The Importance Of Double Consciousness In Toni Morrison's 'A Mercy'

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“Two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” (W.E.B. DuBois 2). This concept of double consciousness, coined by DuBois, deals with people viewing someone as different, making them feel unattached from society. In A Mercy, by Toni Morrison, while Florens and Sorrow experience double-consciousness, Lina’s experience with handling this feeling is important to her development. After being sold to Jacob, from her Presbyterian family, Lina finds a new home to form relationships in Virginia. First unware that she is different from those around her, Lina finds solace on Jacob’s farm. However, through Lina’s declining level of control, Toni Morrison suggests that to maintain one’s true identity, …show more content…

Once a loving, understanding, and supporting relationship, the friendship between Mistress and Lina begins to deteriorate after the death of Jacob. Mistress assumes a role of power over Lina, when she states, “outside sleeping is for savages,” (Morrison 186) like Lina. As a result, Lina begins to lose some of her control over her will to fight against how the world views her. Lina feels “a peculiar sensation…of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (W.E.B. DuBois 2). By forcing Lina recognize her status as a “savage,” Lina recognizes the idea coined by W.E.B. DuBois- “double consciousness.” She “continue[s] to do her work carefully, calmly but Scully disagreed, said she was simmering…the skin near breaking, needing quick removal, cooling” (Morrison 170). Lina attempts to remain level-headed, by trying to mix together the “savage” and her Native American roots. However, the overwhelming pressure of double consciousness causes her to “simmer.” As Scully states the “skin near breaking” Lina’s identity threatens to break free from her grasp. Lina spirals towards her final breaking point and eventual denouement—no longer able to find her true

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