The Black Innocence: The Selfhood To Be Nurtured

Innocence is a long-standing topic of American literature as well as American literature criticism. From the innocent “American Adam” to the antihero of rebel-victims, from the “new people in the new world” who escape civilization and return to the nature to becoming sacrifice of American dream, innocence has been a main content in carrying out the American myth. Viewed as a whole, American black culture also depicts the growing process of “innocence—innocence lost—innocence regained”. Based on such ground, this thesis analyzes the black innocence constructed by the black woman writer Toni Morrison by digging into new type of black innocence constructed in her novel Beloved. It maintains that this novel, by the depiction of Beloved as an ethnic and national ghost, revives Seth's memory of innocence as a mother who committed infanticide to her own baby. The novel also displays how black people as a group find their self and innocence and regain freedom by self-love and the help from the community.The thesis is comprised of five parts. Chapter One is a comprehensive introduction of domestic and international researches about Toni Morrison and her novel Beloved. From this, the significance of studying this novel from the perspective of innocence and selfhood is put forward. Chapter Two illustrates that innocence, as a literature tradition of American myth, has become a major source of creation for American classic works as a concept. Chapter Three thus focuses on the black innocence in American literature. Three aspects are illustrated in this chapter: Black authenticity free from white defilement and expectations, black funkiness able to embrace all experience and uncontaminated ideal as an emotional utopia. Chapter Four further analyzes the novel Beloved. By employing the magic realistic techniques, Toni Morrison sensualizes and glorifies the world of all the senses, and highlights the people deprived of the sense of self-hood and the ability to love by this way. Beloved as a racial and national ghost is used to revive the memory of black innocence in the characters, thus creating a new type of black innocence. Chapter Five focuses on Seth's loss of self and rebuilding of self after the infanticide, and analyzes Sethe's “luck fall”. With the help of the community and self-nurture, Sethe “rises tragically” and becomes an innocent black character integrating with Beloved.By employing the magic realistic techniques, Toni Morrison blends skillfully innocence and reality, romance and novel. And by developing the theme of innocence in American literature she creates a new image of “American Adam”: Beloved is a new achievement in contemporary American novel writing.