Paradise

by

Toni Morrison

Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover Character Analysis

Deek Morgan is Steward’s twin brother and one of the leaders of Ruby. He and Steward share a deep, unspoken bond, and together they lead the founding fathers of Ruby when they decide to leave Haven. Deek is also married to Soane. They have two sons, but both boys die in the Vietnam War, leaving Deek and Soane’s marriage strained. Deek is the quieter of the twins, and he refuses to discuss his grief with his wife. Even before their sons’ deaths, Deek cheats on Soane with Connie. His relationship with Connie grants Deek an understanding of the Convent that his brother lacks, though he still resents the women there and helps Steward instigate the attack on the Convent. During the massacre, Deek tries and fails to stop Steward from shooting Connie. When Steward kills her anyway, Deek distances himself from his brother. At the end of the story, he is adrift, and he looks to Reverend Misner for help building an identity not centered around his brother.

Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover Quotes in Paradise

The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover or refer to Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
).
Grace Quotes

However disgusted both were, K.D. knew they would not negotiate a solution that would endanger him or the future of Morgan money. His grandfather had named his twins Deacon and Steward for a reason. And their family had not built two towns, fought white law, Colored Creek, bandits and bad weather, to see ranches and houses and a bank with mortgages on a feed store, a drugstore and a furniture store to end up in Arnold Fleetwood’s pocket. Since the loose bones of his cousins had been buried two years ago, K.D., their hope and their despair, was the last male in [the] line […]. His behavior, as always, required scrutiny and serious correction.

Related Characters: Patricia (Pat) Best/Billie Delia’s Mother, Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Arnold Fleetwood
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Seneca Quotes

“No ex-slave would tell us to be scared all the time. To ‘beware’ God. […] No ex-slave who had the guts to make his own way, build a town out of nothing, could think like that. No ex-slave––”

Deacon Morgan cut him off. “That’s my grandfather you’re talking about. Quit calling him an ex-slave like that’s all he was. He was also an ex-lieutenant governor, an ex-banker, an ex-deacon and a whole lot of other exes, and he wasn’t making his own way; he was part of a whole group making their way.”

Having caught Reverend Misner’s eyes, the boy was firm. “He was born in slavery times, sir; he was a slave, wasn’t he?”

“Everybody born in slavery time wasn’t a slave. Not the way you mean it.”

Related Characters: Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover (speaker), Reverend Richard Misner, Zechariah Morgan
Related Symbols: The Oven
Page Number: 84
Explanation and Analysis:
Lone Quotes

The women in the Convent were for [Steward] a flaunting parody of the nineteen Negro ladies of his and his brother’s youthful memory and perfect understanding. They were the degradation of that moment they’d shared of sunlit skin and verbena. They, with their mindless giggling, outraged the dulcet tones, the tinkling in the merry and welcoming laughter of the nineteen ladies who, scheduled to live forever in pastel shaded dreams, were now doomed to extinction by this new and obscene breed of female. He could not abide them for […] desecrating the vision that carried him and his brother through a war, that imbued their marriages and strengthened their efforts to build a town where the vision could flourish.

Related Characters: Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 279
Explanation and Analysis:
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Paradise PDF

Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover Quotes in Paradise

The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover or refer to Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
).
Grace Quotes

However disgusted both were, K.D. knew they would not negotiate a solution that would endanger him or the future of Morgan money. His grandfather had named his twins Deacon and Steward for a reason. And their family had not built two towns, fought white law, Colored Creek, bandits and bad weather, to see ranches and houses and a bank with mortgages on a feed store, a drugstore and a furniture store to end up in Arnold Fleetwood’s pocket. Since the loose bones of his cousins had been buried two years ago, K.D., their hope and their despair, was the last male in [the] line […]. His behavior, as always, required scrutiny and serious correction.

Related Characters: Patricia (Pat) Best/Billie Delia’s Mother, Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Arnold Fleetwood
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Seneca Quotes

“No ex-slave would tell us to be scared all the time. To ‘beware’ God. […] No ex-slave who had the guts to make his own way, build a town out of nothing, could think like that. No ex-slave––”

Deacon Morgan cut him off. “That’s my grandfather you’re talking about. Quit calling him an ex-slave like that’s all he was. He was also an ex-lieutenant governor, an ex-banker, an ex-deacon and a whole lot of other exes, and he wasn’t making his own way; he was part of a whole group making their way.”

Having caught Reverend Misner’s eyes, the boy was firm. “He was born in slavery times, sir; he was a slave, wasn’t he?”

“Everybody born in slavery time wasn’t a slave. Not the way you mean it.”

Related Characters: Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover (speaker), Reverend Richard Misner, Zechariah Morgan
Related Symbols: The Oven
Page Number: 84
Explanation and Analysis:
Lone Quotes

The women in the Convent were for [Steward] a flaunting parody of the nineteen Negro ladies of his and his brother’s youthful memory and perfect understanding. They were the degradation of that moment they’d shared of sunlit skin and verbena. They, with their mindless giggling, outraged the dulcet tones, the tinkling in the merry and welcoming laughter of the nineteen ladies who, scheduled to live forever in pastel shaded dreams, were now doomed to extinction by this new and obscene breed of female. He could not abide them for […] desecrating the vision that carried him and his brother through a war, that imbued their marriages and strengthened their efforts to build a town where the vision could flourish.

Related Characters: Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 279
Explanation and Analysis: