Monday, September 27, 2010

a mercy

Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison's newest novel, a mercy, portrays a 1650's farmer, Jacob, who becomes rich off the rum trade and decides to build an extravagant mansion, complete with 13 rooms, a marble fireplace and an iron wrought gate embellished with two intertwining serpents. There are other voices in the story including Lina: a Native American woman whose tribe was killed by the "disease of the white man," Florens and Sorrow : two young African slaves, and Rebekka: Jacob's wife, who came to America to escape the religious crisis brewing in her home country. In this Eden on Earth, it is the three women whose cries resemble the voice of reason whilst their husband/master spends his money on unnecessary accessories for his new home. The irony unfolds when during the mansion's construction, Jacob falls deathly ill, dies, and leaves the half-built house to his pregnant wife and three servants to fend for themselves in difficult times.


In a mercy, Morrison crafts her story into short, distilled chapters which, in conjunction with her terse writing style, creates an easy to read yet masterful interpretation of one of the most turbulent eras in our country's history. Her story can be enjoyed at surface level, yet is full of deeper metaphors and allusions that only become clear after a closer reading. Morrison's writing is an attractive option for both genders because she writes the book with characters from both perspectives. In a mercy, Morrison asks age-old questions on the effects of slavery as well as the consequences that come along with indiscriminate acts of mercy. At only 167 pages, a mercy can easily be read in one sitting over the weekend but forces the reader to ponder the story weeks after one has returned the book. I would highly recommend this literary treasure and only regret the fact that I didn't read it sooner.