Chanapa Duangfai. Familial female relationships and maternal figures and their legacy in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Gayl Jones's Corregidora and Toni Morrison's Beloved. Master's Degree(English). Chulalongkorn University. Office of Academic Resources. : Chulalongkorn University, 2007.
Familial female relationships and maternal figures and their legacy in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Gayl Jones's Corregidora and Toni Morrison's Beloved
Abstract:
This thesis analyzes three African American novels, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Gayl Jones's Corregidora and Toni Morrison's Beloved, using Ruth Perry's theory of "Mothering the Mind", which is based on the psychoanalytical explanation of the importance of the relationships between mothers and their children, as a basic theoretical framework. It argues that familial female relationships and maternal figures and their legacy are important to black daughters' ability to overcome their pain and develop their self. Having mothers who have faced difficulties in playing their maternal role under conditions of slavery, the black daughters can hardly develop their sense of self and their ability to cope with the terrible experiences caused by racism and/or sexism. In order to free themselves from problems in their lives and develop their sense of self, black daughters need help from maternal figures or surrogate mothers. This analysis of The Color Purple suggests the importance of the mother and the surrogate mother in the famale protagonist's process of redefining the concept of self in terms of psychology and body, creativity and self-dependence. The reading of Corregidora underscores the limitation of black maternal narratives that can both traumatize and heal the daughters. The section on Beloved further argues that the suffering of the black mother, who has undergone harrowing experiences and limitations in fulfilling her maternal duties under slavery, leads to an act of infanticide in order to prevent her daughter from enduring a terrible life under slavery. Finally, this thesis also discusses the importance of surrogate mothers and the community of women in helping the protagonist free herself from the painful past and memory.
Chulalongkorn University. Office of Academic Resources