This paper examines the intertextual relationsbip between Toni Morrison's Paradise and the Bible, which has been a consistent, inspirational source througbout her works. lt argues that the author deconstructs and restructures the notion of holiness, using the Scriptures, as she suggests building a "paradise" as a solution to the problematics of American society. The privileged residents of Ruby, an all-black town, believe that they are "holy and pure" as a chosen people of God while they have fossilized and idolized their founding fathers' spiritual and religious experiences. It is revealed that their concept of holiness is intertwined with their faith in black racial purity, an unwritten blood rule that determines Ruby citizens' legitimacy. Their exclusivism based on "reversed racism" reaches its climax when they attack the five women at the Convent, who hold the inferior term in Ruby's holy/unholy dyad. Morrison, however, blurs the boundary between Ruby the covenanted community and the Convent when she implies the redemption of these "sinful" women and calls them "holy." Ultimately, the "barefoot walk" of Deacon, who has led the Convent massacre, suggests the possibility of Ruby to be a "shrine," where even the strange and foreign are accepted as God's chosen and holy people.

I . 들어가며: 토니 모리슨과 성서 텍스트
 II. 유용물이 성소가 되다
 III. 거룩한 남자들 대 거룩한 여자들
 IV. 다시 벗은 발로, 성소에 서다
 V. 나오며
 인용문헌
 Abstract

• 박수정 | Park. Su Jung