Toni Morrison on Un/Happy Endings

On the way home from aspring break trip with my family, I read “What Moves at the Margin,” an interview in American Way magazine with Toni Morrison. I loved what thePulitzer-winning author said about happy endings. Her words reminded me of theBook of Job in which he told God, “Before, I had heard about you. Now I haveseen you.” Here's a short excerpt from the article:

One of the questionsMorrison is most commonly asked in public by longtime readers is why she sosteadfastly resists happy endings in her books. Morrison laughs again, ashuffling purr, insisting that these readers are getting it all wrong. Sheturns simultaneously serious and exhilarated, leaning forward ever so slightlyin her chair to speak in that miraculous voice.

“The consequences of traumaand pain and love, all of it is about the search for self-knowledge. Every oneof my books is about that,” Morrison says, her eyes suddenly full of wonder.“At the end of these books, these people know certain things that they did notknow before, and that, to me, is a happy ending. I can’t guarantee anythingelse. But if you can learn anything in this life, that’s beautiful andbedazzling to me.”