2026 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Paradise and the American Frontier’s Illusion of Unity

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2026

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Tara Penry

Abstract

Toni Morrison’s Paradise analyzes the highly contested memory of the American Frontier through clashing lenses that illustrate a growing divide between two different pasts: one romanticized view of an America built on the backs of hardworking, humble people, and another more critical perspective that recognizes the oppressive exploitation that built the West. Scholars who write about Paradise have explored dynamics of gender, race, religion, and wealth as crucial elements of the plot with many deconstructing the subjects in academic research and peer-reviewed journals; however, few, if any, address how the divides resemble the shifting Us Vs. Them mentality that has historically motivated growth and conflict in America’s frontier. By acknowledging and writing about the binaries that have afflicted towns like Ruby, Oklahoma, Morrison’s nuanced depiction of society on the frontier and its inhabitants informs a conflicted, uncertain perspective of a region desperately craving certainty. This poster will go beyond former analyses of race and gender within the novel, using the historical context of Paradise in tandem with an analysis of the specific binaries present to argue that the text scrutinizes the illusory pursuit of unity found in embellished tales of the old West–pushed by authors like Owen Wister and Frederick Jackson Turner–while condemning the oppressive and competitive ideologies that have governed the former frontier.

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