Soul Nourishment or Soul Poison:The Role of Food in Morrison’s Be⁃loved and Paradise

Toni Morrison is one of the most important writers in American history,and her prose and stories offer compelling commentaries on the intertwined experiences of race and womanhood.Morrison combines a striking narrative style with poetic language and magical realism to create novels which offer insight into the experiences of black people and women.Two novels in particular that explore these themes are Beloved and Paradise.These two novels are privy to the experiences of black women as they work together to overcome their traumas in various ways.In the novels,the theme of food is used as a motif to represent inner strength and healing from trauma.Throughout Beloved and Paradise,food is used as a powerful symbol to convey community togetherness as well as to symbolize inner strength,and its textual appearances should be analyzed for their implications about race and gender.In so doing,readers will be able to better understand how food is not just a physical necessity,but a powerful symbol of strength and solidarity.