In her most recent novel Paradise, Toni Morrison tells the intriguing story of an all-black and an all-female community, each trying to create their own paradise. On the one hand there is Ruby, an all-black town supposedly built by righteous, moral people, who have survived oppression and exclusion. Instead of a free town – a paradise, the town and its people become exactly what they hate and fear in the process of trying to create a haven, and exclude even their own. The women in the nearby community called the Convent, on the other hand, seem to have succeded in creating a paradise for themselves. Contrary to the people of Ruby, who reject outsiders and do everything to keep their town from racial impurity, the Convent women welcome everyone into their small haven. This essay examines the ways in which Toni Morrison questions the concept of a community based on exclusion. To accomplish this, I will analyse how insiders and outsiders are defined, but also how various dichotomies are used to emphasise separateness and isolation. I will examine how exclusion (and inclusion) function in regards to the conflict of race, gender, and generation, and if there is a pattern linking the different levels of conflict together and, if so, what the pattern reveals.