The individual characters in the novel often experience violence as well, from Tommy Odd’s amputation to Camara’s murder.
The civil rights movement that serves as the backdrop of the book was characterized by constant, cruel violence against not only protesters but also innocent black men and women, even children and the elderly. Violence is a major theme throughout the book, both on the domestic and national scale. Nevertheless, she understands that one of the deepest pains of slavery was the separation of mothers and their children, and empathizes with the powerful connection between a mother and her child. She also feels like a burden on her mother, who has many children. When Meridian gives her child up for adoption in order to pursue a long-held dream, she does not feel liberation but rather a weighty sense of guilt that makes her depressed throughout college. Many of the women in the book have children before they are ready, and are forced to give up dreams-of education, of a career-to care for children they never intended to have. motherhoodīlack motherhood in Meridian is treated as a question and a problem. From not being warned about the consequences of sex to secretly having an abortion and getting her tubes tied, Meridian not only never has a positive sexual experience, but also has many traumatic experiences with men. Many of the powerful figures in their lives abuse their positions to take advantage of young and innocent girls. Meridian and many of her friends are constantly objectified by men, sexually harassed, and even raped.
In addition to racism, the issues faced by African-American women are fully explored throughout the book, particularly through the protagonist, Meridian.
Throughout the book, characters feel a sense of grief for the way that the system works against them they try to determine how to forge a life in a world that is, in many ways, not built for their freedom. The civil rights movement provides the backdrop for the book: most of the plot takes place in a national moment when people throughout the country were joining in activism and faced hateful retaliation. The effects of racism and the various ways that characters respond to it are explored throughout the novel, as Meridian, Truman, and others attempt to make sense of a world in which brutal racism is the norm.
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