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Toni Morrison Home Trauma

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Trauma is a main theme in Toni Morrison’s novel, Home. The novel explores trauma and how it can have lasting effects on African Americans, particularly those who served in the war. The novel follows Frank Money, a Korean War veteran, and his sister, Cee, to show the impact of PTSD and generational trauma. Through Frank, we see how PTSD can affect an individual. Frank suffers from nightmares, flashbacks, and emotional detachment. Frank also suffers from alcoholism, which he uses as a coping mechanism. *Alcohol quote.* Through Frank, Morrison shows how people in traumatic events can process those events by dissociating. In the first part of the book, Frank describes how a fellow soldier shot a Korean girl in the face *Korean Girl quote*. However, when Frank begins to heal in the final part of the book, he admits that he was the one who shot her. *Korean Girl quote*. …show more content…

Morrison portrays generational trauma using Lenore, Frank and Cee’s grandmother. Lenore, being an older African American woman, has standards that she believes her family should live up to because society has instilled the belief in her. When she learns that Cee was born on the road rather than in a house or a hospital, she immediately believes that Cee is dirty and sinful. *Quote about cee being born on the road.* This belief causes Lenore to emotionally abuse Cee. She constantly lets the girl know that she is dirty and useless, and Salem, her grandfather, allows it to happen. Cee’s parents can’t protect her either because they have to work two jobs. So, Frank steps up as Cee’s only protector, leading to him getting abused by Lenore as well. Their unhappy home life led Frank and Cee to run away in search of appreciation and love. For Frank, it was the military. For Cee, it was any man that would make her feel

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