Mother Knows Best

Allison S Curseen89 Comments

As Toni Morrison writes from a mother’s point of view throughout Sweetness, she uses repetition to reflect the mother’s conscience. The reader can feel the repetition’s impact when the mother says “But It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not.”(Morrison). 

Throughout Sweetness, the mother rejects responsibility for her daughter’s darker skin and even admits how she has not shown love to her daughter in the conventional way. She doesn’t let Lula Ann call her “Mother”, she was embarrassed by Lula Ann in the maternity ward and she even attempted to suffocate her when she was a baby. However, the mother continues to justify her actions and strictness on the basis of protecting her from an unjust society. 

Toni Morrison uses repetition to demonstrate how the mother’s insecurity of her own blackness and awareness of reputation impedes her from forming an authentic, loving relationship with her daughter. 

As the mother rejects responsibility for her daughter’s dark skin color, she rejects Lula Ann as a daughter. The mother also does this when she makes her call her Sweetness, rather than mother. She explains how the purpose of her nickname is so that surrounding people wouldn’t be frightened. Moreover, she prioritizes how people view her over her relationship with her daughter. When she repeats “it’s not my fault,” she gets defensive and doesn’t want her daughter’s dark skin color to be traced back to her; furthermore, she rejects and disdains the blackness within herself and projects that onto her daughter. 

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