road and refers to fondly as “road girls”(37) would not become over taken by defeat. Instead, they would fight their way out of the situation. Thus, it is at this point that Mavis is a complete woman free from the labels and names placed upon her by her husband and society.Just as Mavis’ lack of identity was due to a lack of respect and attention from her husband, many of the other women come to the convent for the same reason. Toward the end of the novel, Consolata extends a welcome to the convent conveying the message that it is “the only place one is free to leave (262).” It becomes apparent to the reader that although some may go away for a little while, no one leaves for good. One of the ongoing themes in the lives of the women in the convent is mistreatment by men. This mistreatment usually took the form of abandonment or abuse. Some of the women, such as Seneca, were placed after animals or material things. She was also sexually abused, which led to her self-mutilation. Consolata, another of the convent women, suffered from depression, was an alcoholic and depended upon a man to make her happy (252). Morrison’s use of friendship as a means of therapy is present within our own society. In a lecture on Women’s Friendships, Bredin Nelson contends that women depend upon the strength of togetherness found in a friendship (Nelson). Throughout the novel, the women constantly care for and support one another, a practice not observed beyond the walls of the convent. It is this therapy that produces the women’s images of self on the basement floor. Through this therapy, they are able to stop the hauntings of their memories. This is a therapy so pleasurable they must be reminded of their actual lives because it is so tempting for them to dwell within the images. Morrison supports this in the text by writing that “they had to be reminded of the moving bodies they wore, so sed...
