Abstract: Language is the medium by which one’s psychological experiences, emotions and imaginations can be recreated in the minds of the reader or listener. Through ages language has been the vehicle with which humans have communicated ideas to each other. Language has not only the power to heal and to comfort but also to retrieve the suppressed experiences of an individual from the past.
This paper seeks to discuss Toni Morrison’s novel A Mercy as a text that explores the common language uncommonly well in using it as a double edged sword. She subverts language in a rather complex play of words employing it as a powerful tool for the survival and continuance of existence for the voiceless. It becomes a means of identity construction as much as a tool of empowerment, for the marginalized to overcome their traumatic experiences. Key words: Toni Morrison, Suppressed Self,
I INTRODUCTION Language whether written or spoken does influence in the construction of our thoughts. It is a wide knowledge that the relationship between thoughts and language is interactive; both processes continuously influencing each other in many ways. Literature which has often reflected on society’s experiences and perceptions has also fostered ways of thinking.
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The primary thematic concern in most Morrison’s novels is the trauma of slavery and racial prejudices experienced by Afro- Americans. She uses language to retrieve the experience of Afro- American cultural traditions, and sense of identity. Language becomes a means by which the lives of African Americans history and culture are preserved. The Theory of Trauma argues that for its victims, denial of horrible events seems to be the easiest way out. It is also due to traumatic suffering that they do not speak of the occurrences and the ‘self’, itself that is subject to trauma, is kept