In Mercy, Lina is elevated to the symbolic level by Morrison so that her predicament can be the source of permanent lesson to those who are deviated from the normal track of maintaining one’s own self and subjectivity. However appealing white notion of beauty might be, the Black people should not be attracted towards it by sacrificing one’s own beauty. In terms of suffering Florence appears to be a timeless figure of suffering. With respect to this aspect, Emily Cappo briefly sums up her view:
Lina is also a symbol of the black community’s self-hatred and belief in its own ugliness. Others in the community, including her mother act out their own self-hatred by expressing hatred toward her. At the end of the novel, we are told that Lina has been a scapegoat for the entire community. Her ugliness has made them feel beautiful, her suffering has made them feel…show more content… In the face of the alluring beauty of white girls and women, Afro-American girls are unable to remain attached to their selves. Different kinds of weaknesses and inconsistencies lurk in the bottom of their selves. That is why they are unable to handle the suffering. In front of the temptation of white beauty, they are too vulnerable. The idea of loyalty gives in to the looming threat of white beauty. Tammy delivers the following opinion as their decline of self and soul native to Afro-American heritage:
The Mercy provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of black girls and women. Implicit messages that whiteness is superior are everywhere, including the white baby doll given to her; the idealization of male character, the consensus is cuter than the other black girls, the idealization of white beauty in the movies. Mercy remains free from this worship of whiteness, imagining her unborn baby as beautiful in its blackness.
