Major Themes in Toni Morrison's Novel Love

Introduction

Toni Morrison's novel Love is far from a simple love story. Instead, it is a novel that delves into several major themes related to the family. These include child abuse and neglect, the dynamics of family and extended family, rape and violence against women, the role of the father, and the role of friendship. Each of these major themes is examined in turn below, with the discussion showing how the novel addresses each theme and what Morrison is suggesting about each of the issues.

Child Abuse and Neglect

The main example of child abuse and neglect in the novel is Bill Cosey's marriage to Heed. This marriage occurs when Heed is eleven years old, with Cosey effectively buying her from her family. Heed's age implies sexual abuse; it is worth noting that if Cosey and Heed were not married, Cosey would be classified as a pedophile. Yet the text makes clear that as long as Cosey takes Heed as his wife, their relationship becomes legally legitimate regardless of her age.

It is also important to recognize that child abuse is not limited to sexual abuse. The National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect examines the incidence of child abuse and neglect across several categories, including sexual abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, physical abuse, and maltreatment. Given Heed's age, both emotional neglect and maltreatment are likely occurring as a result of her being forced into the role of wife so young. Butcher, Mineka, and Hooley (550) also note that child abuse has a major impact on psychological adjustment. In Heed's case, having been placed in the position of wife at such a young age, this becomes her entire reality. In a larger sense, she is both a child to Cosey and a wife to Cosey. While part of Cosey's motives may be sexual, his larger motive appears to be the complete control of Heed, reducing her to a state of servitude. This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that he bought her from her parents and expected her to be trained as a wife.

There is also a suggestion of sexual abuse between Christine and Cosey. This is implied by the way Cosey chooses to marry Christine's close friend. It appears that Cosey may harbor a sexual attraction to his own granddaughter, while being aware that he cannot pursue it because of their blood relationship. He transfers these feelings onto Heed because their marriage can legitimize his sexual needs. This also explains why he rejects Christine so completely: his actions are rooted in the shame he feels for his desire toward her.

Child neglect is further illustrated by the way Christine is treated when Heed attempts to harm her. Because Heed carries out the harm, this could technically be classified as sibling abuse; nonetheless, Cosey retains a responsibility to protect Christine. Instead, he laughs at what Heed has done and shows no concern for the fact that Christine could be seriously hurt. Christine's thoughts on Cosey's response are narrated as follows:

"Christine made up her own mind. He never once looked at her. He had laughed. His cheap little wife had tried to kill her — sort of — and might succeed one day; would he laugh then too? Would he look finally at the charred flesh of his own flesh and settle that also as though it were a guest's bounced check or a no-show musician or a quarrel with a salesman who had shortchanged an order of Scotch whiskey?" (Morrison 135).

Christine's description of Cosey's complete indifference suggests neglect: he does not care for her welfare or safety at all. Whether or not real harm would ultimately have come to her, his attitude makes clear that even if she were injured, he would likely have remained as indifferent as she imagined.

Family and Extended Family

One of the most striking aspects of Cosey's family is how it is shaped entirely by his own decisions, while all its members are forced to live with the consequences. This is clearly illustrated by his marriage to Heed, which Christine must come to terms with. As Cosey's granddaughter, Christine cannot escape being part of his family. When Cosey decides to marry Heed, the two women become bound together as family members. Their relationship is defined by conflict, and yet, no matter how much each rejects the other, neither can ever fully escape the other. Cosey's decisions have linked them as family, whether they like it or not.

This inescapability is made vivid when Christine resolves to leave, thinking: "Put on your shoes, old man, and look at me good now, because you will never see me again" (Morrison 135). This is more than a declaration about leaving Cosey — it is a statement about abandoning her family entirely. Christine constantly seeks independence, as if she can escape her family for good. Yet despite her intentions, she ultimately ends up living in Cosey's house alongside Heed. The two women inhabit separate parts of the house and avoid each other for most of their lives, but they cannot escape each other. The extended family exists because Cosey created it, and none of its members can break free from it.

Christine's mother May is also part of this extended family and must also cope with Cosey's decisions. The impact of his choice to marry Heed is captured in the observation that "in an eye blink she went from defense to war" (Morrison 137). Cosey delivers the news to May with jarring casualness: "I'm taking a wife. You know her. Christine's little friend" (Morrison 138). The flippant way he says this suggests he has no awareness of, or concern for, the effect his decision will have on everyone else. He seems oblivious to the fact that his choice has permanently altered the lives of May, Christine, and Heed alike.

May is then expected to "teach and train the playmate to take charge of us" (Morrison 138). Not only is this new family structure imposed on her, but she is also expected to play an active role in sustaining it. To make matters worse, she is subsequently required to send her own daughter away because of the conflict between Heed and Christine — even though Christine has done nothing wrong. These situations illustrate the extended family that Cosey creates through his decisions, the deep conflict that results, and his own immunity to the consequences he sets in motion for everyone else.

Conclusion

This analysis has examined the major themes in Love and has shown that Morrison has a great deal to say about the family and the issues that shape it. Morrison consistently portrays the family as a site of conflict and chaos, complicated by child abuse, violence against women, and the unchecked power of the male head of the household. While she does not offer simple solutions to these problems, the novel confronts them honestly and presents an unflinching portrait of the dysfunction that can lie at the heart of family life.

Works Cited

Butcher, J. N., Mineka, S., and Hooley, J. M. Abnormal Psychology. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Morrison, T. Love. New York: Knopf, 2003.

NCCAN: National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect. (1996). Executive Summary of the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1996.