Revue LAROS
Volume 10, Numéro 1, Pages 594-608
2018-01-01

Daughters Of Distanced Mothers: The Quest Of Selfhood In Toni Morrison's Sula (1973) And The Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982)

Authors : Bellahcene Mallek .

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of maternal loss in Toni Morrison's Sula (1973) and Alice Walker's the Color Purple (1982). Maternal loss, in this paper, refers to the disconnection between Black mothers and their daughters. This disconnection leads these daughters to establish a bonding that may replace the lost mother-daughter bonding and promote their search for selfhood. Celie, The Color Purple's protagonist, forges a very intimate relationship with Shug, and Sula and Nel, the protagonists in Sula become exceptionally attached. More precisely, this paper sheds light on the way the women's bonding enable them to survive maternal loss and androcentric and racial biases as well as sustain their quest of selfhood.

Keywords

maternal loss, mother-daughter bonding, Black Womanhood, selfhood.