Paradise

by

Toni Morrison

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Paradise makes teaching easy.
Anna Flood is the owner of a general store in Ruby. She spent time living away from Ruby but returned to run her father’s store after his death. Her time outside the town grants her a broader perspective than most other Ruby residents, and she bonds with Reverend Misner over their hope for change in Ruby. Over time, she and Misner fall in love and become engaged.
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Anna Flood Character Timeline in Paradise

The timeline below shows where the character Anna Flood appears in Paradise. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Seneca
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
Community Theme Icon
Motherhood and Intergenerational Trauma Theme Icon
Change vs. Tradition Theme Icon
...no one removed it, either, until several days later, when two local women––Kate Golightly and Anna Flood––did so themselves.  (full context)
Community Theme Icon
Change vs. Tradition Theme Icon
Exclusion Theme Icon
From inside Anna Flood’s general store, Richard Misner and Anna watch Deek’s car circle the Oven. Anna complains... (full context)
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
Community Theme Icon
Exclusion Theme Icon
...and comes inside to ask for directions. Their infant child is sick, but they refuse Anna’s help, though the husband accepts some aspirin from Misner. They leave, despite Anna’s warnings of... (full context)
Motherhood and Intergenerational Trauma Theme Icon
...in and try to treat her fever. Sweetie hears children crying and leaves the Convent. Anna Flood is outside with Jeff. Sweetie falls into her husband’s arms, crying that the women... (full context)
Divine
Community Theme Icon
Change vs. Tradition Theme Icon
God, Holiness, and Faith Theme Icon
...they must earn a connection to God. He insists, “God is not interested in you.” Anna Flood believes Pulliam is trying to undermine Reverend Misner, who is officiating the wedding. She... (full context)
Lone
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
Change vs. Tradition Theme Icon
God, Holiness, and Faith Theme Icon
Exclusion Theme Icon
...Finally, the blame the women for the deaths of the white family who stopped at Anna Flood’s store several years ago. Lone herself recently discovered the car full of skeletons, and... (full context)
Community Theme Icon
...rushes to Reverend Misner’s house, but his neighbor, a DuPres, informs Lone that Misner and Anna are at a conference in Muskogee. Lone orders the neighbor to wake her husband, and... (full context)
Save-Marie
Community Theme Icon
Change vs. Tradition Theme Icon
God, Holiness, and Faith Theme Icon
...to earn favors from the Morgans by threatening their stronghold on the town. Misner and Anna Flood returned two days after the attack on the Convent, but they have yet to... (full context)
God, Holiness, and Faith Theme Icon
Misner and Anna don’t believe the mass disappearance of the Convent women, so they go to the Convent... (full context)