Violence In The Breedloves, By Toni Morrison

The fact that the Breedloves were heavily discriminated against by others because of their appearance is truly something to be infuriated by. However, it should also be noted that the family itself helped contribute to this by playing into the stereotypes they were being grouped in. The matriarch of the family, Pauline, was a very interesting character to follow. Her personality greatly contrasted between her family and the family she worked for. For example, when Pecola, Frieda and Claudia address her, they always address her as Mrs. Breedlove. However, when she is at the house of the family she works for, we learn that the small, white girl that lives there refers to her as Polly. While it may seem like an insignificant detail, it is actually

Besides actually going out into the streets and organizing protests, one could sign petitions, join activist groups, or even just write something positive about the cause. Toni Morrison was an activist, but not in the typical form we think about. Morrison’s books were pieces of activism in themselves. This could be said because Morrison made sure to discuss topics in her literature that were extremely difficult to talk about, even today. Racial profiling, sex, pedophilia, and violence are taboos not typically encountered in normal, everyday readings. It takes a certain type of writer to delve into such subjects without becoming overly offensive or crude. Morrison perfectly fits the bill of that writer. Her postmodern style of writing helps to blur the lines of social hegemony. Not only this, but she helps to incorporate both modernist and feminist ideals into her novel (Lanser). The character of Claudia is a perfect example of how feminism can be seen in everyday life. For being no more than eleven years old, Claudia is arguably the most dynamic and individualistic character in the whole book. Her personality and behavior completely defy what would have been expected of her at the time of the novel’s writing. We almost get the impression that Morrison may have been writing about herself when writing about Claudia (Ramirez). In any case, Morrison does a very good job of trying to make characters that both exemplify

I think she was even trying to imply that the issue reached much farther than anyone could have possibly grasped. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Ling Jr. said it best by saying “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere”. The fact of it is, we as a country went through incredibly difficult times, as far as human equality and civil rights are concerned. One may think: what wicked thoughts would one have to think in order to hate others based on nothing more than the color of their skin? The sad truth is, that question can’t be answered easily. It is extremely difficult to fully comprehend what people thought, and how they behaved towards people of color during the 40s and 50s. Toni Morrison can give us some insight into what caused this completely absurd narrative that “white people are better because we are white.” By giving us a variety of different groups of people who were present at the time to analyze, Morrison is able to shed light on a normally rather dark issue with relative ease. Why was she able to do so? Simply because it needed to be done, and still needs to be done in today’s world. Society cannot continue to allow such prejudicial thoughts enter our minds. I, quite frankly, am glad that Morrison was able to discuss such dark and depressing topics in the manner that she did. Even today, her