Sweetness by

Toni Morrison

TSL082 Literature
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 Agenda

A
About the author

Plot summary

Settings

Themes

Characters

Symbols

Discussion

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 About the author
• Toni Morrison was born on February 18th, 1931, died on August 5,
2019 (aged 88)
• Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.
• First African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in
literature.
• Morrison write books about struggles of living as an African
American women in times of discrimination and standards of
beauty.
• Her writing consists of brutal honesty and eccentric characters that
draw the reader in and give them an emotional connection to
characters.

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Plot Summary
 • "Sweetness" was published in The New Yorker as a prelude to
Morrison's novel God Help the Child.

• It is about a mother's struggle to accept her own daughter.

• The protagonist "Sweetness' is a very light skinned woman who

gave birth to a dark skinned baby Lula Ann.

• Lula Ann's father is high yellow and the mother never cheated
on Lula Ann's father.

• She is appalled by Lula's dark complexion and growing up she

treated Lula Ann harshly because of her skin tone.

• The mother tells Lula Ann not to call her mom in public but call
her "sweetness".

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Settings
 Time settings
• Published in 2015. The part of the story set in the
present is probably meant to be contemporary to the
time of publishing, in the 2010s.

• Recounts events that took place in the 1990s: “Back in

the nineties, when Lula Ann was born”.

• Includes references to the segregation period in the

US, when the parents and grandparents of the narrator
lived: “Neither one of them would let themselves drink
from a ‘Colored Only’ fountain, even if they were dying
of thirst.”

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 Place settings

• Nursing home where the main character lives: “I prefer this place – Winston House – to
those big, expensive nursing homes outside the city. Mine is small, homey, cheaper, with
twenty-four-hour nurses and a doctor”.

• The city where the main events took place is not mentioned, but we know that the daughter,
Lula Ann has a “job in California”.

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 Social settings
• Discrimination against African Americans during segregation
period in the US. The story mentions African Americans
swearing on different Bibles and drinking from different water
fountains: “When she and my father went to the courthouse to get
married, there were two Bibles, and they had to put their
hands ...”

• Societal issue of colorism. Morrison highlights by depicting

colorism happening within the intimate space of a mother-
daughter relationship: “I told her to call me “Sweetness” instead
of “Mother” or “Mama.” It was safer. Her being that black and
having what I think are too thick lips and calling me “Mama”
would’ve confused people.”

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Themes
 Colourism
• Sweetness is disgusted by her daughter's inexplicably
dark skin, which she refers to as "Sudanese black" and
"blue-black.”

• Having assimilated racist attitudes toward dark-skinned

people, Sweetness refers to her daughter as a "pickaninny”
and insists "her color is a cross she will always carry."

• Colorism-based instructions to "keep her head down."

• Sweetness acknowledges that times have changed, since

dark-skinned people are now featured in media and
fashion.

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 Denial
• “It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me. I didn’t do it
and have no idea how it happened.” –striking a defensive
tone

• Sweetness's denial arises because of Lula Ann's reluctance

to visit her, which Sweetness interprets as punishment for
the harsh manner in which Sweetness raised Lula Ann.

• Sweetness prefers to explain the historical context in

which her attitude was formed.

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 Abandonment
• Abandonment first arises when Lula Ann is born and Sweetness
considers giving her up for adoption or leaving her on the
steps of a church.

• Louis leaves Sweetness and Lula Ann because he is unable to

accept Lula Ann's dark skin or believe that Sweetness was
faithful.

• Lula Ann grows up and Sweetness distances herself from her

daughter, asking not to be called mother.

• Lula Ann abandoning Sweetness, who puts Sweetness in a

nursing home and rarely visits from California.

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Characters
 Sweetness
• Narrator & protagonist
• Light-skinned black woman
• Privileged because of her ability to
pass as white
• Defensive about how she raised her
daughter
• In denial about how her rejection of
her daughter was also a form of racist
abuse

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 Lula Ann
• Unexpectedly dark, described by
Sweetness as "Sudanese black" and
"blue-black.“
• Lula Ann rebels as a teenager, talking
back to her mother
• Lula Ann grows up to pursue a career in
California and becomes pregnant.
• Rarely visits Sweetness, but sends
money to help pay for the nursing home

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 Louis
• Sweetness's ex-husband and Lula Ann's
father
• Erupts in anger when he sees Lula Ann's
dark skin
• Accuses Sweetness of having had an
affair with another man
• Louis abandons Sweetness and Lula Ann,
but later tracks down Sweetness’ new
address and sends fifty dollars every
month.

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Symbols
 Lula Ann’s dark skin
• A symbol of the black identity that Sweetness
and members of her family have come to fear.
• Prejudice towards dark skin, only to give birth to
a dark-skinned daughter.
• Sweetness is frightened by Lula Ann's blackness,
and describes her daughter in terms that
associate her with evil

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 No return address on the letter
• A symbol of rejection of her mother.
• Could be Lula Ann's method of punishing Sweetness for
having been tough on Lula Ann while raising her.
• Prefers to keep their relationship at a distance.

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“
DISCUSSION
1. What is ironic about Sweetness's reaction to her daughter's skin?

”
2. If you were Lula Ann, how would you feel and react towards the
treatment you receive as a daughter?
3. Can you relate the story of “Sweetness” in the context of our social
environment? How so?
 Shanaa Fatihah
TESL Lecturer

Thank you Centre of Foundation

Studies, UiTM Dengkil
shanaafatihah@uitm.edu.
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