Discuss how family dynamics or alienation affect Clytie’s mental stability and eventual suicide in Clytie. 2. Discuss how isolation affects the characteri

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Toni Morrison

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Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was one of the premier African American writers. Her books were about race, gender, and the history of America. Her best-known book Beloved, which she won the Novel Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize. Toni Morrison was from Lorain, Ohio, so you may wonder why we are studying her in a Southern Gothic class. First, Morrison’s father was from Georgia. Secondly, the text qualifies as Southern Gothic because it is set in the South with Gothic characteristics which enables it to be considered Southern Gothic Literature.

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The following are themes of the story:

African American people in the 50’s

Eugenics Movement

Facing the Truth

Haunted by the past

Isolation

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Themes continued:

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Community

Being saved and saving oneself

Trauma

Violence

War and the veteran

These themes coincide with the Southern Gothic ideology.

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Morrison illustrates the problematic life of blacks in the Deep South from the very beginning of the book, which is set in Georgia in the fifties. She opens the book with a scene that shows Frank and Cee as children. This childhood incident will bookend the beginning and ending of the book. The children watch as a black man is buried by the community. The children do not know what is going on, but they do notice that the community is distressed by the incident.

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Then, the narrative shifts to the present and Frank, who is in a psychiatric ward. Frank was in the Korean War and is now being forced to be in the psychiatric ward of a hospital because of his “mental problems.” Confinement is a major Southern Gothic characteristic. This is clearly what is happening with Frank’s inability to leave the hospital. His connection to Cee makes him realize he must leave and return home even if he has to run away.

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Frank does not know why he is held captive. Captivity is a major symbol of Sothern Gothicism, especially by unnamed people. It helps one see the victim as a true victim. It also may make you distrust the narrator because the author already presents him as possibly having a mental defect. The reader does not know whether to trust him or not. An unreliable narrator is also a characteristic of Gothicism. Through Frank Morrison is dealing with the return of the black soldier.

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Morrison chooses a war that does not get as much attention, and that is the Korean War. Most people have heard about the veterans of the Vietnam War, but the Korean War was not dealt with as much. So, Morrison wants to deal with blacks in the fifties along with the returning veteran and his psychological issues.

The idea of home starts to come into focus with Frank. Frank does not have a home, which is analogous to blacks not having a home.

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We find out from Frank’s childhood that he never had a real home as a child. His family was forced to move by a white mob into his grandparent's home. Frank and his sister were psychologically abused by their grandmother. Frank and Cee had only each other and felt very unloved growing up. So, in many ways, they never had a home. The reader finds out that Frank was arrested for vagrancy and put in the psychiatric ward. We now know that his place in the ward was racially motivated.

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Many times, till the seventies, if black people were walking around and sitting on a bench, they could be arrested for vagrancy. This illustrates the racial victimization of blacks.

Frank manages to escape the ward and is given the address of a reverend who can help him. His escape is premeditated on trying to rescue his sister Cee, whom he feels is endangered. Cee is the only person who connects him to some sense of stability.

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He finds a resting place at the Reverend’s place. As he rests, his mind goes back to Lilly, an ex who constantly stays in his mind. This connects to many soldiers who constantly thought of real women in their lives or had posters of women in their barracks, and these women helped them get through the difficulty.

The other issue with Frank is that he feels something happened in the war that he cannot remember, but it affects him subconsciously.

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As we discuss Frank, we now move to Cee. Cee is even more adrift than Frank. Even though the military has had some issues, it did give Frank stability for a while. She is struggling financially and has been dumped by her no-good husband. She cannot bear to return home and back to the repression of her grandmother. She gets a clerical job with Dr. Bauregard. Cee feels like she can create a life for herself by working for the white doctor.

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