Book Review on Home by Toni Morrison
By Jacob Comello
A lot of people view “home” as a place that is both physically and emotionally comforting.
“For me, ‘home’ means family, security and familiarity,” commented Chuck Stone scholar Lanier Gray.
For other people, “home” is a far more abstract idea.
Such is the plight of African-American Frank Money in the novel Home by Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison. This book is the summer reading assignment for incoming freshman to UNC-Chapel Hill this year.
Frank returns to the United States after serving in the Korean War to start a new life while struggling with haunting memories of the battlefield. His reluctance to return to his tiny hometown of Lotus, Georgia is abruptly ended when he receives word that his little sister, Cee, needs help.
Bursting with emotion, the account of Frank’s journey across the nation to save his sister becomes a journey through human nature. He experiences racism, poverty, addiction and heartbreak in his home country. However, he also meets numerous friends along his route. These friends, as well as the memory of his sister, keep him going.
Morrison also gives insight into Frank’s life before the war. After being savagely removed from their homestead in Texas, Frank’s family relocated to Georgia. There, busy parents and a mean step-grandmother provided little emotional support for the pair. This, combined with little opportunity in their new town, made “home” a difficult concept for the two to understand.
This novel has excellent potential to start conversations among incoming freshmen. Its racial themes will interest many members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s diverse student body and offer a look into a past where racism was far more blatant.
“I’ve never felt discriminated against because of my race,” Chuck Stone scholar Morgan Howard said, “but if I was discriminated against, I bet I would be mad.”
The experiences of Frank Money also speak for any student of Carolina who is missing his or her family or is trying to find his or her “home” in the world.
Paperback versions of Home are available for $11.07 on Amazon.com. Electronic versions for Kindle are available for $9.99.