On Bride's Growth In God Help The Child

Toni Morrison,the winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993,is the leading figure of African-American women's literature.In 2015,Toni Morrison's 11^th novel God Help the Child was published,which drew people's attention immediately.This novel is mainly about the childhood trauma of the heroine Bride and how the childhood trauma affects her growth.This thesis mainly deals with Bride's growth in the interactions with others from the perspectives of psychoanalysis and feminist criticism.This thesis is composed of five parts.The introduction gives information about Toni Morrison and her works and reviews the foreign and domestic research on God Help the Child.Chapter One defines God Help the Child as an initiation novel based on its definition and features,which can be categorized as an initiation novel as regards Bride's growth.Chapter Two explores how Bride grows up through reconciliation with her mother,who causes trauma to Bride under the influence of racism and colorism.The third chapter focuses on Bride's growth in the relationship with her boyfriend Booker.Bride changes from a woman who only tries to please him to a woman of self-affirmation.Through communicating and sharing childhood experiences with each other,their relationship becomes closer and harmonious.The fourth chapter reveals the important role that other characters play in Bride's journey of growth and they are the guides of hers,who either makes her realize what is wrong or leads her to the right.In conclusion,one's growth is closely related to his or her family.If he or she is not lucky enough to be born in a society of justice or a family of love,he or she can change his or her fate by becoming a stronger self.Bride's experience of growth is meaningful and instructive to those who suffer from childhood trauma and desire for a complete personality.