On Bride’s Identity Construction In God Help The Child From The Perspective Of The Initiation Story

Toni Morrison is a leading African American female writer.She always concerned herself with the fate of black women who were dominated by the white society.In 2015,she published her eleventh novel,God Help the Child,which gained much attention at home and abroad after it was released.Again,the novel focuses on the issues of the color of skin,ethnics and love.The novel tells about the heroine Bride’s trauma in her childhood and its impact on her adulthood,and narrates how she finally gets rid of the childhood shadow and constructs her own identity.This present thesis analyzes the journey of Bride’s identity construction from the perspective of the Initiation Story,aiming to discover Toni Morrison’s profound thoughts on the issue of black women’s identity construction.The thesis attempts to explore Bride’s growing experiences based on the concepts of important elements of the Initiation Story,namely,life predicaments,initiation mentors,and maturity,corresponding with the discrimination Bride suffered from her family and external surroundings,the initiation mentors who help her extricate from life predicaments and pose significant impact on Bride’s growth,and her final maturity as a personally and spiritually independent woman.The analysis of the process of Bride’s identity construction reveals to us Morrison’s ideas about black women’s exploration for personal integrity and spiritual independence in the multi-cultural context.The author argues that Morrison believes the absence of black women’s subjectivity originates from their self-negation and loss of cultural value.Bride’s self-awakening and confronting her trauma help her achieve self-discovery and identity building,both as an individual and a mother.Morrison seems to say that only when the black women face up with the traumatic past,break away the source of trauma and be self-respect,can they realize their long-term development in the contemporary multi-cultural society.It is obvious that Morrison attempts to infuse the character Bride with her wish for the black women to find out a path leading to subjectivity building.Hopefully,this thesis will take a small step forward in the exploration of the theme of the novel.