Woman Identity and Motherhood Assertion in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

This study is an investigation into the representation of women‟s identity, and motherhood assertion in Toni Morrison‟s Beloved. The story depicts a black mother‟s steady fight for survival during the time of slavery in America. Being threatened with death, she either escapes from the white hunters in hope of finding a shelter to live in peace; or indulges herself in risky measures to resist injustice and stereotype.The novel shows how Morrison draws on history, memory and imagination to invert western capitalist assumptions about black women. Further, the writer communicates the narration through the vantage point of the slave mother as an effective technique to verbalise the erased voice of black female characters within the context of the male biased western ideology.As a matter of fact, this novel, which is based on a true story, can be viewed as a great contribution of Morrison to the restoration of women‟s rights and to the creation of a deep sense of identity in black women in the milieu of slavery.

Keywords:

Femininity , Motherhood , Identity , Slavery