What is the relevance of A Mercy for a student today?

Morrison's A Mercy can teach modern students that America is comprised of "outsiders."

American students currently experience a great deal of social and political chatter about being "American." Presidential candidates talk about making America "great" again. Given the global threat of terrorism, many leaders have no problem saying that there are those who are "like us" and those who are "different."  Morrison's work is relevant because it shows that Americans are essentially orphans.  People who...

Morrison's A Mercy can teach modern students that America is comprised of "outsiders."

American students currently experience a great deal of social and political chatter about being "American." Presidential candidates talk about making America "great" again. Given the global threat of terrorism, many leaders have no problem saying that there are those who are "like us" and those who are "different."  Morrison's work is relevant because it shows that Americans are essentially orphans.  People who settled America into what it is today came from other nations.  Their backgrounds are not the simplistic notion of "America" that modern students hear of in today's political and social settings.

The characters in A Mercy show the divergent definition in America's past.  Florens is the product of rape, while Vaark has experienced the very worst in human treatment.  Rebekka is transplanted from England, and represents the essence of a stranger in a strange land. Lina is a slave who has seen everyone near her die of disease, while Sorrow is a "mongrel." Each of them must work to make a life in America.  They represent how there is no such thing as a pure "American."  The country is formed by people who are hybrids from other countries and settings.  They apply their past experience to the New World.  

Modern students could find this discussion quite meaningful.  It allows them to parse through the discourse that suggests that being "American" is simple and easy to understand.  Morrison instructs readers that to be an American means to embrace a very complex past.  Nuance replaces simplicity. a lesson that could be quite relevant to modern students.