A Mercy

As mentioned previously, A Mercy is rife with themes of abandonment and fragmentation. Despite this, loss and loneliness are not the only relevant themes in the text. Many of the characters experience abandonment, and are orphans due to circumstances beyond or entirely outside of their control. This fragmentation of their family life leads these characters to develop bonds of kinship in other areas of their life. They therefore find connection within the spheres of their abandonment. These connections forged from the flames of trauma and loneliness are yet another way that the characters adapt and survive. Abandonment as connection is a vital theme throughout the novel; it makes the human need for family and bonding a vital plot point and also displays the emotional cruelty and depravity at the heart of the institution of slavery.

Though the theme appears throughout the novel, it is most evident among the group of characters on the Vaark farm. Morrison writes, “As long as Sir was alive it was easy to veil the truth: that they were not a family—not even a like-minded group. They were orphans, each and all” (59). Though the rag-tag group are forced together through a variety of factors, it is important to keep in mind that these connections that are made under duress never replace the need for actual kinship and unity.