On Florens' Self-Pursuit In A Mercy From The Perspective Of Initiation Stories

Toni Morrison is a black female writer who has devoted her whole.life to the promotion of female rights,especially those of black women.She expresses her feminist thoughts and advocates women to write about themselves through writing.In addition,in most of her works,Morrison also depicts a dream in her heart:to build a free,equal,democratic and harmonious America.This deeply reflects Morrison's democratic thoughts.In 1993,she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.Since then,she has become globally reputed.Her works are more and more known by people,and her thoughts studied by scholars in more profound manners.In the literary world,she created her own unique writing style.Besides,in the ideological world,her feminine consciousness deserves people's deep thinking.Morrison is also very concerned about the growth of women,which is also shown in many of her works.She pays particular attention to the growth of black women.Growth is a stage that everyone must go through,In growth,people inevitably encounter some hardships and setbacks.Some grow through hardship,while others lag behind or even stagnate.Such difference mainly depends on a person's willpower,determination and strength.In the journey of one's growth,one has various encounters.However,no matter what the external environment is,the key factor in one's growth lies in oneself.In other words,ultimately,one needs to form self-consciousness and self-cognition to complete his self-construction and growth.This thesis mainly studies the self-pursuing of Florens,a little black girl in Morrison's ninth novel A Mercy,taking the perspective of initiation stories.Generally speaking,Initiation Stories have a certain basic narrative structure,and A Mercy is no exception.Florens gets confused and struggles on the journey of growth,in which,she eventually gets an epiphany and grows up by writing down her own experience.This thesis consists of an introduction,three body chapters and the conclusion:The introduction mainly introduces Morrison's personal experience as well as the publication and basic overview of her work A Mercy,the research status of A Mercy at home and abroad;and also includes the development history of Initiation Stories and the narrative characteristics of American initiation stories.Chapter One mainly analyses the factors that lead to Florens' absence of self-consciousness from three aspects:Jacob's invisible oppression,her partners and the failed identity education from Lina.In this chapter,the important influence on the growth of the heroine from different characters and the environment in general will be discussed.Chapter Two mainly analyses Florens' confusion and struggles during her journey by analyzing her psychology of self-protection,her hesitation and escape in front of freedom,and her dependence on romantic love as a redemption.The third chapter shows the realization of the heroine's self-pursuit after her epiphany.After being rebuked and abandoned,she begins to rethink and finally gets the epiphany.Self-writing is her way of self-fulfillment.In conclusion,through the analysis of Florens' self-pursuit,we can clearly see Morrison's attempt to encourage women to recognize themselves,to find themselves,and to grow up.