Mothers and Othermothers in Toni Morrison's Paradise

For a black woman, the journey to finding one's voice is initiated through the first major relationship of life, the one with her mother. The relationship between mother and child begins before the child enters the world. Mothers are the givers of life. They carry their children in the womb and nurse them through childhood. The instinctual, primary concern of most mothers is to protect their child from harm. Theorist Patricia Hill Collins describes the act of becoming a mother as "a significant step towards womanhood" (Collins 137). Motherhood is symbolic of hopefulness and mothers bring children into the world with the hope and desire to see them grow up and flourish into valuable human beings. The relationship between mother and child (mother and daughter, more specifically) provides definition, value and empowerment. It is the mother's role to instill these values in their daughters. However, at the same time daughters affirm these values in their mothers. Collins defines one perception of mothering, stating "motherhood can serve as a site where Black women express and learn the power of self-definition, the importance of valuing and respecting ourselves, the necessity of self-reliance and independence, and a belief in Black women's empowerment" (Collins 118). She further states that "others see motherhood as providing a base for self-actualization, status in the Black community, and a catalyst for social activism" (Collins 118) In Paradise, the complex relationship between mothers and daughters can be seen in the relationship between the Best women, Delia, Patricia and Billie Delia.

Delia is married to Roger Best and is described as a "hazel eyed girl with light brown hair." Delia is said to have no name and no family. Because of her white features, Delia is ostracized in the town. She is thought to be a reminder of the oppressors that the 8-rock group sought to leave behind them. Delia dies during childbirth because none of the men in the town are willing to assist in getting her help Delia's premature death made it impossible to instill in her daughter Patricia the values and self-identity that she needed to survive in Ruby. Delia's role as a mother is that of activist. She and her husband are aware that of the fact that she is not wanted in the town of Ruby, however, they come anyway. Additionally they attempt to build a legacy by having a family. Unfortunately, this is cut short with the death of Delia

Patricia Best is the daughter of town mortician/ambulance driver Roger Best and his wife Delia. Patricia's lack of a mother growing up has a definite impact on her role as a mother. Patricia does not have a role model to emulate in her dealings with her daughter, Billie Delia. When Billie Delia is a child and pulls down her panties in anticipation of the horse ride, Patricia is overcome with shame and as a result ostracized her own daughter. She fails at that moment to act as an activist for her daughter. Instead she joins the town in their mistreatment of her daughter. Patricia exemplifies the opposing view of motherhood than that of her own mother. As Collins points out "some women view motherhood as a truly burdensome condition that stifles their creativity, exploits their labor, and makes them partners in their own oppression (Collins 118). For Patricia motherhood further diminishes her status in the community. She continues to be an outcast of sorts. "Pat realized that ever since Billie Delia was an infant, she thought of her as a liability somehow. Vulnerable to the possibility of not being quite as much of a lady as Patricia Cato would like (Morrison 203) Patricia attempts to become a part of the community that refuses to let her in my making herself the official historian of the town of Ruby. She attempts to record that familial history. "Patricia Best assumes the role of a scribe, testifying to the public and private traumas experienced by her predecessors. As a writer Patricia reproduces family and community history on paper" (Yukins 222). However, this act only fuels her alienation. Although the project starts off as a gift to Ruby, she soon realizes that it only magnifies the separations that she encounters in the town.

While working in her genealogy project, Patricia writes a letter to her mother. The act of letter writing has long been a tool for exploring the minds and hearts of women. In letter writing, the woman is able to express herself fully and without filter. In the letter to her mother, Patricia attempts to reclaim some of her mother's memories. She writes to her mother: "The women really tried, Mama. They really did...You must have believed that deep down they hated you, but not all of them, maybe none of them" (Morrison 199). Patricia's letter can also be seen as an attempt to affirm her own standing in the community. It is easier for Patricia to believe that they do not hate her. Elizabeth Yukins describes Patricia's attempts to reclaim her mother's memories and the impact on what she terms her "bastard narrative." She states: "the daughter's access to their mother's memories are either blocked or lost, and it is the poignancy of the absent mother and inaccessibility of her memories that structures and compels the daughter's bastard narrative." (Yukins 227). Patricia's inability to connect with these memories, which would provide a comfort and figurative community for Patricia, parallels her inability to be an effective mother to her daughter. She is still holding on to the past. Patricia's first act of motherhood comes when she burns all of her notes and papers for the genealogy project. By freeing herself of the project, she is freeing her mother's memories also. In this act, Patricia frees herself, frees the memory of her mother and possibly will have a chance at being a better mother to Billie Delia.

Billie Delia is Patricia Best's daughter with deceased 8-rock member Robert Cato. Although Billie Delia's father is an 8-rock member, she physically resembles her grandmother. Billie Delia is resented and degraded in the same manner that her grandmother was. She is first referenced in the novel as "the fastest girl in town and speeding up by the second" (Morrison 59). This characterization is linked solely on her "odd, rosy-tan skin and wayward brown hair" (Morrison 93). Despite the town's thoughts of her, Billie Delia is actually one of the most moral characters in the novel. She proves to be a good friend to Arnette. She is sympathetic to the women at the Convent and befriends them. Billie Delia is the moral center of the novel. She is able to escape the so called "paradise." Her escape is made possibly not by her own mother, but by other mothers. Other mothers are the women in a child's family or community who provide mothering. They are not biological mothers, but provide the same nurturing that ideal mother would. These are women in a community that step in when biological mothers are unable to. She says, "othermothers are key not only in supporting children but also in helping bloodmothers who, for whatever reason lack the preparation or desire for motherhood" (Collins 120) The actions of othermothers demonstrate "a rejection of separateness" (Collins 131). Dovey Morgan serves as an "othermother" to Billie Delia. She spends time gardening with the girl and takes an interest in her thoughts and ideas. When Billie is away at the Convent, it is Dovey who wonders about her: "Dovey missed her and wondered what Billie Delia thought of changing the Oven's message" (Morrison 93). Dovey's acceptance of Billie Delia is a rejection of the isolation she is subjected to by her mother and the men of Ruby. This provides Billie Delia with self-value. Anna Flood also shows concern over Billie and her whereabouts. She encourages Richard Misner to inquire about Billie Delia when she is unable to get any answers. Anna's display of concern for Billie establishes her worthiness. Billie states: "If it had not been for them and Anna Flood's return her teens would have been unlivable (151). Because of Billie Delia's relationship with her other mothers, she is able to escape the patriarchy of Ruby. Her hope lies in the alliance she has with the other mothers of her community. Ultimately, Billie Delia is able to escape the corruption of Ruby, and is able to make a life and build a future outside of the parameters of the town.

In Part 4, I will discuss abandonment and redemption in Toni Morrison's Paradise.

Sources:

Patricia Hill Collins. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Routladge, Chapman and Hall Inc: New York, 1991

Toni Morrison Paradise. Plume: New York, 1999.

Elizabeth Yukins "Bastard Daughters and the Possession of History in "Corregidora" and "Paradise" Signs. 28.1 (2002): 221-247.