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Summary and theme of Toni Morrison's novel God Help the Child

Summary:

Toni Morrison's novel God Help the Child explores themes of childhood trauma, colorism, and the impact of past experiences on adult life. The story follows Bride, a dark-skinned woman whose mother rejected her because of her skin color. As Bride navigates her adulthood, she confronts her painful past and learns to embrace her identity and heal from her childhood wounds.

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What is the theme of Toni Morrison's novel God Help the Child?

I would argue that the themes of Toni Morrison's poignant novel are race issues and child abuse. Despite having blue-black skin that is described as beautiful, our protagonist, Bride, was rejected by her mother throughout her childhood for having skin that was too dark. According to her mother, ironically named Sweetness, Bride was too dark. Her mother made no effort to conceal her disgust for the child, and the neglect grew so strong that Bride longed for a spanking just to feel physical touch.

Bride's efforts to get her mother's attention get more creative, and result in the terrible decision to accuse someone innocent of a crime. Although Bride tries to make up for this as an adult, the fact that she has known only unkindness and neglect in her life hampers her efforts.

The theme of race is prevalent because had it not been for the deep-black color of her skin, which reminded her prejudiced mother of a Sudanese complexion, she would have had a more "normal" life, and not been abused and neglected by her mother. The theme of abuse is closely linked to that, because her race caused her to experience neglect and abuse at the hands of her mother.

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What is the summary of God Help the Child by Toni Morrison?

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison is a 2015 novel about the role of colorism in the abuse that parents inflict on their children.

As the novel’s protagonist, Lula Ann, who is known as Bride, is portrayed as a successful businesswoman before she turns thirty, with flashbacks to her difficult childhood. The book shows Bride growing up in a home where psychological and physical abuse are the norm, rather than the exception. Both parents are Black but also light-skinned and biased against dark skin.

Bride’s father, Louis, rejects his baby because of his colorist views, then abandons the family, thus leaving her mother, Sweetness, to raise the girl. Throughout Bride’s childhood, Sweetness justifies her biases as a way of coping with societal prejudice; she not only becomes increasing emotionally distant from her daughter, but publicly demonstrates that she is ashamed of her very dark skin.

After Bride leaves home, she becomes romantically involved with Booker, but this relationship falls apart when he leaves her. As Bride becomes increasingly successful in a cosmetics business, which has products for many skin tones, her personal life does not bring her emotional fulfillment. One defining episode concerns her efforts to make amends and help an incarcerated woman, Sofia, reenter society, which results in Sofia beating and disfiguring her. She embarks on a quest to find Booker and finally does so, after an auto accident that leads her to a transformative relationship with a couple named Steve and Evelyn. Her eventual reunion with Booker leads to confessions and forgiveness and her disclosure that she is pregnant with their child.

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