From telling scary stories to teaching multiplication tables, a mother takes on a myriad of roles. Yet as a mother becomes more fully devoted to her child, she loses connection with other facets of herself. The consummation of motherhood subjects the mother to a tenuous identity. In her works Beloved, “Recitatif” and “Sweetness,” Toni Morrison forces her reader to acknowledge the uncomfortable realities of a mother's transformation. Her works explore the intersecting relationships between a mother, her community and her child. These relationships influence each other. Through this, Morrison paints a specific picture of the mother: that of a fractured identity. His characters detach themselves from the invariable attributes of their personality in an attempt to repress the past. Morrison interrupts their lives with their memories, forcing them to confront their unthinkable guilt. In doing so, mothers overcompensate, abandoning their own identity. This allows the power dynamic to shift toward the child. Morrison's protagonists are deeply shaped not by their work, their relationships, or their community, but by their motherhood. The all-consuming nature of motherhood highlights the tenuous identity of the mother figure. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Beloved and “Recitatif,” the mothers’ sacrifices simultaneously demonstrate their devotion and consume their identities. Sethe and Roberta prove the limitless nature of a mother's love by breaking off outside relationships to protect their children. Morrison suggests that a mother's sacrifice is as natural as self-preservation. Therein lies Sethe and Roberta's self-abandonment, repressing all facets of identity unrelated to their child. Because of this, the mother isolates herself from her community and, ultimately, from herself. Roberta demonstrates her unwavering devotion to her children: “It's not about us, Twyla. Me and you. It's about our children. What's more than that? (Morrison, “Recitative” 12). Roberta and Sethe sacrifice their lifelong friendship for a conflict centered around the presupposed “best interests” of their child. External relationships are made negligible compared to the bond between mother and child. Even more intensely, Sethe from Beloved pushes the limits of maternal love by murdering her little daughter. In this act of heroic sacrifice, Sethe embodies motherhood par excellence. She chooses to spare her children the suffering of Sweet Home, not wanting to stand idly by while the teacher takes them away. “And if she thought anything, it was no, no, no. Nonono…” (Morrison, Beloved 163). The passage records Sethe's thoughts, her language reduced to the repetitive "Nonono" as she imagines an alternative future for her children. "...Simple. She just flew. I gathered together every piece of life she had created, every part of her that was precious and fine and beautiful" (Morrison, Beloved 163). Like Roberta, Sethe finds herself incapable of determining an independent identity for her children. To allow a teacher to enslave her children would be to take away the most “beautiful” parts of herself. In Beloved and “Recitatif,” sacrifice becomes as instinctive as it is. Madsen Hardy comments on Roberta and Twyla's protest, rooted in their children: "Roberta opposes busing on the grounds of 'mother's rights'. Twyla supports busing on the grounds of 'mother's rights.' children”” (Madsen Hardy 72).is not a member of the community, a friend or a citizen on the edge of prison. Morrison's protagonists reject external facets of identity and allow motherhood to consume them. With this in mind, Sethe and Roberta not only sacrifice themselves for their children, but also give up elements of their personalities. While their sacrifice allows them to preserve their identity as mothers, they neglect external attributes. As a result, the mother withdraws on her own. By protecting their children from the evils of the world, Sethe and Roberta isolate themselves from the community. The mother's tenuous sense of identity manifests itself in her isolation in Beloved and "Sweetness." When the community rejects Sethe and the Narrator, they lose their emotional outlet. No longer able to cope with their pain, mothers detach themselves from the inalienable elements of their identity. This detachment constitutes their fractured sense of self. The black community envelops Sethe in love and safety, allowing her to experience spiritual and social unity. Yet upon witnessing her sacrifice, the community rejects Sethe. “The twenty-eight days spent having friends, a mother-in-law and all her children together; to be part of a neighborhood; in fact, to have neighbors who belong to him - all that is long gone and never returned” (Morrison, Beloved 173). Sethe finds herself on the outside, banished from her own people. Due to the lack of community, Sethe has no way to express her deep suffering. By suppressing her painful memories as a final coping mechanism, Sethe finds herself unable to reconcile with her community or with herself. By neglecting her past, Sethe submits to a fractured identity. Light-skinned, the narrator of “Sweetness” parallels Sethe’s isolation from the community. Not entirely black and white, Morrison traps the Narrator on the periphery of belonging. Mothering a black child reveals the Narrator's suppressed resentment toward his people. She is proud of her Caucasian features: “I have light skin, with beautiful hair, what we call bright yellow, just like Lula Ann's father. There’s no one in my family that’s close to that color” (Morrison 1). The Narrator detaches herself from an invariable element of her identity: her race. She expresses her sense of alienation in a racially polarized world by excluding Lula Ann from her family. Now a light-skinned woman and the mother of a dark-skinned child, the Narrator has no chance of joining a community on either end of the racial spectrum. Lacking an outlet, the narrator uses Lula Ann as a scapegoat. Beloved and “Sweetness” demonstrate how individuals need their communities to develop their identity. In “Sweetness,” the narrator’s rejection by her community prevents her from reconciling her fractured self-esteem. In contrast, the community of Beloved saves Sethe from the total destruction of her identity as they unite to exorcise the past. The black mother's quest for a positive definition of herself is intimately linked to the absence or presence of community. Morrison's contrasting narrative styles in Beloved and "Recitatif" act as the first clue to the protagonists' fractured sense of self. By incorporating the past, she lays the foundation for the mothers' identities and allows the reader to empathize with her characters. The stories span long periods of time, showcasing the repetitive nature of the past. Through his narrative style, Morrison draws Sethe and Twyla into the past, despite their struggle to escape it. In Beloved, Morrison seamlessly interweaves past and present, gradually revealing the horrors hidden in Sethe's memories. In this way, Sethe's past and presentbecome interchangeable. Morrison's lack of a definitive timeline reinforces Sethe's fractured sense of self. Sethe reflects on her distorted perception of time: “I used to think it was my memories. You know. Some things we forget. Other things you never do. But that’s not the case” (Morrison, Beloved 35). Sethe's past festers in the present, fostering an unhealthy environment for her psyche. Sethe's confusion leads to her descent into madness. In “Recitatif,” specific spotlights highlight transformative moments that compromise Twyla’s self-esteem. Repetitive patterns establish Twyla's entrapment in the past. Morrison uses the revelation of her protagonists' identities to establish their maternal struggle. Sethe's all-consuming devotion to her children is rooted in her own mother's neglect. Her own "madam" leaves her in slavery, so Sethe vows not to make the same mistake. Providing Sethe's education before revealing her infanticide allows the reader to sympathize rather than reject. In the same vein, Twyla's abandonment at the orphanage explains her unfailing desire to protect her child. Her memories of helplessness, manifested in her mother, force Twyla to reject outside relationships for the sake of her son. In a narrative style, Morrison uses time to explore the evolving identities of mothers. Beloved and “Recitatif” extend over long periods of time, serving to exploit the vicious cycles of its characters’ memories. Sethe repeatedly uses the active phrase “memory” to indicate the uncontrollable force of the past, independent of the one who remembers. These “memories” allow Sethe to become aware of her connection with the past. Similarly, Twyla's encounters with Roberta reinforce the repetitive cycle of her memories. Initially, Twyla plays the innocent child subject to her mother's racial prejudices. As an adult, Twyla holds the same biased beliefs. In “Récitatif” and Beloved, the past interrupts the present, forcing the mothers to recognize its effect on their identities. “Morrison, it seems, is suggesting a different kind of intervention, one involving history and memory. What is happening, if not the repression of one's personal history? (Peterson 207). She forces her characters to confront the unthinkable objects of their repression as they inevitably return from the past. Her characters undergo the painful process of memory while simultaneously healing their fractured identities. By balancing the past with the present, Morrison disillusions the mothers' evolving sense of self. In all three texts, the mother's education highlights her identity. The milk motifs in “Sweetness” and Beloved examine contrasting mother-child relationships. “Recitative” presents food as a symbol of physical and emotional support. Different levels of education broaden the mother's identity. The narrator of “Sweetness” corrupts arguably the purest act between mother and child. She refuses to breastfeed her daughter and remarks: "All I know is that for me, breastfeeding her was like having your pacifier sucked by a pickaninny." I started bottle-feeding as soon as I got home” (Morrison 1). Sethe contrasts directly with the Narrator's disgust, devastated by his loss of breast milk. Abused and burned, Sethe focuses on her inability to provide for her child rather than the pain of being assaulted. The symbol of milk highlights Sethe and the Narrator's identity as mothers. Dehumanized by a racially polarized world, the Narrator's self-hatred manifests in his inability to provide for Lula Ann. She degrades her daughter, calling her a “pickaninny”despite the darkness of the Narrator. His initial rejection proves the Narrator's broken sense of self. On the other hand, Sethe only wants to feed her daughter to compensate for her overwhelming guilt. The Narrator's internal conflict prevents him from breastfeeding Lula Ann. In this light, Morrison bases a mother's identity on her ability to raise her child. This translates to “Recitative” through the representation of food. The story's main settings, from restaurants to grocery stores, show that upbringing ultimately determines a mother's identity. Roberta's mother prepares a home-cooked meal while Twyla's mother brings nothing. Twyla remembers her mother's inability: "Bad food is always served by the wrong people." Maybe that’s why I started working as a waitress later: to connect the right people with the right food” (Morrison 3). In her adult life, Twyla seeks to fulfill the care her mother could not provide. The contrast of the girls in meals as children draws a parallel with their meeting at Howard Johnson's. Roberta is given food again while Twyla is left to fend for herself. When the girls meet as mothers in a grocery store, they must take care of their children. Through the motif of food, Morrison traces Roberta and Twyla's identities as mothers. Sethe of Beloved compares, the head of her family. In providing for their children, mothers discover an unlikely source of empowerment. Yet feeding Beloved only fuels Sethe's guilt. Excessive eating causes Sethe to starve. In "Recitatif", a lack of support leaves Twyla confused about her past. Different levels of education reveal the tenuous identity of the mother. Power dynamics shift as guilt corrupts the mother's identity. Originally, the mother's power allows her to protect her child. However, the protagonists of “Sweetness” and Beloved misuse this power, leading to the separation of the child. Sethe and the Narrator's all-consuming guilt allows their daughters to gain power in their relationship. Parent and child reverse roles as the mother begs for forgiveness from her daughter, preventing mother and child from maintaining a healthy relationship. The narrator intends to spare his child the discrimination faced by a dark-skinned woman in an unforgiving society, but his misplaced power results in Lula Ann's psychological abuse. As his guilt fester, the power dynamic shifts. She makes fun of her mother by sending her a letter announcing her pregnancy. However, “there is no return address on the envelope. So I guess I'm still the bad parent forever punished for the well-meaning and, indeed, necessary way I raised her. I know she hates me” (Morrison, “Sweetness” 12). Beloved parallels Lula Ann's rise to power, growing stronger and stronger as Sethe weakens. “The beloved ate her life, took it, swelled with it, grew with it.” Morrison uses imagery to signify Beloved's consumption of Sethe's identity. Beloved draws on Sethe's past and imbues itself with her identity. “…And the older woman gave it in without a murmur” (Morrison 250). Once Sethe recognizes the woman as her granddaughter, Sethe spoils her as compensation. As Sethe's remorse grows, so does Beloved. Sethe becomes so obsessed with feeding on her guilt that she refuses to eat. Sethe overfeeds her daughter, thereby neglecting herself. Beloved personifies Sethe's guilt, forcing Sethe to surrender as a sign of appeasement. With Beloved, Sethe has the opportunity to live out two fantasies..