| The Nobel Prize winner, African-American female writer Toni Morrison has been concerned with the life of black people marginalized in American society. Her special identity as a black female writer provides her with great advantages to penetrate deeply into the hearts of the black. Jazz, published in 1993, explores the spiritual situation of the new blacks in the period of social and historical changes. Love, published in 2003, with only one simple word "love" as the title, probes into the distorted love inside the black community in the period of Post-Civil Rights Movement. In the two novels, Morrison continued to explore her favorite theme—love, which differs from the other six novels in that Morrison starts to move the focus of her concern from the conflicts between the white and the black to the conflicts inside the black community. It is love that works and dissolves the conflicts; it is love that changes the fate of the characters. This thesis intends to analyze the theme of love in the two novels and to excavate Morrison's thought of love reflected in the two novels.This thesis is divided into 5 parts, including 3 chapters and one Introduction and Conclusion:The introduction gives a brief account of Toni Morrison and her works, offers critical reviews on her works. A summary of the main plot of Jazz and Love and the commentaries about them will also be given in this part. Chapter One focuses on the theme of love reflected in Jazz and Love and discusses the conflicts of love, and causes of the conflicts of love. Chapter Two explores the role of love or the power of love in the process of dissolving conflicts. The analysis of the external cause—urge of the character of love and the internal cause—change of the character's inner world will be dealt with. Chapter Three analyses the significance of love. The valuable love between human beings is stressed in the two novels, including love of women—sisterhood, love between men and women, and love in the black community. The Conclusion offers the summary of the essay. It points out the significance of love. In Morrison's view, for the African-American people as the marginalized group, it is mutual understanding, tolerance or love that can dissolve the conflicts inside the black community; it is love that can build up the harmonious relationship between black women and women, between men and women of all races and between the members inside the black community. And this principle is a universal one in that it enlightens not only the black, the yellow but also all the mankind. |
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