade

From telling scary stories to teaching multiplication tables, a mother takes on a myriad of roles. Yet, as a mother fully devotes herself to her child, she loses connection with other facets of herself. The consumption of maternity subjects the mother to a tenuous identity. In her works Beloved, “Recitatif,” and “Sweetness,” Toni Morrison forces her reader to recognize the uncomfortable realities of a mother’s transformation. Her works delve into the intersecting relationships between a mother, her community, and her child. These relationships play into one another. Through this, Morrison paints a specific picture of the mother: that of a fractured identity. Her characters detach themselves from invariable attributes of their persona in an effort to repress the past. Morrison interrupts their lives with their memories, forcing them to face their unthinkable guilt. By doing so, the mothers overcompensate, surrendering their own identities. This allows power dynamics to shift towards the child. Morrison’s protagonists most profoundly shape themselves not by their work, relationships, or community, but by their motherhood. Maternity’s all-consuming nature illuminates the tenuous identity of the mother figure.

In Beloved and “...