“You Are Your Best Thing” : Toni Morrison
About the Author
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison (originally named Chloe Anthony Wofford); An U.S American writer, born on February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio. Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved (1987). Her works revolve mainly around African-Americans.
About the Novel
The story is about a former slave, Sethe, who is living with her daughter Denver. It is a horror, and emotional novel states the story about an unknown girl named beloved. Sethe killed her elder daughter because she, along with her children, is trying to escape the Sweet Home, slavery. According to the townspeople, the beloved is the spirit of the Sethe elder daughter, who is haunting the town. After disappearing of the beloved, the townspeople forget her.
Year of Publication: 1987
Genre: Historical fiction, Magical Realism
Protagonists: Sethe, Denver
Themes
- Slavery
- Community Solidarity
- Language: Powers and Limits
- Home and Motherhood
- Guilt
- Past vs. Present
Symbols
- Beloved: Slavery
- 124: Sethe is dead.
- Trees: Fear and darkness
Motifs
- The supernatural
- Allusions to Christianity
- “Beloved” is based on a true story.
- The book is based on the incidents exhibiting the destructive legacy of slavery.
- The story is about an African-American slave, Margaret Garner, who escaped slavery in Kentucky.
- The plot is derived after the time of the American Civil War.
- The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1988.
