“Hurt right down the middle, but alive and well”: African American Gothic Elements in Toni Morrison’s Home

• Published in: Organon Vol. 35; no. 69; p. 1
• Main Authors: Rosana Ruas Machado Gomes, Gabriela Pirotti Pereira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Porto Alegre Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Instituto de Letras 04.03.2021
• Subjects: African Americans; American literature; Morrison, Toni (1931-2019); Novels; Rhetorical figures
• DOI: 10.22456/2238-8915.106943
• ISSN: 0102-6267

Toni Morrison’s Home presents the story of two siblings who return to their hometown of Lotus, Georgia, after facing several traumatic episodes throughout their lives. This article aims to observe and analyze the gothic elements presented in the novel—particularly those related to Ycidra’s tale. Those elements are discussed especially in their relation to the Gothic subgenre that Maisha Wester calls African American Gothic. Methodological procedures include a brief overview of the African American Gothic and an analysis and discussion of gothic themes in Home . The results show that Morrison employs and subverts some Anglo American gothic tropes in order to contest and critique the identities imposed upon black people by white gothic writers, thus offering an important revision of the genre.