INSIGHTS FOR MEANINGFUL LIFE IN SELECTED WORKS OF TONI MORRISON A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in English by VU THI QUYNH DUNG 2015 i APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled “INSIGHTS FOR MEANINGFUL LIFE IN SELECTED WORKS OF TONI MORRISON” prepared and submitted by VU THI QUYNH DUNG in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination ii ABSTRACT Title: Insights for a Meaningful Life in Selected Works of Toni Morrison Author: Vũ Thị Quỳnh Dung Course: Doctor of Philosophy Major: English Year: 2015 Adviser: Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez Summary: This dissertation aimed at presenting how the selected works of Toni Morrison manifest the sufferings of black women in terms of racial oppression, gender inequality, emotional abandonment, and women’s sufferings; the sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance as shown in the love between mother and children, husband and wife relationship, freedom and equality, and self-identity; and the manner how the women in the world portrayed in the novels express resistance to the different forms of violence Likewise, it shows the implications of the themes pursued in the novels to the study of the meaningful family life among Vietnamese students iii In dealing with the works, the qualitative method with content analysis based on the Sociological and Philosophical Approaches and the theory of Viktor Frankl’s Meaningfulness of Life were employed The study found out that mostly, the black female characters experienced humiliation and suffered an acute isolation in a white racist society that has marginalized them; Black women always resisted every sort of oppression with different sources of strength and motives; Oppressed women resisted and revolted in various ways, such as verbal, physical, and armed resistance with different manners such as violence, non-violence or acquiescence; and the themes pursued in the novels will change the way Vietnamese students think and act, and foster students to hold campaigns and propaganda focusing on promoting the values of a meaningful family life, a life of prosperity, equality, happiness, progress, a life without prejudice and violence The dissertation can be used as reference for students of Literature in the Contemporary American Literature course Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training, the educational institutions may integrate the insights on the pursuit of meaningful family life in the academe that will also inspire them to spawn activities in the curricula This paper will also make members of the community understand that life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This dissertation appears in its current form due to the assistance and guidance of several people The researcher would like to offer her sincere thanks to them for their assistance and guidance has helped her during the whole period of study First and foremost, she offers her sincerest gratitude to her supervisor, Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez, the Dean of Colleges and Head of the Graduate School of the Batangas State University ARASOF Nasugbu Campus, the researcher’s dissertation adviser and editor, who has supported her though out the conduct of her dissertation with her patience and knowledge Without her this research, too, would not have been completed or written One simply could not wish for a more accommodating and admirable supervisor The researcher also owes her gratitude to Dr Matilda H Dimaano for her highly intellectual abilities to give excellent advise and detailed review during the preparation of this study She would also like to express her gratitude to Dr Amada G Banaag, Dr Felix M Panopio, and Dr Myrna G Sulit, the Members of the Panel of Examiners, for their thorough dissection and candid remarks that drew up the essential and relevant dimensions in this research Her gratitude is also for Dr Remedios P Magnaye, the Graduate School Secretary, for her words of encouragement and kind gestures v She would like to give expressions to her gratitude to all the teachers of the Graduate School of Batangas State University of the Philippines for their valuable lectures that inspire her to carry out the research She would like to seize this opportunity to thank the Philippines Government which sends each time with the utmost willingness skilful and qualified teachers to Thai Nguyen University The cooperation between the two countries should be a lesson for other Asian countries to improve education and achieve integration She is indebted to Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry of International Training and Development Center (ITC) for accepting her as a Doctor of Philosophy Student and for its guidance and supports during the course She greatly appreciates the financial assistance and spiritual supports of Hung Vuong University, of Foreign Language Department, of her dear colleagues and students for her and her family during her PhD study She is grateful to To Loan Nguyen and her family to help her in the search of documents while they were in Germany She cannot finish without thanking her family She warmly thanks and appreciates her parents for their encouragement and looking after her children in the process of study She wants to express her gratitude and deepest appreciation to her loving husband and two sweet daughters Without their supports and encouragements, she could not have finished this work vi DEDICATION To my dear husband, Mr Pham Dinh Hung, my loving children Pham Que Chi and Pham Khanh Nguyen, and my respected parents without whom this dissertation would not have been completed vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE APPROVAL SHEET i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv DEDICATION vi LIST OF MATRICES ix LIST OF FIGURES x CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction Statement of the Problem Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study Significance of the Study 11 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 13 Conceptual Literature 13 Research Literature 40 Theoretical Framework 50 Paradigm of the Study .52 Definition of Terms 54 III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 57 viii Research Design .57 Treatment of Materials .58 IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE NOVELS Error! Bookmark not defined V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 175 Summary .149 Findings 150 Conclusions 152 Recommendations .153 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………… APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Summary of Song of Solomon APPENDIX B Summary of Tar Baby CURRICULUM VITAE ix LIST OF MATRICES Matrix 1: Summary Matrix of the Themes in the Selected Novels p.149 154 The students apply the result of this study as the basis to reconsider their family life of their own, clarify what is significant to bring about a meaningful family life, and then commit themselves for the actions striking forward a better life for all members of their family That future researchers conduct other literary works in the veins of the recent research for academic enhancement to have a cross dissections of views of life and to support the present study 155 BIBLIOGRAPHY A Books Collins, Patricia H (1991) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment Boston: Unwind Hyman Frankl, Vicktor E.(1959).Man's Search for Meaning Buccaneer Books, Inc New York, USA Feason, D J (1999).What is Identity (As We Now Use the Word)?Stamford University, USA Guerin, Wilfred L., et al (1992).A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, 3rd ed New York: Oxford UP Hale, J K (1997) Milton's Languages.The Impact of Multilingualism on Style Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Hake, S R (2001).Why Study Literature? 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Philosophy Matters in African Literature?”.In International Journal of English and Literature (IJEL) Vol 2, Issue Dec - 2012 Singh, P (2012) Toni Morrison’s Feminism: A Comparative study of the Characters of Sula and Nel in SULA, International Journal of English and Education ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:1, Issue:2, October 2012 Wang, F (2012).Spiritually Enslaving or Being Enslaved-On the Female Images in Song of Solomon, Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol 2, No 7, pp 1415-1419, Academy Publisher: Finland Zaiser, R (2005) Working on the Noetic Dimension of Man: Philosophical Practice, Logotherapy, and Existential Analysis Philosophical 162 Practice: Journal of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association, 1(2), 83-88 163 APPENDIX A Summary of Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison The story begins with the scene of a crowd mostly of African American local residents gathering to watch Robert Smith, an insurance agentin Michigan town,preparing to fly from the top of Mercy Hospital across Lake Superior But he does not succeed and ends with a disastrous death The next day, Ruth Foster Dead, the daughter of the only black doctor in town, becomes the first black patient to give birth to a black child in Mercy Hospital, Milkman Dead Milkman Dead’s life evolves round the life of women around him, his mother - Ruth Foster, his aunt - Pilate, his two sisters - First Corinthians and Magdalene (called Lena), and his lover and cousin – Hagar Milkman Dead considers himself privileged to be nourished by the love of those and becomes selfish like his father – Macon Dead II Together, father and son, intentionally or unintentionally, cause a lot of sufferings to their women At the age of thirty-two, Milkman becomes extremely bored with his present life in his family, he ends his twelve year romantic relationship with Hagar and moves to the South His rejection drives Hagar mad and inspires her to get revenge Twice a month, she looks for Milkman to kill him with arms, but whenever she gets the chance, she does not dare to carry out the action because her love for him is too big She hopes that one day, Milkman 164 will come back to her Milkman’s journey to Montour County, Pennsylvania, brings him a lot of information about his long lost history There he meets Circle, a midwife who helps deliver Macon Jr and Pilate who reveals the original name of Macon was Jake, and that Jake got married to an Indian girl, Sing Being more absorbed with his findings, Milkman continues heading south to Shalimar where he uncovers more clues about his family history He learns that the legendary flying African, Solomon, who escaped slavery flying back to Africa, was his great-grand father, Jake’s father The narrator also reveals that Solomon’s miracle flight abandoned his wife, Ryna with twenty-one children Milkman’s findings completely change him into a different person Now he becomes a compassionate, responsible adult He finds his life more purposeful He comes back home to tell his father and Pilate about his discoveries At home, Hagar dies of hopeless love Until death, she still hopes that she can gain Milkman’s heart After Hagar’s funeral, Milkman and Pilate come back to Shalimar to bury Jake’s bones When they finish it, Pilate is accidentally killed by Guitar’s bullet which is intended for Milkman Milkman calls out Guitar’s name and leaps toward him The last lines reveal the truth about Milkman’s desire to fly 165 APPENDICE B Summary of Tar Baby by Toni Morrison The novel starts with a Black sailor who leaps from a ship and tries to swim to shore A strong undertow prevents him from reaching the shore although he is a strong swimmer He is driven by the current to an island called Isle de Chevaliers where he hides in a house called L'Arbe de la Croix, one of the most beautiful houses in Caribbean The house belongs to wealthy Valerian Street, a seventy-year-old white businessman, and his wife Margaret, the former beauty queen from Main They are attended by aBlack couple servants named Ondine and Sydney The niece of Ondine and Sydney, Jadine Childs, has come to visit at that time She is a successful young fashion model in Paris, New York… Christmas is coming and Margaret Street has invited her son Michael living in California to come and visit her but Valerian feels he will not come They often quarrel with each other, and one night after a big fight with Valerian, she goes to her room and discovers a man hiding in her closet She is very frightened, but to her and everyone’s surprise, Valerian invites the man whose name is Son, to stay in the house At Christmas dinner, people in L'Arbe de la Croix has an argument when Valerian announces that he has fired Gideon and Therese for stealing apples Ondine, Sydney, and Son all upset for that At the end of the argument Valerian is shocked in knowing that his wife Margaret used to 166 abuse their only son when he is little Jadine and Son leave and go to bed together The next day Jadine and Son leave for New York They spend their days there as carefree lovers On the island Valerian is furious with Margaret and refuses to let her explain what she did Ondine and Sydney worry that they will be fired for announcing the secret In the springtime Jadine and Son visit Eloe, Florida, Son's hometown Their relationship start to take a turn for the worse because Son loves his hometown but Jadine doesn't When they come back to New York they start fighting more and more because of different point of view After a violent argument, Jadine leaves Son and New York She decides to return to Paris but before going there, she comes back to Isle de Chevaliers to get her sealskin coat Before heading to Paris she asks Ondine and Sydney not to tell Son where she has gone Therese finds Son and leaves him on Queen of France and tells him to make a choice He can either keep looking for Jadine or he can join a rebellion with the wild horsemen on the island Finally, he decided to join the horsemen 167 CURRICULUM VITAE Name: Vu Thi Quynh Dung Viet Tri city, Phu Tho province, Vietnam Mobile phone: 0983418019 Email: quynhdzunghvu@gmail.com PERSONAL INFORMATION Date of birth: Birth place: Age: Nationality: Religion: Sex: Spouse: Chilren’s name: 30/11/1972 Phu Tho, Vietnam 43 Vietnamese No Female Pham Dinh Hung Pham Que Chi Pham Khanh Nguyen EDUCATION BACKGROUND 2000 - 2003: Master of Arts Major in English University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi 1989 - 1994: Bachelor of Arts Major in English University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi WORK EXPERIENCE 168 1994 - now: Lecturer of Foreign Language Department of Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho, Vietnam ... Statement of the Problem This study analysed the insights on pursuit for meaningful life in the selected works of Toni Morrison and gain honest implications of the themes to the study of meaningful life. .. analysis of how black females pursuing a meaningful life is reflected in the selected works of Toni Morrison and gain honest implications on the study of the meaningful family life among Vietnamese... meaningful family life among Vietnamese students? Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study This study analysed the insights on pursuit for meaningful life in selected works of Toni Morrison