Here is a spectrum of “sound bites” from longer student essays on Toni Morrison latest novel Home (2012). The German students found many productive avenues of access to this work! If you would like to read any of the full essays, please contact [email protected]! Deconstructing the epigraph The status quo of a home reflects the status quo of its occupants. The tension of the 11-line epigraph, in which the speaker feels alienated from his/her bleak home (“Why does its lock fit my key?”) slowly dissolves, since its causes have been revealed throughout the novel. The epigraph demonstrates Frank’s insecurities and lack of identity and thus of the black community and collective of war veterans at the same time. The last, colorful chapters give proof of Frank’s personal growth: “Here stands a man” enjoying “a fat cherry-red sun” (145). At the end Frank and Cee might be ready for a new beginning. They might belong to something or at least to each other. The last phrase of the novel shows a readiness which we could not expect from the epigraph. As a promising ending Cee says: “Come on, brother. Let’s go home” (145). Creating a home Morrison’s latest novel from 2012 has the symbolic title Home. It uses a word that immediately implies ideas of belonging, care, and comfort. Thus, Morrison sets the stage for a story in which the war veteran Frank Money longingly searches for such a place, often even without consciously knowing what he is looking for. On his journey home, which, haunted by bad childhood memories, he only undertakes in order to save his sister, he constantly loses homes he has made and finds new ones, if they are even homes at all. At the end of the novel the siblings realize that they have to create a home of their own, and come to terms with the past in order to live a fulfilling life. Frank Money redefines manhood By the end of the book, Frank Money has accepted his past and is able to move on. The once defeated veteran has developed into a smart and courageous adult. The journey thorough segregated America gradually changed his character into that of a stable and resourceful person. He redefined the term manhood in that he now represents a reflective man who considers women, specifically his sister and the community of Lotus carers, as equal to men. Ycidra (Cee) becomes strong through self-respect Ethel defines slavery as a condition in which you let other people decide who you are (127). Morrison refers here to a striking “every(wo)man” notion of slavery, because trying to assert yourself is a problem everyone knows. And it is ingenious that Morrison shows this through her weakest character, Ycidra, called Cee, who in the end seems to be the strongest one, because she understands the key concept: “If she did not respect herself, why should anybody else?” Cee: Growth through defiance Docile and fearful, Ycidra begins to defy social regulations when she elopes with a questionable young man. The reader sees the imagery of a blooming flower while reading. Ycidra is definitely breaking the rules which were set by others for her, and establishes an autonomous, though often shortsighted, way of thinking. She experiences a major set-back when she misjudges the doctor-employer’s intentions and becomes his eugenic guinea pig, nearly dying. But the community of women in Lotus help her to accept her now sterile body, and Cee can live contentedly in Lotus with an affirmative new sense of relationship to those women and to her loving brother Frank. Be wary of judging Morrison’s extreme characters: Lenore In addition to Frank’s egoistic but robust girlfriend Lila, another character in Home who includes both negative and positive extremes is Lenore, Frank’s and Cee’s step-grandmother. When the family of Lenore's husband moves into her house she feels exploited and betrayed because they share all the facilities of her own home and are obstacles to any happiness in her marriage. Therefore, she directs her anger towards the most innocent and defenseless individuals of the family: Frank and Cee. Although she is aware of their lower position and the fact that she herself uses this situation to her own advantage, she nevertheless sees herself as simply being strict but not cruel or unfair at all. The other characters view Lenore as a spiteful, self-centered, even sadistic, tyrant. But because certain moments are presented from Lenore's point of view, the reader learns that she is also a pitiful character who is not able to say out loud that it was difficult for herself to feel comfortable in her second husband's home and her idea of privacy is completely disrupted as soon as Frank, Cee and their parents move in. So initially, Lenore is portrayed as a mean and unfair step- grandmother – like a fairy-tale villain – but most of her actions are ultimately presented as comprehensible. Therefore, Lenore is one of a pantheon of Toni Morrison’s characters of extremes who are not to be judged by the first or outside impression the reader has of her. Shoes as sibling symbol Frank has no shoes in the beginning when he escapes from the asylum in the snow and never wears “good shoes” – which symbolizes his life as being rough since he gambled away all his money. Cee, however, later wears fashionable, high-heeled white shoes (58) and so her life seems to be much better than that of her brother, who has no money and no possessions. But Cee faces rejection by her grandmother and exploitation by her lover and her employer. Violence in the dark When Frank is attacked by five young gangsters, he immediately starts fighting back although the situation is hopeless. There is no chance that one man can successfully fight five others. He must have known that, but nevertheless he fights them. He takes so much delight in beating up people that he risks his life in this situation. He wants to hurt these gangsters as much as possible instead of running away from them. Perhaps he even wants to be hurt and therefore searches for situations like these. The man who gives Frank some money after Frank has recovered from the attack tells him to stay in the light (107). It seems that Frank has willingly entered this alley, although he knew that in this part of the town he could become a victim of gangsters. He has always lived with violence and has not learned to deal with conflicts in any other way. Healing traumas through narrative The narration becomes a round one when Frank and Cee return to Lotus and heal their wounds. Cee is taken in and nursed back to health by the community of women she had no access to while she still lived with her grandmother. Frank, for his part, takes time to remember and face his sources of distress; the narrative situation appears to be that Frank is telling his story to the narrator, since it is during the recounting that he remembers the blocked out memories of the burial and the shooting of the little girl. In Lotus, a place they had thought they needed to escape from, they are able to face their pasts and heal. “Lightly” has heavy narrative meaning In the first chapter it is Frank who hugs “her [Cee’s] shoulders tight” (4) when she is scared of the two men and in the end it is his little sister touching him lightly on the shoulder as if she is the one to protect him from all his sorrow this time. The word “lightly” is also extraordinarily highlighted by standing in a single line. There would have been enough space for Toni Morrison to add this single word to the beginning of the sentence in the line before, but she decided to give it a separate line. I think it might allude to the little Korean girl Frank shot. She also touched him lightly and he could not deal with it. It is said that not only did she arouse him sexually, but also that she touched warm feelings deep inside him as well. He could not endure these feelings and that is why he shot her. At the end of the book he is able to have feelings like this again and to cope with them. His heart can warm up again and he is able to feel contentment. This is the reason why “lightly” in its single line might also be a metaphor for feeling at home and comfortable. Gaining power over his life though “hurt right down the middle” Frank is ultimately able to reclaim power and control over his life by creating a coherent narrative. This becomes particularly obvious in the italicized parts of the novel where Frank openly contradicts the otherwise third-person narration, questions the narrator’s abilities (“Describe that if you know how,” 42) and reveals the narrator’s errors (“Not true. I didn’t think any such thing,” 69). Thus, he takes control of his own life story. Even more so, he regains a coherent identity by admitting that it was him who killed the little Korean girl. By making sense of this traumatic experience, Frank is able to reclaim his subjective story and resolve his trauma, a process that is also symbolically underlined by the burying of the bones near the end of the novel. Frank figuratively buries the ghosts of his past and ultimately becomes whole again, as he states in the final italicized account when he describes a tree: “It looked so strong.