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Although Toni Morrison’s work mentions aspects of the American Dream, her literature brings to light the differences that both races experience between The American Dream and American reality

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American Author Research Project: Toni Morrison

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From our Archives: A 1981 Interview with Toni Morrison

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From our Archives: A 1981 Interview with Toni Morrison

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In order for African Americans to embed themselves into American Society and have the ability to have equal opportunity as whites, they have to disassociate themselves with black culture, traditions, and past creating rifts in inequality and alienation. In this interview, Morrison states, “ “Blacks were forcibly cut off, prevented from keeping most of their culture, even though they hung on to vestiges…Forces called "success."There's a strong tendency on the part of black people…to do the same thing [get rid of culture] that upwardly mobile national people in this country do, which is: Get rid of it.” Black People were forced to create a new version of their identity and culture in order to be successful within America. Whites caused major shifts in black attitudes and culture within the United States. The American Dream was unreachable for those who still have their culture and tradition in the black community. Those few wealthy folks have been “whitewashed” and forced to adapt to white ideals and culture in order to be considered a “success”. The American Dream states equal opportunity and availability to all no matter race, ethnicity, gender, or age, however, it becomes unavailable to those who don’t act a certain way of the status quo. Morrison sees this and writes about it showing how black culture has been destroyed and how blacks are forced to succumb to suppressive whites and their ideas. Morrison clearly does not support the idea of The Availability of The American Dream to everyone.

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African Americans were denied access to The American Dream and equal opportunity through slavery. This can be seen in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, as well as in the primary source analysis of it “Beloved: Themes and Construction”. In this analysis, the author states “Slavery seeks to erase identity. It allows the powerful to replace their subjects' human identities with animal identities. Slavery replaces self-worth with monetary value and alienates people from themselves”. Slavery can erase entire cultures and implant new ways of thinking among those who are easily manipulated. Those who fall victim to this slavery can be seen as worthless and less important than those who have slaves. Slaves are seen, not as people, but as subordinates with no rights, freedom, or ability to achieve what they work towards. They are not given equal opportunities nor are they given the chance to prove themselves. The American Dream is nonexistent for those who suffer the consequences of slavery.

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In order to gain status and access to The American Dream within American Society, African Americans had to disassociate themselves from their culture and past. Toni Morrison writes about this and much more within her book Song of Solomon, a book describing the struggles of Blacks in American Society. Within that book she describes these issues, “Finally, Morrison presents the character Geraldine, a representative of blacks who wish to "move up" in the world and assimilate into white culture and scorn anything or anyone that reminds them they are black, an issue she also addresses in her novels Song of Solomon and Tar Baby. Morrison saw this kind of person as a problem in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement” Morrison was ahead of her time in the way that she was writing about African American experiences and how Blacks could not achieve the same as Whites. They were given unequal chances and the inability to represent themselves with their own culture. The American Dream states equal opportunities for all and having to destroy an entire part of the tradition and your past to get nothing in return is horrific.

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Morrison Criticizes utopian authors for their tendency to omit African Americans from their perfect ideals of The American Dream. Toni Morrison knew The American Dream was one-sided, and for Black People it was non-existent. In the article Utopias and Dystopias, “Autobiography (like Parallel before it) illustrates the great contradictions of the Gilded Age that reading utopian literature through history and reading history through utopian literature make one face: for women and blacks, The American dream is a false one.” Morrison knew African Americans even in literature were not included, they were seen just to make music and serve others. When in fact, their culture and tradition are what shaped America today as we know it. Toni Morrison focuses on the differences of The American Dream for both whites and blacks. Exploiting how poorly Blacks are treated and how little opportunity they were given in comparison to Whites.

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1. Lewis, Maggie. "From our archives: A 1981 interview with Toni Morrison." Christian Science Monitor, 7 Aug. 2019. Gale
In Context: High Schoollink.gale.com/apps/doc/A595929418/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=404a3fb4. Accessed 17 Feb. 2022.

2."Themes and Construction: The Bluest Eye." EXPLORING Novels, Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2111500010/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=4b4f9d54. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

3. Kolmerten, Carol A. "Utopias and Dystopias." American History Through Literature 1870-1920, edited by Tom

Quirk and Gary Scharnhorst, vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006, pp. 1155-1160. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3470800252/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=9e0aa604. Accessed 21 Feb. 2022.

4. "Beloved: Themes and Construction." Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2012. Gale In Context: High

School,link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2181500244/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=af1e8545. Accessed 18 Feb. 2022.