God Help the Child Themes

God Help the Child Themes

Family struggle

Because Louis and Sweetness already live extremely difficult lives, they already resent their innocent child when it is born for being too black. In this story, that means that their struggle will become perfectly unmanageable, they think, and so they often mistreat their child, Bride, and pretend not to be associated with her. Bride's experience of family is similar to her experience of race in the wider public, because in both places, she struggles to be accepted.

Race and skin-color

The novel certainly focuses a great deal on the issue of race, but instead of depicting the normal rift between race divisions, Morrison points inside her community to show that the issue of skin-color and race are actually divisive within their community. The rift is obvious: light-skinned Black people are treated better than those like Bride. Bride is described as blue-black. She is so dark that her parents are simply amazed—and embarrassed. They don't even let her call them "Mom" and "Dad."

Love and acceptance

Bride's name is a reminder of this thematic need in her life. Her experience of family is frustrating and lonely, but she doesn't know any better—it's her only family experience. She struggles to love herself because all around her, she receives feedback that suggests she is less worthy than others. These signals come through loud and clear from her parents. She longs for equality and acceptance, but she isn't sure how to get it. Secretly, the reader knows the problem lies within her society.

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