Toni Morrison’s Ethical Concern About Children’s Growth In God Help The Child

God Help the Child is the last novel of African American female writer Toni Morrison.It tells the story of a black girl Bride’s growth journey in 21st century America.As indicated by the title of this novel,Morrison,as always,continues her humanitarian care in her literary works,focusing on children’s issues.Different from Morrison’s previous novels,the background of this novel is set in the 21st century for the first time,and the growth of children is accompanied by the opportunities and challenges in the new era.Focusing on the growth of the children in this novel,this thesis studies the unfavorable environment faced by children during their growth,the growth process of disadvantaged children in the new era,and the envisioned world which can help them to grow up healthily,thus exploring Morrison’s ethical concern about children’s growth in this story.Firstly,Morrison’s growth experience and the writing background of this novel are introduced,and the worldwide research of God Help the Child is reviewed.It is found that the research on the theme of growth and the self-construction of black females has been relatively abundant.Notably,apart from the protagonist Bride,the other children of every race and gender in this novel also encounter similar difficulties in their growth and present similar or different features during their growth,which has not been extensively studied.Based on existing researches,children’s growth is studied.In the body part,the analysis of the growth environment of children demonstrated that children in the novel,regardless of race and gender,are put in a disadvantaged position in this unfavorable environment,and their powerlessness has exerted a lasting negative impact on their growth.Children not only lack warmth and care in the family but also suffer threats and harms of prevalent violence and sexual abuse brought by the external society,which leaves childhood trauma and shadow for them.During their growth,children present excessive dependence or excessive resistance in interpersonal relationships while getting lost under the shadow of childhood trauma,showing underdeveloped self-recognition.Meanwhile,the growth process of children in the neo-blackism era is elaborated from three aspects:the journey of self-construction,the improvement in interpersonal relationships,and the changes of attitudes towards social norms.Children have repaired interpersonal relationships between families,friendships,and man-woman relations,and changed their minds on issues such as race,wealth,and gender.All these efforts suggest that they have achieved a certain degree of growth by seizing opportunities in the new era,and problems are emerging in their growth journey.Next,given children’s difficult growth,an ideal world is conceived in the novel for children’s healthier growth.It presents a growth pattern:justice and equality are realized,family and society work together to show love to children,and adults play a role in guiding and cultivating children’s maturing views of values.Finally,answers to the children’s growth problems are provided.It is concluded that Morrison has expressed concerns about children’s growth status in contemporary American and her expectations for a better future of their healthy growth,reflecting her ethical care.By analyzing the growth plight of children,their growth process,and the ideal growth model in the neo-blackism era in God Help the Child,it can be demonstrated that Morrison is concerned about the growth predicament of American children across the race and gender in a new era,pays attention to their growth process,and calls on the concerted efforts of families and society to build a better world for the healthy growth of children.Moreover,the exploration of Morrison’s ethical concern about the growth of children also provides solutions and directions for that in contemporary American society,with a practical reference significance.