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many levels: individuals (such as Pecola Breedlove and Macon Dead) are unable to achieve viable identities; families
(the Breedloves, the Greenes, and the Deads) are torn apart by irreconcilable differences and/or suffer interminable
divisions, and Black communities (Lorain, the Bottom, the Southside) are whacked by internal tensions and are subject
to the destructive effects of White domination. Countering these centrifugal forces, Morrison also explores factors that
tend to center individuals, to unify couples and families, and to bring cohesion to communities. For example, in the
second half of
Song of Solomon
, Milkman’s Dead “put’s it all together,” as he discovers the mysteries of his family,
finds his ancestors’ roots, gains acceptance into a community, and in the process finds himself.
Morrison’s three most recent novels are
Beloved, Jazz,
and
Paradise
. Though apparently quite different,
Morrison asserts that they form a trilogy focusing on
love
.
Beloved
is the haunting tale of an ex-slave woman, Sethe,
who kills her baby rather than allow it to be returned to slavery.
Jazz
tells the story of a couple, Joe and Violet Trace,
who, like millions of real African Americans, migrates to New York City in the 1920s, and who struggle through the
psychological pitfalls of adjusting to live in the urban North.
Paradise’s
complex plot revolves around the tragic
interactions between residents of an all-Black town in Oklahoma and a small group of young women living nearby who
are refugees from their families and society. Despite their dissimilar subjects, the three novels address issues of love and
the dangers of excessive love. In
Beloved
, is Sethe’s murder an example of love or its excess? Is infanticide ever
justifiable? What are the acceptable limits of love? In
Jazz
, how does Violet reconcile her love for her dead mother with
her mother’s suicide? Does her decision not to have children of her own result in her lack of love for Joe? Is Joe’s affair
with Docas justified in the light of Violet’s inability to love him? How does one explain his murder of Docas? And in
Paradise
, can one justify the town men’s killing of the young women? Does their strict faith constitute excessive love
of God? Does their belief in their town legendary past constitute a dangerous obsession? In what sense do characters
like Consolata, Richard Misner, and Lone DuPres provide alternatives of a more compassionate love?
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