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This paper studies the trauma narrative of Toni Morrison’s novel, A Mercy(2008), using a cognitive narratological framework. The authors, in this paper, describe the response the novel elicits from the reader. And the paper argues that multiple focalization, polychronic narration, and representation of inconsistent information enable Morrison to depict effectively the devastating effects of trauma—whether sexual, socioeconomic, or racial—on individual personality. Various characters of multi-ethnic origins narrate the novel and certain events are told repeatedly from different vantage points. Thus, the narrative calls forth continuous efforts on the part of the reader to process the complex and bewildering information emerging from the novel’s storyworld. A cognitive approach to the study of the novel provides an understanding of the behavior of the traumatized and the impact of slavery on black people’s consciousness and identity. Moreover, the approach gives insight into the manner in which the narrative engages the readers cognitively in such a way that it enables their comprehension of the relationship between individual trauma and social forces of injustice and oppression.
This paper studies the trauma narrative of Toni Morrison’s novel, A Mercy (2008), using a cognitive narratological framework. The authors, in this paper, describe the response the novel elicits from the reader. And the paper argues that multiple focalization, polychronic narration , and representation of inconsistent information enable Morrison to depict effectively the devastating effects of trauma-whether sexual, socioeconomic, or racial-on individual personality. Various characters of multi-ethnic origins narrate the novel and certain events are repeatedly detected from different vantage points. Thus, the narrative calls forth continuous efforts on the part of the reader to process the complex and bewildering information emerging from the novel’s storyworld. A cognitive approach to the study of the novel provides an understanding of the behavior of the traumatized and the impact of slavery on black people’s consciousness and identity. Moreover, the approach gives insight into the mann er in which the narrative pin the readers cognitively in such a way that it able able to comprehension of the relationship between individual trauma and social forces of injustice and oppression.