In eleven novels over four decades, Toni Morrison’s fiction has dealt with such prickly issues as the hold that the past exerts over the present, the power and perils of small communities or the wounds caused on bodies and minds by all sorts of abuses. Her latest novel, God Help the Child (2015), revisits some of those earlier themes, but it focuses more closely on the topics of child abuse and colorism –the internal racism of blacks against darker skin shades. What is new in God Help the Child is that the story is set in present-day California, where the rate of child violence and victimization –especially among black children– is just overwhelming. The main aim of this paper is to show that, despite Morrison’s unquestionable narrative skill and her audacious form –with constant shifts in point of view and language–, one must conclude that the theme she tries to tackle in this slim novel is far too complex to be properly probed in this short span.
Keywords:
Morrison, God Help the Child, child abuse, color consciousness, gaps and loose ends
Ibarrola-Armendariz, A. (2019). Toni Morrison’s god help the child: a complex subject from a simplistic perspective. Revista Chilena De Literatura, (99), pp. 253–273. Retrieved from https://rej.uchile.cl/index.php/RCL/article/view/53024
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