The crime of innocence in the fiction of Toni Morrison

Terry Otten

"In this ground-breaking study of Morrison's five novels, Terry Otten explores the mythic substructure of her fictions by tracing the pervasive motif of the biblical fall. The crime of innocence describes how Morrison recasts the fall from innocence as a necessary gesture of freedom, a felix culpa adapted to the demands of contemporary America. Employing biblical and theological elements, these novels suggest that no greater sin exists than innocence. In a fictional world where 'good' and 'evil' constantly shift, a fall is essential to an authentic life, however frightening the risks, however ironic the end."--Cover.