A Distorted World: Slavery Only Brings Misfortune
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (New International Version, John. 8.12). As an embodiment of God, light radiates truthfulness and morality, illuminating the path to heaven. However, in Morrison’s novel A Mercy, light evolves into a synonym for power and dominance as slavery spreads in the New World. Some lose their access to light and wander in boundless darkness. Others head to the opposite direction to heaven under the guidance of this “new” light. As she depicts the prevalent struggle with power through the symbol of light, Morrison reveals the adverse effects of slavery on both the enslaved and the
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As the sunlight illuminates the wealth D’Ortega enjoys with ease, Jacob displeases at his arduous life and ultimately decides to gain more wealth through sugar plantation, a practice that he originally opposes to as cruel and inhumane. With the wealth he accumulates through slavery, Jacob builds his “third and presumably final house” which “[distorts] sunlight” (50) The distortion of sunlight reveals that the profitable nature of slavery twists Jacob’s morality and blinds him of the cruelty of slavery, directing him onto an everlasting journey to seek more wealth. ultimately a tragic death of smallpox, a disease he acquires from his tropical plantations. His loyal partner, Rebekah, also suffers from the same disease, her husband’s sugar plantation indirectly. During her husband's extended absence for business, Rebekah feels loneliness “[standing] in molten sunlight” (109). “Molten” reveals that Rebekah can not endure the extreme heat that the sun releases. Jacob’s pursuit of excessive power and wealth harm her wife at the