A Mercy
By Toni Morrison
Published November 11, 2008
A Mercy is a novel that takes the reader back to the origins of America in order to illustrate what lies beneath the surface of slavery through religious, racial and class tensions. The novel is set in 1682 at the origins of America during a time when there was no dominant cultural system rather it was inhabited by travelers from all over the world such as the Dutch, the Spanish, the British, etc. The novel focuses on a time in which slavery and race did not coincide rather it was based on class, and features an array of diverse characters who have and continue to experience oppression and dehumanizing treatment. The novel is told from multiple perspectives of different characters throughout and often shifts from the third person point of view to the first person point of view, which the reader later finds out at the end of the novel is being told through Florens' mother.
To the right is a video clip of an interview Manufacturing Intellect conducted with Toni Morrison on her novel, A Mercy, around the time the novel had been released.
Summary
Toni Morrison's novel, A Mercy, follows multiple perspectives throughout the novel in order to tell the story of each individual character so that not one voice cuts through any of the others.The novel illustrates a time in history oppression and wrongful treatment went beyond just African descents rather anyone of any culture or ethnic background came in contact with oppression and wrongful treatment; slavery was not based on race instead on class. While the novel mainly focuses on the journey of Florens, who was born in America but came from an Anfrican mother, there are also five characters that Morrison utilizes in order to continue the plot forward. Each character is unique and come from diverse backgrounds all of which assist to explore the concept of freedom from slavery for each one of them.
Oppression of Women and Community
Throughout Toni Morrison's novel, A Mercy, she demonstrates the oppression of women during this time through the following ways:
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A male dominated society
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Physical Abuse
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Sexual Assault
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Through the oppression that each female character shared and the trauma in which each one of them experienced due to this oppression, they found community amongst one another. This was a group of women all of which came from diverse backgrounds who were able to come together and care for each other despite race, age, ethnic background, religion, etc.
The "me too." movement was created in order to provide resources, support, and to assist in healing as a way of building a community where victims of sexual violence or not can become an advocate and disrupt sexual violence.
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Deracination and Identity
Deracination: : uproot. 2 : to remove or separate from a native environment or culture especially : to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from.
Causes of Deracination: The loss of one's culture, family, name and literal relocation.
Results in the struggle to find one’s identity.
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Identity: the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person or group. One can regard the awareness and the categorizing of identity as positive or as destructive.
Religion and Morality
Toni Morrison made a deliberate choice for her novel to take place in 1682 before America was even a nation but was perceived as the "New World." This was a time when war was the product of differing religious beliefs.
Throughout this course, we have read various slave narratives that connect religion with slavery as a source for slaves to have something to believe in and have hope.
Today, while religion is still very much prominent, it does not hold the power it used to rather our nation has shifted from violence in relation to religion to being in relation to opposing political views and party affiliations.
Why It Matters
It is important to read novels much like Toni Morrison's, A Mercy, and other slave narratives, so that we as a society are able to be reminded of where we have been and where we are now. While Morrison's novel is fiction, the themes of the novel are far from fiction and need to be discussed in order to ensure we do not regress as a society. All of these themes are very much prevalent today, however, they have taken new forms due to significant events in history that took place in order to even get to the point our society is at now.