Space and the Commodification of Difference in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child

This study aims at examining Toni Morrison’s novel God Help the Child (2015) within the context of Henry Lefebvre’s theorization of space. It highlights white America’s endeavour for the homogenization of space through the commodification of difference. Through the protagonist, Bride, Morrison discloses how the monopoly over space entails the docility of the black body which is reduced into a commodity. Bride believes that her success requires wearing only white clothes to showcase her beauty. Ideologies which promote whiteness are processed in the conceived space to be disseminated as the prime norm. Accordingly, Bride is living in an illusory space where her blackness is treated like commercial products. The journey to Whisky village, however, helps her to break the chains of commodification and regain her subjectivity. Ultimately, the novel emphasises Bride’s reconfiguration of her body to be able to assert the right of living in a space that celebrates difference.