Abstract

GOMEZ R., Luís Fernando. Dysfunctional Families: One Central Theme in Two Fictional Works of Tony Morrison, Song of Solomon and Sula. Folios [online]. 2009, n.29, pp.119-127. ISSN 0123-4870.

Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize winner (1993), has been recognized as one of the most prominent novelists in the USA today. Her novels Song of Solomon and Sula rank enormous and original literary creativity through which she shows what it means to survive as an individual in the black families of America. Hence, this article explores the desperation and vulnerabilities of children who grow up in dysfunctional families and how they experience trauma and pain from their parents' unconventional actions and behaviors. The article accounts of the irregular experiences that the main characters of these two novels have to confront at hostile homes as they grow up changed, different from other children, and lack the essential educational guidance that prepare them for adulthood. Children are forced to assume unnatural roles within their families and, consequently, become dysfunctional members of society.

Keywords : Dysfunctional families; domestic violence; personality disorder; abnormal behavior; traumatic experience; marginalized childhood; symbolic decapitation.

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