Growing up, many of us have always had the comfort of wearing fitting shoes armoring our soles, and many will never lose this luxury. However, does one legitimately grow up without seeing the battles that force one to awaken a sense of self? What is a warrior who never raises their sword, too afraid to lower their shield to attack? What is an eagle that never leaps out of its nest to explore the open sky? Calluses result from experience; scars mark the lessons learned. Both bear witness to one constructing an identity. As such, Morrison puts one into the shoes of a young African American female slave as she endures the testaments of coming of age. The motif of shoes in A Mercy parallels with Florens’ transformation from an internally lost, protection-seeking girl to a self-assured, independent woman, revealing that an enslaved woman must learn to rely on herself to achieve internal freedom.

Senhora’s high heels from the beginning of Florens’ telling symbolize the threat of femininity in the eyes of men to a child’s innocence and identity. By “[beginning] with the shoes” in Florens’ narrative, Morrison draws attention to shoes and heels immediately and simultaneously implies that these heels played a part in initiating Florens’ journey. Minha mãe states that “only bad women wear high heels” (4). Having experienced sexual assault as a female on Senhor’s land, she worries that this naïve affinity will speak differently in the eyes of the men, who may see her daughter as one of the “bad women” and try to take advantage of her femininity, and lead to Florens suffering the same things (4). Additionally, imagery of the overused state of “throwaway shoes from Senhora’s house, pointy-toe, one raised heel [broken], the other worn” shows that the “bad [woman]” Senhora had already used them many times before (4). To a mother, seeing her daughter in those heels suggests a similar image to Senhora, which ultimately leads to minha mãe’s decision to give away Florens to remove her from this threat. Labeling her as “dangerous” and “wild,” minha mãe tries to warn that females who show their femininity too eagerly will fall victim to the desires of men, for she fears Florens’ attraction to high heels may end up tainting her innocence (4). Asserting this again in her narration, she explains that “there was no protection” for a woman, “certainly not with [Florens’] vice for shoes” (190). Florens’ broken high heels represent the identity that men may impose on her as a female slave, ultimately acting as catalysts to Florens’ journey.

To a child who suffered the emotional trauma of abandonment, the rabbit skin shoes Florens acquires during her time at Jacob’s farm initially signify the protection the people around her try to give, but to an older Florens, they eventually become a hinderance to her maturity as she outgrows them. Despite telling Florens that she should not have “the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady” because her feet “will always be too tender for life,” Lina relents to making a pair of shoes for her (4). With a contrast between “slave” and “Portuguese lady,” she shows her understanding that the little girl had not learn to endure the harshness of society, yet she still chooses to protect her (4). Arriving on Jacob’s farm, Flores “needed shoes, proper shoes, to replace the dirty scraps that covered her feet, and it was only when Lina made some [does] she say a word” (84). Florens, hesitant to trust others for fear of being unwanted again, does not interact with Lina and the others until Lina gives her a taste of motherly care. The urgent tone in Rebekka’s narration as she repeats Florens "needed shoes, proper shoes” also indicates her desire to protect Florens (84). Emphasizing “proper,” Rebekka displays her recognition of Florens’ need for a genuine and more permanent figure of warmth and support (84). Though that held true for a child, however, the shoes “[lie] under the sleigh – lonely, empty like two patient coffins” ten years later (74). Morrison attributes loneliness and patience to the non-sentient objects, establishing a connection between them and a layer of Florens’ identity: a child under Lina’s wing. With Florens taking Jacob’s boots instead on her search for the Blacksmith, the comparison of the neglected shoes to coffins foreshadows Florens leaving behind that role just as she leaves the rabbit skin shoes.

Finally, Jacob’s boots embody man’s protection that Florens and the others believed she needed as an enslaved woman. Lina expresses her doubts about the journey, thinking, “but [can] she manage? Alone?” and tries to reassure herself by reminding herself that “[Florens] [has] Sir’s boots” (78). The structure of these sentences, with the mention of Jacob’s boots immediately following the uncertainty in the two brief questioning phrases, contrasts each other and brings out the presumed importance of the boots to Florens’ safety and success. However, Florens begins to question if she “[misses] all understanding of how to protect [herself]” (163). Losing Jacob’s boots forces Florens to walk “in cinder and in pain of [her] tender feet [with] bits of metal [scoring] and [biting] them” (163). The personified action of biting and the imagery of physical irritation draws a connection between the Blacksmith and the metal that he works with, foreshadowing that he will become the one to hurt Florens and force her into independence. Florens’ affirmation that “[her] way is clear after losing [him]” further demonstrates that the loss of what she thought of as “security from harm” refines her understanding of how to achieve ownership of herself (184). Florens quickly becomes exposed to the mercilessness of reality after having had shoes shielding her feet for much of her life.

At the loss of her shoes, Florens finally casts away her continuous yearning for shelter as well as her inner uncertainty and takes her life into her own hands with her newly gained strength and maturity. Returning home shoeless, in sight of Willard and Scully’s sudden appearance that “would scare any human, especially a woman,” Florens “neither glanced their way nor altered her pace” (172). Using “especially,” Morrison accentuates her gender, showing that she defies the two men’s image of a submissive and defenseless woman, letting nothing faze or stop her on her path. The contrast between her behavior and the two men’s expectation reveals her complete transformation from tame to unyielding as the aftermath of losing her boots and realizing that protection will not come. Scully assesses that “she looked less like a visitation than a wounded redcoat, barefoot, bloody but proud” (174). Comparing Florens more to a homecoming soldier than an apparition, Morrison gives form to her emerging identity, glorifying her awakening moments. The pause before and after “barefoot” emphasizes the absence of shoes protecting her feet. Bringing her narration full-circle and dressing her mother’s opinion from the beginning of the story, Florens declares that “the soles of [her] feet are as hard as cypress” (189). With newfound certainty in her tone, she compares her once-tender feet to firm cypress wood, asserting that she has fulfilled her mother’s wish and become ready to walk any road to which life may lead her. Additionally, with a final address to the Blacksmith, Florens declares that “from now [he] will stand to hear [her]” (188). The steel in her words conveys a powerful, commanding tone, radiating her new resolve. She tells him to “stand to hear her,” figuratively implying that she stands on higher ground than the Blacksmith, putting her in an image of dominance and control (188). Hence, the telling of her story on the walls allows Florens to reconstruct her sense of self. Without shoes covering her feet and the wing of another sheltering her head, the ground at the Blacksmith’s home, on the way back to the farm, and in Jacob’s house alters her both physically, callusing her skin, and mentally, demonstrating her growth into an independent, battle-hardened woman.

With the deconstruction and rebuilding of her identity, Florens’ story replicates the struggle of black women achieving liberation in a hostile society. In the 1600s, black slaves under the ownership of white colonists often had their original, rightful identities warped or even erased, having been imported into a strange land and ruled over with absolute power. As a result, they not only lose their physical freedom but also becomes slaves of the mind. Enslaved women, like Florens, suffer under yet another layer of oppression because of their gender. However, by guiding Florens to learn to stand on her own feet, independent of reliance on others, Morrison highlights a possible path to forging inner clarity, strength, and ultimately, freedom.