Love's Salvation: Sisterhood In Toni Morrison's Five Novels

This thesis analyzes the sisterhood theme in Toni Morrison's five novels: The Bluest Eye, Jazz, Sula, Love and Paradise.In the introduction part, my intention to discuss the sisterhood theme in Morrison's five novels is explained; that is, the recurrent display of the sisterhood theme in her novels versus a lack of critical attention to it impels me to explore such an issue. Then, by means of comparison and contrast, the theoretical definitions for"sisterhood"and"lesbianism"are given so that the confusion between those two entities is avoided. Finally the significance of my standpoint, that is, to analyze Morrison's novels from the perspective of sisterhood, is pointed out: sisterly love is important for black American women because of the double repression they have suffered.Chapter One gives a brief account of the patterns of sisterhood; that is, in Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, we can see the earliest establishment of sisterly love in the common pattern of private talk; in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, we can see different types of sisterly relations, and sisterly love is represented as the fight against patriarchy; and in Toni Morrison's vision, various characteristics of sisterly love are depicted, like voice, healing, self-establishment and her-story. To be concise, in Morrison's works, sisterhood has three dimensions: self-love, love for the other and love in the communities.Chapter Two discusses the representations of sisterhood in The Bluest Eye and Jazz. In The Bluest Eye, sisterly love serves as a voice which speaks out what is unspeakable, that is, the tragedy of Pecola; while in Jazz, sisterly love is woman to woman healing, which in the end redeems that once-broken heterosexual love.Chapter Three is a comparative study of Sula and Love, for a recursive model can be recognized in the representations of sisterhood in these two texts: two sisters experience construction, destruction and reconstruction of their sisterly love. Such a recurrent process not only makes us pay more attention to sisterly love but also steers clear of the doubt about its continuum.Chapter four analyzes the making of her-story in Paradise by pointing out that it is a rich story ever constructed. It presents truths of what it means to be a free and independent woman in a male-dominated world and shows the profound nature of female individuals'struggle to gain a sense of self from victimization. Moreover, the representation of sisterhood in this story, voice, healing and story-construction show the miracle of sisterly love, that is, love for the self, love for the other and love in the communities. With love, her-story is made and it seems that paradise is not far away.The thesis concludes with a panorama of sisterhood in American female literature, which is to seek a literary tradition for sisterly love and to further emphasize the significance of sisterly love in women's literature and even in their lives; that is, love's salvation.