Other Mother: A Critical Study of Toni Morrison’s Home

Abstract

Motherhood has been one of the prominent theme in literature, especially in Afro-American literature. The deconstruction of motherhood has become the intractable problem of twentieth century. Toni Morrison has used the image of another mother who is always there to cater a child when the real mother is missing. This dissertation analyzes the long-term effects of lack of parenthood on adults. Through the This story of two miserable siblings is universal, it is rather a story of every ignored child. Through the mouth piece of characters Morrison has thrown our attention on this sensitive issue. The effects of mismatched couple, slavery, lack of resources and displacement of feelings have always been prevalent in an African society. The mother of twentieth century is entirely different from the mothers of earlier age. The surrogates and other mothers have taken the charge over the irresponsible mothers. All the characters are there to mother Cee Frank, Sarah and Miss Ethel did it positively but Lenore and Dr. Beau even deconstructed the sacred image of a surrogate. The in depth textual analysis will reveal all the discrepancies and minutest details found within the text.