The Deprivation And Construction Of Female Subjectivity——a Feminist Study On Toni Morrison’s A Mercy

Toni Morrison’s winning of Nobel Prize for literature in1993is a milestone in African American Literature. Her novel A Mercy was published in2008, which became greatly popular around the world.In this novel, she expanded her attention from the black female group to females of different races and ethnics.A Mercy shows the miserable experience of the different racial females in the early colonial period of North America. There are four main female characters in this novel: a black slave Florens, a native Indian Lina, a mongrelized Sorrow, and a white bride called Rebecca, who are all deprived of female subjectivity. The loss of female subjectivity subsequently leads to the loss of self and the loss of existing value. Based on the concept of female subjectivity, this paper is trying to analyze the causes of the deprivation of female subjectivity, their awakening and different ways to reconstruct female subjectivity.This paper is divided into six parts. The first part gives a general introduction of Toni Morrison and A Mercy, summarizes earlier studies of this novel conducted in China and abroad, and describes the main concept of female subjectivity and its development in recent years. The second part analyzes the deprivation of female subjectivity in this novel. The females are treated as goods (Florens and Rebecca), and their names are easily changed (Lina and Sorrow). The third part elaborates on the main causes of the deprivation of female subjectivity, including the erosion of the white culture, the absence of paternal love, the patriarchal oppression and the apathy of the community. The fourth part considers the awakening of the female subjectivity, which is mainly triggered by the quest for love, the sisterhood between different female groups, and the realization of mother right. The fifth part describes the construction of female subjectivity. The key elements in the process of regaining this subjectivity include fighting with the patriarchal values, resorting to the ethnic culture, claiming of motherhood and seeking for religion shelter, but the final and key aspect in reconstructing the female subjectivity is the awakening of self-value, self-affirmation and self-possession.The last part summarizes the essence of enslavement Morrison tried to emphasize in A Mercy:whether one is free or enslaved is determined not by one’s status, colour, or race but by one’s inner heart. The true reason behind enslavement is the degeneration of inner heart, the withering inside made people lose subjectivity and willingly to be enslaved under other’s control. Self-liberty refers to the liberty from the ideological and spiritual perspective, which refers to get rid of the idea that you are humble and inferior to others and to be self-possession. One can achieve true freedom only by freeing yourself spiritually and recognizing the values and dignity of being an individual.