49 pages • 1 hour read
Toni MorrisonGod Help The Child
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Names and Naming
Much like Charles Dickens, Morrison uses names and name changes as a part of characterization in the novel. Some characters maintain their birth names and grown into them. Booker, raised in a family of critical thinkers, has a name that begins with “B” because the Stabern parents named their children in alphabetical order and thus reinforce the supremacy of family over individual identity. When Booker loses Adam, he feels out of place and eventually assumes a new identity as an intellectual who uses words as weapons and as instruments of critique. Sofia, whose name is a variant of “Sophia” and means “wisdom” in Greek, is one of the few characters who engages in enough self-reflection about her life to learn and make changes.
Names and naming are also emblematic of changes in identity, some for the good and some for the bad. Lula Ann—given an old-fashioned name that is appropriate for the unsophisticated girl who fumbled her first interview at Sylvia, Inc.—first renames herself Ann Bride, and then—after a complete makeover—renames herself Bride, a name that reflects her new identity as the archetype of the sexually potent black woman. Assuming the power to rename herself is a first step in Bride’s assumption of control over her own life.
Sweetness, Bride’s mother, also renames herself. Sweetness is never identified by her full, legal name in the novel. She is anything but sweet, however, and the genesis of her name change was a desire to avoid having to be recognized as the mother of her dark-skinned daughter. Her naming is ironic.
Finally, Raisin, called “Rain” by Steve and Evelyn because they found her in the rain, stubbornly attempts to hold on to her name in much the same way she attempts to hold on to the more harrowing aspects of her past as an important part of her identity. Steve and Evelyn’s renaming of her shows their refusal to acknowledge the ongoing impact of the past on her.
Bride's Journeys
Journeys are traditionally associated with change and the consolidation of a character’s identity. In God Help the Child, Bride engages in two journeys that force her outside of her comfort zone and to mature. The first journey is the one Bride takes to Decagon Prison to make restitution to Sofia Huxley. This journey ends with violence after Sofia brutally beats Bride and throws her on the ground. The psychological and physical wounds Bride suffers become just the motivation Bride needs to key make changes in her life.
The second journey Bride takes is from her home to Whiskey in pursuit of Booker, who rejected and abandoned Bride shortly before Bride’s journey to Sofia. During this journey, Bride’s body regresses until she looks like a little girl, and Bride is forced to accept nurturing from others, a welcome change from the loveless childhood and shallow relationships she has as an adult. Bride’s journey in this case symbolizes her effort to become a more mature woman.
Booker's Trumpet
Booker takes up trumpet playing in the immediate aftermath of Adam’s disappearance and death. As an independent adult, Booker occasionally plays on the streets or on gigs that pay him little or nothing. The pawn ticket for his trumpet is also the clue that Bride needs to track Booker down after he abandons her.
The trumpet last appears in the narrative when Booker clumsily plays a song as he scatters Queen Olive’s ashes; realizing how inept his playing is, Booker tosses the trumpet in the stream after the ashes. Booker’s trumpet symbolizes in these instances the grip of the past—especially Booker’s grief over his brother’s death—on the present. His disposal of the trumpet indicates his decision to live in the present with Bride and to look forward to the future.
Bride's Jaguar
Bride’s white Jaguar—a luxury sports car that is the same color as all the other accessories to Bride’s life—symbolizes Bride’s creation of a new identity as a successful, confident, sexy business woman who uses her perceived disadvantages to become someone else. The car becomes the instrument of damage (and eventually change) once she begins pursuing Booker, however. Although the car initially aids Bride on her journey to Whiskey, the car wreck near Steve and Evelyn’s homestead forces Bride to sit still for six weeks while her ankle heals and the repair person locates parts to fix the car. Like Bride, the car is less glossy and more battered by the time Bride reunites with Booker.
You, Girl
You, Girl, is the name of the make-up line Bride is on the cusp of announcing before her encounter with Sofia. Bride discovered the name during her conversation with Jeri, who encouraged Bride to treat her dark skin as a marketable commodity to sell her and her brand.
On the one hand, the product line symbolizes Bride’s transformation of her painful experience of colorism and racism into her success as a businesswoman. On the other hand, Bride is a person who engages in shallow, self-involved behavior; You, Girl is therefore emblematic of the fact that Bride is all surface and no depth, especially in the early moments of the novel.
Booker's Shaving Brush and Razor
Among the items Booker leaves behind are a shaving brush (used with shaving soap or cream to lather the face) and a razor. After Booker leaves, Bride carries around the brush and uses the razor to shave her virtually hairless body. The shaving kit symbolizes Bride’s connection to Booker. The sharp-edged razor connects Bride to the pain she feels when Booker abandons her, while the soft shaving brush symbolizes Booker’s nurturing of Bride. Bride’s application of the brush and razor to herself indicate the degree to which the break-up with Booker forces her to assume responsibility for her own emotions.
Bride's Gifts to Sofia Huxley
Bride attempts to make amends for her false testimony in Sofia’s trial by giving Sofia several items—a makeup kit from You, Girl; money; and a voucher for air travel. Bride, according to the brief conversation she has before Sofia beats her up, intends these items to be the means by which Sofia will rebuild her life after 15 years in prison. To Bride, these items represent her guilt and desire for forgiveness. For Sofia, these items are indication of Bride’s naïveté and her lack of understanding about the true impact of incarceration on Sofia’s life.
Brooklyn’s Dreadlocks
Brooklyn, a young white woman who is deeply envious of Bride, sports dreadlocks that make her an object of attraction to men, especially African American men. The dreadlocks symbolize Brooklyn’s appropriation of African American culture and her white privilege.
Related Titles
By Toni Morrison
