Religion in Morrison's Paradise
The Values of the Two Communities, Ruby and the Convent
Jun 17, 2008
Two Religious Communities
The separate communities in the novel, Ruby and the Convent, act as distinct religious systems. Setting them both in geographical and social isolation allows Morrison to explore the situations which might arise beyond the restraint recognisable social and ideological paradigms.
In this way, Paradise focuses on the development of the religious values of two groups of people that ostracise themselves from convention and collective social memory.
Freedom from Social Restriction
The townspeople search for freedom and a new identity in Ruby, stating that it was a “unique and isolated” town “justifiably pleased with itself” because “its people were free and protected” (Paradise 8) in the absence of a conventional legal system and authority.
However, despite this self-conscious assertion, the narrative reveals the underlying presence of a judicial force which has “taken good care of […] the one or two people who acted” (Par 8) against their ideals.
Threat to Ruby’s Values
Their consistent fear that something could “threaten” (Par 8) Ruby demonstrates their impulsive definition of behaviour as acceptable or transrgessive. The social vacuum created in the absence of conventional norms and values gives their structured religious beliefs an added dimension of authority which begins to function as ‘legal’ control.
Thus the residents of Ruby acquire a sense of righteousness that allows them to justify any action as protecting their community. Similarly, their moral judgement becomes influences by their personal religious history so that behaviour is defined by the binary concepts of good and evil rather than what is deemed socially acceptable.
Ultimately, this leads them to attack the Convent because they are convinced it is “evil” (Par 291) and “disconnected from God’s earth” (Par 18).
Although the residents of Ruby purport to seek freedom from the discrimination which they have experienced as a result of American social values, they are unable to disconnect from the fatalistic associations of their past. This paradoxically perpetuates their construction of a limited morality and governing system which is based on even more restrictive ideas.
Independent Worship at the Convent
In stark contrast to their impulse to define and control, the women of the Convent disrupt the typical divisions of society. The narrative never reveals which member is “the white girl… they shoot […] first” (Par 3) which demonstrates their inclusive attitudes towards race.
Similarly, the narrative establishes a morally dubious background for each of the women that live there so that their behaviour is also called into question. Instead of ‘taking good care of’ those who transgress like the town of Ruby, the community at the Convent live in harmony, allowing each resident personal reflection.
The townsfolk’s automatic association of “outsider” with “enemy” (Par 212) shows their reluctance to admit any external ideas into the religious administration which has become synonymous with overarching truth.
Although the Convent pertains to some organised sense of religion through Connie’s leadership “like a new and revised Reverend Mother” (Par 265) and their simultaneous presence in the Convent forms a kind of community, their ideas are based on individual experience.
Connie teaches what they “are hungry for” (Par 262) in contrast to the carefully instructed ideals in Ruby which are controlled by the community – and in no instance more evident than the altered ‘nativity play.’
However, like the town of Ruby which fails to find the liberation it seeks, Morrison suggests that a religion based on the spiritual and individualistic ideals of the Convent would also fail in American society. This is partly due to their geographical proximity to the town that eventually destroys them but also a result of their inherent opposition to the internalised concept of religion in American consciousness, which is defined by institution and binary morality.
Just as Ruby’s search for liberation perpetuates constrictive structure, the individuality which provides solace for the women of the Convent eventually results in the perception of their behaviour as evil and devisive, leading to their destruction.
References -
Toni Morrison, 1997, Paradise, (London: Vintage, 1999)
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