Sweetness

Content warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.

“Sweetness” is set in the 1950s in a world that values (proximity to) whiteness. The theme of Colorism and White-Passing runs throughout the story and is one of its central concerns. Like her grandmother and her mother before her, Sweetness herself is light-skinned and has been able to pass as white, but her daughter, Lula Ann, has dark skin, which has led to her being ostracized by both Black and white communities. Morrison uses this theme to comment on the complexities of racial identity. Sweetness is aware of her own privileges as a light-skinned Black woman, but she is unable to protect herself and her daughter from racist discrimination. Morrison explores these layers when Sweetness leaves Lula Ann at home when finding a place to rent, only to be illegally turned away by white landlords herself. Sweetness considers her own internalized racism throughout the story.

The story is told from Sweetness’s perspective, which creates a heightened tone of confession when Sweetness admits to the depths of her shame, including nearly killing Lula Ann. This tone institutes the theme of Guilt and Responsibility, and it engages the reader by creating the impression that the story is a tapestry of intimate secrets. However, Morrison constructs an antagonistic relationship between Sweetness and the reader using the motif od denial. The story begins as though with an answer to an accusation: “It’s not my fault” (Paragraph 1). The reader is then directly addressed—“You can’t blame me” (Paragraph 1)—to force them to consider the origins of, and their relationship to, racism. Sweetness’s voice is at times angry, bitter, and resentful, but there are also moments of vulnerability and sadness that make her a sympathetic character as she grapples with her guilt.

As Morrison explores The Complexities of Mother-Daughter Relationships, she portrays the intrusion of racist perceptions of Black women in these relationships. This intrusion is embodied in the physical rupture between Sweetness and Lula Ann after she is born. Morrison employs the motif of touch when Sweetness says that “nursing her was like having a pickaninny sucking on my teat” (Paragraph 3). Morrison portrays both Sweetness and Lula Ann as dehumanized in this passage. Sweetness calls Lula Ann a racist slur to distance herself from her emotionally while distancing herself from her physically. At the same time, she uses animalistic language to refer to her own process of breastfeeding, using the word “teat,” the mammary gland of a female mammal. This invokes the abusive treatment of enslaved Black women as child bearers for the subsistence of slavery in America, conveying Sweetness’s struggles with her sense of self as a Black mother. Throughout the story, Sweetness’s understanding of society’s racist perceptions of both she and her daughter push them apart physically and emotionally; later, for example, Sweetness refuses to let her daughter call her “Mama” because she does not want people to hear the word from “too thick lips” (Paragraph 6). Sweetness’s struggles with societal pressures and internalized racism tarnish the mother-daughter relationship.

Morrison develops this theme through the letters that are sent or unopened during the story. Near the beginning, Sweetness notes that her grandmother returns her mother’s letters unopened. The unopened letter symbolizes a denial of tactile intimacy similar to Sweetness’s reluctance to breastfeed Lula Ann, since the letter inside remains encased in the envelope, untouched. Later, Lula Ann does not give Sweetness the chance to repeat this generational pattern, since she does not affix her envelope with a return address. Nevertheless, unlike her grandmother, Sweetness opens the letter. The letter at face value promises intimacy, beginning, “[g]uess what, S. I am so, so happy to pass this news along” (Paragraph 12). However, the letter “S” recalls Sweetness’s wishes not to be called “Mama.” This communication therefore represents Lula Ann’s understanding of her filial obligations, reinforced by the fact that she sends money as “a way to stay away” (Paragraph 13). These letters reflect the evolving mother-daughter relationships through the generations and ironically, as communicative media, highlight the breakdown of communication between mothers and daughters.