Her works

'The Bluest Eye'(1970)

Centred around a young African American girl named Pecola, who grows up during the years following 'The Great Depression'. Because of her skin colour, Pecola gets taunted as the members of her community associate beauty with whiteness. She develops an inferiority complex and desires blue eyes.

Because the book raises controversial issues such as racism, incest and child molestation The book got a relatively bad reception and has been numerous attempts to ban it from libraries and schools.

Morrison's intentions

In an interview, Morrison was asked about her motivations for writing the novel: She wanted to remind readers how 'hurtful racism is' and the fact 'people are so apologetic for the fact that their skin is dark.' Morrison wanted people to try and understand what it was like to be treated that way.

Reception

The book only received a modest amount of attention. Morrison was praised for writing a 'series of painfully accurate impressions' and her wide coverage of emotion in the novel. The most critiqued aspect of her writing is her language in the novel as it was often viewed as being made too simple.
Early critics were also seen as being ambivalent about the portrayal of a black person being an object in society rather than a person.

Themes

Breakage and seperation

Effects of white beauty standards

Media and Culture

Religion

Shame


'Beloved' (1987)

African American slave, Margaret Garner escaped slavery in Kentucky by fleeing to Ohio (free state).
Sethe (the protagonist) a slave who also escapes slavery. After 28 days of freedom, she is found and kills her 2 year old daughter so she is not recaptured and taken back to Sweet Home.

The home in Ohio is haunted by the ghost of Sethe's daughter. Because of the haunting (things thrown around the room) Denver (Sethe's youngest daughter) is shy and friendless.

Paul D - one of the slaves - attempts to make the family forget about the past and forces the spirit out.

'Definitions belonged to the definers not the defined'

'Unless care free, mother love is a killer'

You can't let the past strangle you if you're going to go forward. But nevertheless the past is not going anywhere'

Tresspasserds among the human race. Watch dogs without teeth; steer bulls without horns; gelded workhorses whose neigh and and whining could not be translated in a language responsible humans spoke'

'Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all'

'In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hibernate'.