The Alienation Of Family Ethical Relationships In Toni Morrison's Fictions

Sula,Paradise,and God Help the Child as the representative works of the different periods of Morrison's writing career all focus on the black family,especially the growth of black girls,reflecting the ubiquitous racism,sexism,and cultural conflicts in American society.Based on the theory of family ethics and ethical literary criticism,this thesis attempts to analyze the alienated family ethical relationships and the impact on the black girls in these three novels,revealing Morrison's family ethical values reflected in her fictions,which are the harmonious family ethical relationships based on love and responsibility.The main body of this thesis is divided into five parts.The first part is an introduction which mainly introduces Morrison's writing background,artistic techniques,and literature review of Sula,Paradise,and God Help the Child at home and abroad,and then pointing out the purpose and originality of this thesis.The first chapter sheds light on the representation of the alienated family ethical relationships in black families.Through analyzing the distorted conjugal relationships and the twisted inter-generational relationships,this thesis attempts to reveal that it is the alienated family ethical relationships which are characterized by apathy and irresponsibility that cause the family tragedy.The second chapter mainly discusses the impact of the alienated family ethical relationships on black children.Due to the alienated ethical relationships,these black girls all have encountered many kinds of problems in the process of their growth,However,from Sula to God Help the Child,Morrison highlights that there exists a tendency among the black girls from rebellion to redemption.Sula rebels against the traditional family ethics,and she does not care for her family and is even indifferent to her mother's death,becoming an aberration in the black community.In Paradise,Billie suffers from apathy and maternal violence,and she is disappointed in her family and eventually escapes to a convent.As for Bride in God Help the Child,in order to be loved by her mother,she lies and perjures herself.Her childhood is overshadowed by this wrong ethical choice,but through redemption for her mistakes,Bride reconstructs her black identity and a harmonious family ethical relationship.In the third chapter,the emphasis is put on unveiling the reflection on the alienated family ethical relationship in these three novels.Owing to the oppression of white culture and the split of the black community,black people usually get confused and lose their black identity,and the ethical family relationships are alienated accordingly.In these three novels,Morrison expresses her ethical appeal and points out a reasonable way for black people to maintain the harmony of the family.Parents should set a good example for their children to express love.In addition,the harmony of family ethical relationship cannot be separated from the help of sisterhood.The conclusion part summarizes the alienated family ethical relationships in these three novels,stating that family ethics play an important role in the self-construction of children,especially in the self-identity of black girls who are marginalized in American society.As a writer with humanistic concern,through the emphasis of the alienated family ethical relationships,Morrison expresses her heartfelt sympathy for black people in the white-dominant society,and it makes a positive contribution to exploring the way that black people can help themselves and achieve self-improvement in the future.