THE PORTRAYAL OF CHILD ABUSE IN TONI MORRISON’S GOD HELP THE CHILD

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56815/IJMRR.V1.I4.2022/34-37

Abstract

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison, published in 2016, offers a glimpse into the struggles that African American girls and women face on a daily basis while also taking into account their outward looks. Because Morrison's viewpoint is external to the novel, it hasn't been mentioned in the dialogue between the reader and the author. The work emphasizes the difficulty of the task at hand and places special emphasis on how it should be interpreted. The role of the mother serves as the work's central theme, and the work's disordering effects on and shock-inducing repercussions from a past incident are highlighted. This essay focuses on how the novel's expressive structure connects data unrelated to the Bride's transformation into a particular story of secrecy and shock. Black feminism, racism, trauma, and gender studies all influence the novel's point of view. The essay discusses the strategies Morrison uses in his book to address themes of personal trauma and memory's harsh forces. This essay's main objective is to reveal the mechanisms of the past in the remembrance technique used by Toni Morrison in her work by using Paul Ricoeur's paradigms on how a solitary memory transforms into a part of a group. Additionally, the Bride's earlier memories now serve as a collective memory for all African Americans. As her point of view is not there in the narrative, Toni Morrison's own words are not present to bridge the gap between the reader and the novel. In her writing, Toni Morrison discusses historical events and how they have shaped the present. Since Toni Morrison's parents had a significant influence on her writing, they are also a factor in the non-linear familial past memories that are inserted into her novels, according to Morrison. By developing her individuality, every girl is in charge of nourishing her own feelings and emotional growth.