Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Paradise Lost Essays (1203 words) - Paradise, Morrison, Ruby

Paradise Lost Paradise Lost, Paradise Gained Nine patriarchs found a town. Four women flee a life. Only one paradise is attained. Toni Morrison's novel Paradise revolves around the concept of paradise, and those who believe they have it and those who actually do. Morrison uses a town and a former convent, each with its own religious center, to tell her tale about finding solace in an oppressive world. Whether fleeing inter- and intra-racial conflict or emotional hurt, the characters travel a path of self-isolation and eventual redemption. In her novel Paradise, Toni Morrison uses the town of Ruby and four broken women to demonstrate how paradise can not be achieved through isolation, but rather only through understanding and acceptance. Morrison opens her novel with a narrative about the origins of the town of Ruby and how this seemingly black paradise is born out of isolation. Nearly a century before the founding of Ruby, nine Old Fathers lead a group of ex-slaves on a quest for a paradise on earth. On this quest they face the phrase 'Come Prepared or Not at All' (Morrison 13); however, they feel they [are] more than prepared--they [are] destined (14). Having been shunned by whites and light-skinned blacks alike and [b]ecoming stiffer, prouder with each misfortune (14), they are led by a mysterious man to their promised land just as the fiery whirlwind led the Israelites to the promised land of Canaan. It is in this promised land that the former slaves, led by the nine patriarchs, begin to build the town of Haven. At the center of this town, they build the Oven, which becomes a symbol of their solidarity and isolation from the rest of the world that has rejected them. Soon a thriving town emerges with strong moral ideals and views in order to keep the rest of the world at bay. Despite this isolation, the second generation of the founding fathers, upon returning from World War II, come to realize that their utopia is in danger. The citizens begin to associate with the outside world that had once despised them, and they became eager to get away and try someplace else (6). The town of Haven had gone from feet to belly in fifty years (5) and because of this the New Fathers decide to dismantle the Oven and relocate. The New Fathers sought to keep the dream of a paradise alive because they knew what they might become if they did not begin anew (6). Fifteen families pack their bags and leave to found the town of Ruby, a town isolated by ninety miles from anything. Just like its predecessor, Ruby is founded on the concept that isolation equals protection. The citizens view Ruby as a fortress [they] bought and built up and [which they had] to keep everybody locked in or out (213). It is a town where outsider and enemy are '. . . two words [that] mean the same thing' (212). They believe in their isolation so much that the outsider, Reverend Misner, feels like he [is] herding a flock which [believes] not only that it [has] created the pasture it [grazes] but that grass from any other meadow [is] toxic (212). In an effort to retain this isolation which they believe to be paradise, the citizens did not build anything to serve a traveler: no diner, no police, no gas station, no public phone, no movie house, no hospital (12). In spite of these efforts of self-isolation, the older residents of Ruby begin to realize that their so called paradise is in jeopardy. The younger residents have become complacent and seek to learn about the outside world and their African roots. The sanctity of the Oven is now becoming sullied by radio music and vandalism. The elders begin to look for a reason of what might be causing the destruction of their meticulously created paradise. They seek answers to questions of why [a] mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their honeymoons. Two brothers shot each other on New Year's Day. Trips to Demby for VD shots common (11). It is to

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