Achieving Selfhood:Black Female Bildungsroman In God Help The Child

Toni Morrison,the African American Nobel Prize winner,always shows consideration for the lives and experiences of black females in the society dominated by white people.Her works explore the odysseys of black females bravely seeking their distinct identity.God Help the Child is her eleventh novel published in April,2015 which revolves around the growing experience of the protagonist Bride,who overcomes childhood trauma and becomes a confident and successful cosmetic designer.This new novel has received many book reviews and inspired some studies on the themes of childhood trauma,motherhood and racism from the perspective of post discourses,dialogism,ethical literary criticism and so on.Most of the studies focus on the trauma that the characters experience,highlighting the potential influences of adults on children and those of racism on black people.Different from the previous studies,this thesis studies God Help the Child as a Bildungsroman.It explores the growth of black women in the new century from the perspective of Bildungsroman so as to gain better knowledge of the initiation theme,and black women's growing experience in the 21st century.Bildungsroman is a literary genre that refers to a novel about the growing process of the protagonist who experiences transformation from innocence to maturity.This thesis holds that the multicultural social environment where "black is new black" provides opportunities for black females to achieve selfhood.As black people and black culture are becoming well-accepted by more people in the new century,black women have realized their own value and have become more confident in the course of self-development.However,racism and colourism still exist in American society.Nourished by traditional African culture and American individualism,black women in the new century continue to develop in twists and turns.Due to their self-awakening,the courage to confront ordeals,the aspiration to achieve economic independence,as well as nourishment from family love,black women have managed to establish their distinct identity as modern women with a strong sense of equality,confidence and independence.This study will promote further understanding of present black females' selfhood achievement as well as the concern for the growth of females in other underrepresented groups.