A Mercy by Toni Morrison Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Mercy
Book Review: Delight and Frustration from Morrison's A Mercy
Summary: 2 Stars
Toni Morrison's ninth novel entitled A Mercy is a composite of seven narratives set on the Virginia plantation of Jacob Vaark, a "ratty orphan become landowner" (11). When Vaark dies from illness, leaving behind his wife, Rebekka, with the same life-threatening disease, panic ensues as the slaves wonder whose mercy they will be left to without an owner: "female and illegal, they would be interlopers, squatters, if they stayed on after Mistress died, subject to purchase, hire, assault, abduction, exile" (58). In an attempt to save her own life, Rebekka sends the wild Florens, a slave unable to "abide being barefoot," to find the blacksmith, a free black man with knowledge of medicine. And to complicate things even worse, Florens is deeply in love with him. As the readers follow Florens in her journey, they learn about how everything came to be on Vaark's farm, each character revealing information about themselves and the unique roles they play in colonial society. A Mercy is a novel, above all else, about the politics of power relationships, illustrating to the reader how the dominion of one-being over another can result from acts of purchase, willful submission, and mercy. Morrison is to be praised for her interesting use of the composite novel (a novel of multiple, interweaving narratives), the unique variety of characters she brings to life, and the questions she raises about sovereignty and dominion; however, A Mercy must be criticized for Florens' overly-distracting diction, Morrison's poor and sometimes tasteless use of particular literary devices, and its flaccid ending.
What fuels these narratives is the vast variety of characters Morrison provides. In addition to Florens' slave narrative, we also get the stories of Vaark (the landowner), Rebekka (his wife), Lina (a native-American slave), Sorrow (a redheaded slave with split personalities), and Willard and Scully (white, homosexual indentured slaves). In short, there's almost something for everyone to enjoy.
It is the diversity in Vaark's slaves that immediately catches the reader's attention and provokes the reader to question his traditional understanding of slavery. What is furthermore interesting in Morrison's novel is Florens' internal conflict as she tries to understand her relationship to her mother, who she feels abandoned her, and to the blacksmith. And it is plain to the reader that these are relationships concerned with dominion--that is, Florens seems to be confusing the relationships between a mother and child, a lover and a lover, and a master and a slave. In the first two, she desires to have a master, someone who possesses authority over her--which she confuses with love. It raises some interesting psychological questions like are persons brought up in dominating environments--such as slavery--, do they seek to be dominated in all other aspects of their lives? Also, are they brought up to compete for affection?
While all these things work to keep the reader entertained and thinking, A Mercy has plenty of flaws that detract from it. One such flaw is Florens' diction and stream-of-consciousness which is distracting, serving more as a nuisance than a poetic accent to the overall work. One of the frustrating details about Florens' diction is not that it is grammatically incorrect, but that she is grammatically inconsistent. At some moments Florens is poetically fluent: "What about the boneless bears in the valley? Remember? How when they movie their pelts sway as though there is nothing underneath?" (5). But then, most of the time, she sounds like a child: "Confession we tell not write as I am doing now. [...] I like talk. Lina talk, stone talk, even Sorrow talk. At first when I am brought here I don't talk any word. [...] Slowly a little talk is in my mouth and not on stone" (6). For the reader, it is incredibly frustrating to know that Florens possesses the ability to write fluently, but chooses to write like a child.
Morrison also falls short in her use of particular literary devices--swaying between unreasonable ambiguities and over-revealing clichés. One such instance where the later occurs is in her use of foreshadow in Vaark's chapter: "He dismounted twice, the second time to free the bloody hindleg of a young raccoon.... Once he succeeded, the raccoon limped off, perhaps to the mother forced to abandon it or more likely into other claws" (11). This is one of the moments in Morrison's novel where the reader almost feels let down by such shameless use of a cliché. The foreshadow fails because it uses that obvious and derogatory marker of African Americans--a `coon--to represent Florens and inform the reader what is about to happen: Vaark is going to save her. The reader knows exactly what is going to happen. And the problem is foreshadow is meant to be ambiguous, it is meant to allude, to hint--not notify.
On the other hand, while Morrison in A Mercy seems to have an affinity for clichés, she can also be ambiguous beyond reason; rarely does Morrison hit the mark between being too ambiguous or not ambiguous enough. One of the novel's important motifs is "a dog's profile play[ing] in the steam of a kettle" (1). While some connection between this motif and Florens is made--she apparently is "guarding"--it still makes very little sense. Any meaning can be wrestled out of this image, thus making it useless to the reader.
Toni Morrison has written a novel that is by no means her best. Nevertheless, despite Florens' mind-numbingly awkward diction, it's sometimes tacky use of literary devices, and its flaccid resolve, it is a novel that should be read for its use of the composite novel to create tension, the variety of character's she creates, and the though-provoking questions she raises about slavery and dominion.
Book Review: Disrealities of writing weaken realities of messages
Summary: 3 Stars
Toni Morrison's latest novel, A Mercy, is set in the late seventeenth century. A Mercy has aspects in which Morrison's ability shines, but overall the book fails to give a vibrant life to the time period because of the rough placement of historical details, the poorly developed characters, and the modern sensibilities of language and thought that burrow into the narrative.
The brutal instability of life in the time is quickly established by a narrator who, riding through dangerous territory tells the read it is so. In the beginning, the book develops the historical moment with the didactical nature of a text book; the narrator historical fact drops as opposed to the historical setting being illustrated through interlocking narrative details. This initial roughness smoothes out as the book continues but a flimsy base for the narrative has been established. A Mercy is lacking in the seamless inclusion of historical detail that is needed to bring historical fiction to life. Really all that marks the time setting of this book as 1690 and not some year within a hundred year time span, are proclamations characters make of the year. Otherwise, all that is shown is rugged rural life, fanatical religious practice, and the impact of the slave trade and related industries, which is a broad context that encompasses many years of colonial America. The story does not develop from the time, but seems to have been developed and then placed in the time; diminishing the impact of the book.
The characters come across as stereotypes because they are not developed as their own entities. There is an overlap in character among the four women of the book: Rebekka, Jacob's purchased wife; Lina, a Native American sold into slavery after the demise of her tribe from small pox; Sorrow, a slave rescued from drowning and now portrayed as delusional; and Florens, also a saved slave. All of these women were purchased; all of them retain some level of independence throughout the transaction, their freedom is derived from the bond they forge together. The underdevelopment of the characters results in perceived stereotypes. Many important character developments are summed up in hasty sentences rather than worked through with thoughts. Rebekka's initial withdrawal from religion is not explained; her parents were fanatics and raised their children to be so, why is she not? It is the Anabaptists' refusal to baptize her child that drives her from attending services, but before that her faith is already described as "weak" and that she, in complete opposition of her upbringing and surroundings, bore no "bone-deep hostility" to other religions. Lina creates her identity by "piecing together scarps of what her [Native American] mother had taught her before dying in agony....merged with Europe medicine". Lina's practice of her traditional culture is limited to phrases like "wearing bright blue beads and dancing in secret at first light when the moon is small." Lina's culture and her identity connected to her culture is distressingly vague or laughingly stereotypical. There is no character development here; only statements of character. And these statements of character seemed to make little effort to connect with the mind frame of the time.
Modern sensibilities ooze into the characters' language and thoughts. The historical realism of the narrative is weakened by language that is sometimes jarringly at odds with the time period (several published reviews of A Mercy cites instances where this is so). Jacob's stance on the qualities of a good wife, slavery, and animal abuse come across as a modern voice transposed onto a historical character. While it is very possible that some in colonial America would have shared similar views, Morrison's labored awkward statements make Jacob out to be more an instrument of her opinion rather than a reflection of the historical time period. The same goes for Rebekka's initial attitude towards religion: apathetic. Despite coming from a time when religion played a heavy role in most aspects of life and from a background of zealously religious people, Rebekka's resists somehow the influence that has been pounding on her since birth. She instead embodies a liberal mind frame of religious tolerance and a doubting state of mind that seems out of place in colonial times. Both of these characters fall away from these sensibilities by the end of the book; and it becomes apparent that these aspects of their character were not necessarily historically based, but needed to further a development of theme.
A Mercy does present an interesting dynamic between slavery and freedom, mercy and cruelty. But as historical fiction, this novel loses credibility and thus limits the impact of themes. The characters are flat and used as devices of theme development, not as an illustration of life in colonial America. The dynamic between the modern sensibilities of the reader and the historical sensibilities of the time is never established. Morrison is using the historical setting as a vessel of her thoughts on the world rather than a way to bring to life the complex tensions experienced in the time based on historical information. The lack of historical foundation in A Mercy prevents the potential impact of the book from being achieved. In failing to achieve an authentic historical sense, the themes and characters illuminate modern sensibilities rather than embodying authentic complexities of colonial America.
Book Review: Dissapointing
Summary: 2 Stars
Although Toni Morrision remains one of the finest inheritors of the American stream of consciousness tradition, her latest novel is a stiff and overly contrived reworking of old material. Doubtless, there are moments of true beauty and swagger in this brief novel about 17th century American slavery. However, Morrison's voice remains confused and self-conscious throughout the book. Allow me to provide an example. In the opening pages, the following transaction appears between two of the primary characters:
"As a result, Lina says, my feet are useless, will always be too tender for life and never have the strong soles, tougher than leather, that life requires. Lina is correct. Florens, she says, it's 1690. Who else these days has the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady?"
The problem with this exchange is that these are not characters speaking in 1690. This is Morrison speaking through characters in 1690. We are constantly being reminded various details about life in the 17th century. We are told that rum is more profitable than tobacco, that Barbados is "a stew of mulattoes, creoles, zambos, mestizos, lobos, chinos, coyotes." Morrison is writing as though she had a pile of history books always at her side. Her characters are never really allowed to breathe in this world. They simple exist as singular ideas in her pastoral canvas.
Book Review: Evocative, gripping, beautiful....
Summary: 5 Stars
Newly released, A Mercy takes place in the 1680's - the early days of the slave trade in the Americas.
Jacob is a trader who takes a small slave girl- Florens - in partial payment for a debt. The mother of the child begs him to take the girl, not herself. It is this act that has consequences for all the lives that are intertwined with that of Florens'. Florens joins Jacob's wife Rebekka, Lina, a servant and Sorrow, an indentured young woman, at their hardscrabble farm. Scully and Willard are also hoping to buy their freedom. Florens yearns for the blacksmith, an African who has never been enslaved.
Life at this time in history is defined and described from the viewpoint of each of these characters. Each character is enslaved to something in this new world - an owner, religion, wealth, desire and memory. The most poignant voice is that of Floren's mother. The last chapter of the book belongs to her and it ends on a powerful note.
Toni Morrison has a gift with words. Although it is tempting to read straight through to the end, I always take the time to savour and enjoy the language she uses.
..."especially here where tobacco and slaves were married, each currency clutching it's partner's elbow".
Toni Morrison is an amazingly gifted writer, having won both a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize. If you haven't experienced her yet, I encourage you to pick up any of her books.
Book Review: Exquisite prose, but. . .
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book to be confusing at times. And I am a great fan of Morrison's work and acknowledge that she is a brilliant writer. The book's concept is stunning in its objective, but at times, I felt lost in the story because of the writing style.