Directions: Using the two narratives of Beloved (as well as any textural evidence you find helpful), compose a 2-3 page literary analysis using the following questions as a guiding outline for your essay: How does Morrison create a duality with the character Beloved? What evidence do you see in the two narratives that create this meaning? What would be the point of creating this duality? What will it mean for the rest of the novel? Please use the following prompt. Post your essay to this blog space AND on Turnitin.com.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Due Wednesday, December 12th - Beloved Three Narratives Essay
Overview: Toni Morrison has created a duality in Beloved, as at once the daughter Sethe murdered out of love, and as a former slave who lost her mother on a slave ship and endured life with vicious slave owner. Why did she do this? How does it create meaning? Before we move onto the last section of the novel, I would like you to explore this further.
Directions: Using the two narratives of Beloved (as well as any textural evidence you find helpful), compose a 2-3 page literary analysis using the following questions as a guiding outline for your essay: How does Morrison create a duality with the character Beloved? What evidence do you see in the two narratives that create this meaning? What would be the point of creating this duality? What will it mean for the rest of the novel? Please use the following prompt. Post your essay to this blog space AND on Turnitin.com.
Directions: Using the two narratives of Beloved (as well as any textural evidence you find helpful), compose a 2-3 page literary analysis using the following questions as a guiding outline for your essay: How does Morrison create a duality with the character Beloved? What evidence do you see in the two narratives that create this meaning? What would be the point of creating this duality? What will it mean for the rest of the novel? Please use the following prompt. Post your essay to this blog space AND on Turnitin.com.
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Throughout the novel, Toni Morrison’s portrayal of Beloved shifts greatly with the initial perception as a ghost shifting to the humanistic suffering of a slave. As Sethe develops as a character, a shift is seen as the change in writing style creates a tangible manifestation of this idea through the use of no punctuation and sporadic thought structure. This lack of structure seems to encapsulate the pain endured by a slave with the never-ending sentences and unorganized thoughts being a projection of their pains in life endured mentally and physically.
ReplyDeleteThe latter idea that Morrison addressed which shifted around that part was the idea of death. The comparison of whether she jumped off the ship or whether she killed her children remains a difficult to assess situation. Though a significant difference, the ultimate implication this holds to the plot is the rationale behind the choice. The characters remain unaffected by what truly happened, but nonetheless the actions fueling their mindsets and the mental implications add a psychological attribute explaining what the characters experienced. Effectively, these two contrasting events describe a similar mental conflict which the determination of shapes the reader’s perception moreso than a definitive answer to the tangible event.
One interpretation of these actions is to view it as a selfish act. This argument centers around the fact that enduring life knowing your children will endure the pains of slavery or that you will have to live with this leads to ending your life instead of facing these issues. On the contrast, the counterargument validly exists upon the idea of acting selflessly to end her children and her own from suffering despite how difficult the action may be. The animalistic aspect sought to be explained from this idea was prevailed in the brutalist and simplistic diction used such as “now we cannot” (249) or “we are not crouching now” (249). Its additional explanation held true to parallel with the mindset a slave would have endured through such events. An aspect I found particularly difficult to interpret was whether any of it mattered as the implications the actions held do not change due to the intention.
The ultimate dilemma I understood from this excerpt was the individualistic aspect of personal humanistic suffering endured despite being tangibly in a community. The metaphoric ghost description aids to show how someone in such a position may feel like merely a ghost in how they feel alone in their life despite being surrounded by others. Her description of how “[w]e are not crouching now we are standing but my legs are like my dead man’s eyes I cannot fall because there is no room to” helped detail this for me through her explanation of the conjoined existence of isolation and communal suffering created this reality for her. Specifically, I saw the use of describing the man’s eyes as “my dead man’s eyes” highlighted her objectualization in such a situation. For this reason, I thought the absence of a maternal figure brought forth the issue of isolation upon Beloved seen throughout the books events, and ultimately led to a greater loss than any tangible event may implicate.
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ReplyDeleteMorrison creates uncertainty within the reader by diverging into two storylines that lend Beloved inaccessible, yet a concrete presence in the novel. The duality of Beloved juxtaposes her tangible identity—the form of a human or a ghost—and the intangible—who possesses her. Morrison’s point is that the only defining criteria of Beloved is her role as the lost daughter and sister in a female trinity. If a resolution is to be reached, Beloved must fulfill this purpose while her true nature remains unresolved for the characters and for the reader.
ReplyDeleteWith two incompatible backstories that contribute to her characterization, Beloved is meant to be an unreachable presence for the reader. Each statement by Beloved can be applied to either character with varying degrees of literal interpretation. A piece of her narrative reads, “There is no one to want me to say my name I wait on the bridge because she is under it there is night and there is day” (251). If Beloved is Sethe’s daughter and a ghost, then Beloved feels that “There is no one to want me to say my name” because she was left alone by her mother, forced onto the other side of the veil. The reader can connect Beloved’s desire for Paul D to “call [her] Beloved” as evidence of her longing for someone to need her (116). The “ghost” of Beloved tells Sethe that she came across a “bridge,” for which the reader paints as a figurative bridge crossing the veil between “night and...day,” or life and death. Conversely, if Beloved is a human woman and Sethe is not her mother, the reader draws different inferences from the same statement. Taken and raped by a white man, Beloved does not have anyone to “want [her]” and the white man likely never called her by her “name.” Her interaction with Paul D is the only interaction with men that she has, that they “want [her].” The only course of action she thinks to take is to follow her mother, into the ocean. So she “waits on the bridge because she is under it,” eventually jumping into the water. Her realization that “there is night and there is day” has meaning when taken literally or symbolically. Trapped in a dark room with the white man, she emerges with freedom into the light for the first time in many years. But her distinction between “night...and day” or black and white is what leads her to conclude that Sethe must be her mother, because Sethe looks like her.
If the duality at play is concretely resolved in favor of either Beloved, there cannot be a resolution to the novel. Sethe needs Beloved to be her daughter and human, so that she can say truthfully that she “will never leave you again” (256). However, if Beloved is, in fact, her murdered daughter, she will remain forever in the form of a ghost, and thus will never be fully in Sethe’s presence. On the other hand, Beloved needs Sethe to be her mother, and if this is the case then Sethe murdered her and she must be a ghost. However, if Sethe is her real mother then she is a human woman. Denver seeks companionship in her “sister,” whom she believes is a ghost, yet if she is a ghost Denver cannot be sure that she “will never leave me again.” All three women are unified in purpose—they want each other to be their own. However, in order for Sethe, Beloved, and Denver to say, “You are mine You are mine You are mine” they must overlook the inconsistencies that would prevent them from achieving unity as a threesome (256). As Morrison presents in the epigraph, “I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.” Each individual in the trinity must call Beloved by the same name, but perceive her identity differently if a resolution between characters is to be realized.
Morrison’s purpose in obscuring Beloved’s origin and identity is to emphasize the search and recovery of the lost member of a mother-daughter-sister relationship, and to allow for an end to their individual suffering. Each character’s search for their unreachable “hot thing” will only be satisfied by Beloved. Sethe seeks peace and resolution with her daughters and to be a mother again. The “the circle around her neck” is “[bitten] away” by Beloved for “I know she does not like it….a hot thing” (249). The reader can deduce that Sethe will act like a mother to Beloved for the remainder of the novel, and that through her nurture of Beloved, she will lose the “circle around her neck” that chains her to 124. Beloved searches for the only other person she knows—her mother, and an explanation of why her mother left her. For “Her face is my own and I want to be there in the place where her face is and to be looking at it too a hot thing” (248). To “be there in the place where her face is” is to understand her mother’s decision to jump into the water, or to kill her. This will be resolved by Sethe, who acts in the position of a mother. Denver needs someone to love her. However, as warned by Baby Suggs, she “had to watch out for [Beloved] because it was a greedy ghost and needed a lot of love, which was only natural, considering” (247). As Beloved is consumed by her role as a daughter, Denver will find it necessary to build a life on her own, and to reach both within herself and outside of 124 to remedy her want for love and care. All three women seek for what Beloved terms as “now we can join a hot thing” (252). This “joining” is made possible by Beloved’s dual nature, which unity defies all odds, reason, and common sense.
ReplyDeleteMorrison speaks to the complexities, yet also the simplicity of the trinity concept. For, Beloved as a child and sibling executes the seemingly impossible task of redemption from suffering in dual spiritual and physical form. The eradication of suffering from among the three women heightens their familial love, unity, and joy.
Beloved rose out of the water. Alone and infantile, she grows to fit herself into 124. Rebuilding what she lost and seeking the answer to her abandonment, both faces of Beloved link their stories and experiences, existing as one feeling. Defining Beloved begs accepting the unexplainable. Both the living and the dead exist together, a duality created through empathy and the weight of the memories they carry, each grasping at some understanding of why they were left behind.
ReplyDeleteArriving parched and nearly silent, she later speaks the words, “I am Beloved and she is mine,” (249) a statement seemingly for Sethe, but at the same time only saying “she.” Unidentified, belonging to nobody but any woman. Speaking not anonymously but as if to say, “I am Beloved and Beloved is mine.” Meaning to know who she is and where she comes from, that she can never return but not why, extending upwards, palms open, with the weight and suffering of one another, the lost stories and souls of those she has loved when she could do nothing else - do nothing wrong. This is a relationship created in the quiet, unexplainable instances and separate narratives threaded on the back of a living woman whose mother left her too. If Beloved is the living it leaves unexplained how she grasped at the ring around Sethe’s neck, how she seemed to vanish into the shadows of the shed or move Paul D by just her spirit. The ghost remains and yet cannot remain alone; explaining where she came from, “One of them was in the house I was in. He hurt me,” (254) and how she is like the sunlight between the wooden cracks of the shed, the wooden cracks of the slave ship. Sethe’s emergency could be a response to a sudden reunion, or a motherly response to an intense loneliness and want that radiates off the stranger Beloved. She is neither one nor the other in a story that creates a tangible spirit. She is the voice humming, “I know how she feels,” joining them as one, holding them together. Beloved will hold everything together. Even when she was not free, when death meant suffering alone and life saw her mother's unfinished smile, both faces of Beloved and all of those memories would be one. Beloved who came out of the water, emerging like infant and apparition. Underwater where her sight was blurred as a barrier between clarity and mystery, she was preserved in time and silence, waiting in enveloping darkness to be born.
Beloved makes the world her own. Within herself she chooses to collect the parts she has lost. An insatiate hunger extending itself to Sethe, not having forgotten, “She took my face away.” (251) Wanting her whole self back, still missing parts despite all she carries, Beloved is ultimately seeking to be chosen by someone. Alone in both narratives, a pattern she can never be freed from, Beloved takes for herself. She takes what she is missing, no memory forgotten, draws it all into herself and chooses to love it without hesitancy. Sethe, Denver, and Beloved are framed as a Holy Trinity - separate yet all one, their thoughts and feelings blending to a whole, though Beloved’s role is blurred. Beloved comes from somewhere else, from others than Sethe and Denver, “There will never be a time when I am not crouching and watching others who are crouching too.” (248) The living carries the memories of the dead and the loved. She is with the others and their suffering entirely and she is not alone, yet her mother left her. Life and death are the same, if she is a ghost or alive there was never freedom for the child who only wanted to be with her mother. The past dragging behind leaves a part of her always “crouching” below, drowned in the water. She cools there, spending her days and nights submerged, looking up, waiting for the face that is her own, wishing to flood herself in the ocean with her mother but coming up for air to find she is alone. In the house there is one alike, melting in the red, waxy, anger, burning with “a hot thing,” and no body to carry her anguish but that of Beloved the living. To drag herself onto Beloved and meld herself to her soul along with the others she has offered refuge. To become one of the memories, one with Beloved, seeking an answer to unfinished smiles and her mother lost to her, whispering, “I know how you feel.” Beloved the ghost is gone, but Beloved the living understands her. Like the many who exist within Beloved, within her memory and empathy, exists the traces of the soul Beloved. The one who never ends, never stops, whose mother left her, who can only feel love and anger and an unfinished smile, “a hot thing,” but for all she feels doesn’t understand why. “Why did she do that when she was about to smile at me? I wanted to join her in the sea but I could not move; I wanted to help her when she was picking the flowers, but the clouds of gunsmoke blinded me and I lost her.” (253) With each thing she makes her own, Beloved grows responsible. A role to preserve her memories, hers alone to remember, to give love, to protect. To find her mother she must remember, - “The man on my face is dead his face is not mine” (248) - must take parts of others - “I cannot find my man the one whose teeth I have loved a hot thing” (249) - who in turn she grows to love and take along with her - “I love him because he has a song.” (250) All of the life that she takes on is all to reach her mother again, to understand why she left.
ReplyDeleteIn every existence Beloved only needs one question answered. In loving so freely and entirely, in stoking “a hot thing” and then herself falling deep into the fire, in the loving innocence of an infant, she was still left. In how much she feels, in loving Sethe too much, in never stopping, Beloved is always crouching, lost in permanent abandonment. Beloved’s existence is trapped in infamy, as a ghost dwelling in anger, reliving moments left with no explanation. She sees everything from the outside, looking down from above, and still one question remains: Why is she alone? Seeking the missing pieces of what she has lost and adding them to the weight she carries, Beloved does all that she can do freely. How Baby Suggs taught her followers to love themselves, how Sethe took her children’s lives into her own hands, and how Denver chose to wait for her father, Beloved chose to “call them my people who are not my people.” To feel for those around her, to make them her people, she rebuilds what was lost with her mother, loving it, trying not to feel alone, “trying to leave our bodies behind” (249). Religious symbolism binds them together, unconditional and unending love, mirroring the absent holy mother. In either narrative, Beloved exists beyond herself, beyond her body, in the spirit of the dead, in the faces of those she loved for herself. Without her mother to smile, “The iron circle is around our neck,” (250) and in her solitude they will feel her rage, and how widely her love extends. Beloved is joined to Beloved, their connection showing their shared feeling, the magnitude of their single shared question.
ReplyDeleteHers is the name that says she has been loved and was never alone in this feeling. She is Beloved, she has loved, and she seeks one who will love her without caution. In Sethe she has found this person, of her blood or not. In answering Beloved’s question, why she was left, Sethe can stop her constant motion, can lift some of the weight of responsibility off Beloved’s shoulders. What Sethe cannot repair, and what no mother, no face could, is the trauma Beloved has been through. In her endlessness, “There will never be a time when I am not crouching.” (248) For someone who feels so strongly and searches for togetherness, to be left by the one person she wanted, alone, could be the worst thing to happen to Beloved. Despite this, all Beloved asks is “I needed her face to smile.” (255) Sethe alone can give this, can begin to heal her, building acceptance of her past while looking fully toward her future.
The point of an optical illusion is that it can be many things. At first glance an image may appear to be one thing, but at second view, it may look entirely different. Toni Morrison embodies this idea with in her novel, Beloved. Although the beginning narration of Beloved’s vengeance and description of a red glowing light makes her seem like a ghost, the chapter in the voice of Beloved portrays a duality that sheds light on a different conclusion. If she isn’t the ghost of Sethe’s murdered daughter, could she just be a girl who went through the trauma of a slave ship, a lost mother, and the physical and emotional abuse of a white slave owner? Morrison creates this dual narrative with Beloved’s character to encourage deeper thinking from her readers and allow them to draw their own conclusions rather than simply being told who she is.
ReplyDeleteMorrison begins the novel purposefully by not explaining Beloved’s life chronologically. Her introduction states, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” (1) From that first line, the reader is aware that the house has a certain supernatural feel stemming from a brutal past, but by intentionally withholding what has truly happened, she allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. She gives clues to the past by referring to an angry baby. This allows the reader to think not only about the current actions of the ghost, but what might have happened to make her this way. Why is this baby so angry? Did she live here? Why has she not passed on to the afterlife? Although she does not explicitly say it is Beloved, the reader can assume it is, since she was the only baby mentioned so far and it had been told that her throat had been cut. Morrison characterizes the house as “...a pool of red and undulating light...” (10). This house is a symbol of the troubled family’s past. Morrison uses the color red and the wavering light to allow the reader to get a sense of horror, which would usually be a result of some sort of paranormal activity. From these descriptions, it is inferred that there is a ghost of a baby’s unfinished life haunting 124, and that she may be stuck in some sort of limbo until she is able to pass to the next world. Morrison emphasises this later in Beloved’s narrative when she speaks about Sethe. She emphasises Beloved’s separation from her mother by explaining, “...I would help her but the clouds are in the way..I want to be there in the place ...” (248-249). The clouds may refer to Beloved’s ghost being stuck and unable to pass on to any sort of afterlife, while also being blocked from returning to her life and family. She feels lost and abandoned without her mother.
In Beloved’s narrative, the novel takes a drastic turn. Although a few lines do match up with the previous story of Beloved’s ghost, most of them do not fit, therefore casting doubt on a reader’s previous ideas and forcing them to look at Beloved in a new way. Earlier in the novel, Sethe explained Beloved’s return as a girl who “... had been locked up by some whiteman for his own purposes, and never let out the door. That she must have escaped to a bridge or someplace and rinsed the rest out of her mind.” (140) Morrison utilizes dramatic irony because Sethe does not know that Beloved is the result of her own daughter’s reincarnation. Sethe thinks that she is an entirely different person rather than her own Beloved.
Later, Beloved’s narrative explains how “...storms rock us and mix the men into the women and the women into the men…” (250). Thinking like Sethe, the storm would make sense on a ship. But in 124, a storm would most likely not rock the house and people in it. On a boat full of many people, one wave could shake the whole ship and shift everything and everyone on it. She also touches upon the experience in which “...the men without skin bring us their morning water to drink...daylight comes through the cracks...rats do not wait for us to sleep someone is thrashing but there is no room to do it in...” (248). This also makes sense with Sethe’s ideas of Beloved’s slave ship origins where she would have been tortured by the white men and kept under horrible and tight conditions. Beloved also explains how the people who “...die are in a pile...the men without skin push them through with poles...” (249) On a slave ship, when the people do not survive under the tough conditions they are just thrown into the ocean. The white men do not value their lives because the loss of life is the loss of ability to work. She watches her suffering mother fall into the water and yearns to be with her. Beloved is being abandoned and wishes more than anything to join her mother, even in death.
ReplyDeleteMorrison furthers the reader’s confusion by throwing in lines that could point to Beloved being a ghost or a tortured slave without specifically choosing just one. For example, when Beloved says “...we are all trying to leave our bodies behind...it is hard to make yourself die forever...” (248-249). This could be Beloved waiting for the rest of her family to join her in the afterlife or her wishing to join her mother in the water off of the ship. Beloved also refers to the mother’s “circle around her neck” (249) and how she wishes to “bite it away” (249). She loves her mother and wishes to help her escape the chains she is strapped into as a slave. But this could also refer to her wish to take away her mother’s pain in life and allow her to come with her to the afterlife.
Morrison creates this duality purposefully. By bridging the similarity of a young girl losing her mother and the result of them both suffering apart, the explanations are close enough to each other to make sense either way. Morrison gives her story another layer by allowing the reader to create their own ending and decide who or what they think Beloved really is. By putting these questions in her reader’s heads she allows them to think beyond the novel’s basic understanding and push into a deeper, more meaningful analysis. This analysis is the purpose of this duality and allows Morrison to not pick one narrative or the other as the truth, but to allow the reader to find their own truth and interpret Beloved as they see fit.
The duality of a character, setting, or relationship has the potential to alter the meaning of a story completely. Whether it be represented through subtle nuances sprinkled throughout the novel, or by way of deliberate and obvious placement of dual tactics, its effectiveness rings true and strong. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, she is able to formulate a story that centers around a poignant duality, only pulling the curtain on its presence when it is right under the reader’s nose. By making the audience question whether Beloved is truly a ghost or just a disturbed girl who suffered travel on a slave ship, Morrison creates a new sense of direction and connections between all of her troubled characters.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first half of the novel, the author manages to convince the reader beyond belief that Beloved is a ghost - not an easy feat, though she makes it appear as it is the most reasonable explanation for her appearance at 124. From her first arrival in the novel, Beloved is said to, “gaze at Sethe with sleepy eyes,” and possess three scratches on her forehead that looked akin to, “baby hair,” (62). Accompanied by the fact that she gravelly states her name is Beloved, - not a common one by any means - it seems clear as day that the girl is the ghost of Sethe’s murdered child. Even the timing of her appearance, almost immediately after Paul D ‘banishes’ the ghost from 124, is rather suspicious. However, as soon as Beloved’s perspective is presented, the entire view of the reader is turned on its head, with her vague description of a, “storm [rocking her],” (250) and, “the woman [being] there with the face [she] wants,” (249). As the chapter progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to dispute the idea that Beloved is not a ghost, but rather a young girl who lost her mother while confined on a slave ship. Beloved is no longer the spiteful daughter of Sethe whose life was taken far too soon; she is now a confused and lost soul who will traverse through all waters to find her mother. Morrison’s sheer skill at developing this duality is seen through the fact that, while not truly evident until the latter half of the novel, its effectiveness and meaning continue to make an incredible impact on the work as a whole.
Morrison’s peppering of Beloved’s double nature is no coincidence. It is rather a cleverly calculated way of connecting the complex characters of the novel. Beloved’s presence creates a spider web of sorts in the piece as a whole; no longer are Sethe, Denver, and Paul D individual victims of their own personal torment - they are now one in the same, all just troubled people with misplaced good intentions. While Paul D is originally presented as wanting a comfortable place to live with the familiar face of the woman he has admired his whole life, it is not until Beloved arrives that he is truly forced to address his true issues. When it comes to Denver, her confrontation comes in the form of her realization that there is more to the world than mundane days at 124. With Beloved’s appearance, Denver’s life is made anew, with her feeling as though Beloved was, “waiting for her,” (243). She now has someone around her who she is not, “scared of,” and doesn’t think will, “kill her too,” (242). It is only Sethe that views Beloved as yet another excuse to bury her past completely. At one point, she outrightly states that she, “doesn’t have to explain a thing,”(236) about her reasoning for murdering her own child . Rather than seeing Beloved’s arrival as an opportunity to confront her deeply withheld issues, Sethe uses the change of dynamic as another opportunity to lock her feelings in a forgotten corner of her mind and throw away the key. With these significant character arcs, we are now able to recognize the true reasoning for Morrison’s strategy. Without the main characters’ misperception of who Beloved actually is, they would be left completely incapable of confronting or, in Sethe’s case, avoiding their true issues. It is only with the placement of Beloved’s dual nature that the characters are able to truly grow and develop as individuals.
ReplyDeleteNot only does the novel’s duality contribute to effective character development, but it also metamorphosizes the entire direction of the book, as well as the reader’s understanding of what has already taken place. Rather than viewing every action committed by Beloved as the act of a vengeful ghost, we are granted an alternate view; she is now a troubled young girl looking for her mother who has, “the face [she wants],” (249). It is also rather important to note that, while this duality created by Morrison molds our views to fit an entirely different lens, Beloved has a similar end goal regardless; she wants to understand why her mother abandoned her. In addition to a fresh outlook on the rest of the novel, the shift has also gives the reader reason to look back on past events in a new light, as well. While Beloved’s questioning of where Sethe’s earrings had gone is initially viewed as a disturbing observation of something only her daughter would know, we now realize that Beloved may have simply recognized that, “her sharp earrings were gone,” (250) in reference to those that her mother on the slave ship may have been wearing. When she so creepily emerges from the water upon her first arrival, we view this as the ominous entrance of a ghost. Now, however, we see Beloved’s, “[coming] out of blue water,” (252) as a reference to her mother’s abandonment of her in the ocean. It is only with this newfound duality that the reader may begin to truly understand the meaning of the work as a whole.
Toni Morrison’s creation of Beloved’s dual nature not only intensifies the significance of her arrival, but it also makes for more well developed character plotlines. With the eloquent duality of the novel, we are finally able to understand the underlying struggles of Sethe, Denver, and Paul D. As the dual narrative continues to reach its full force, the novel may finally reach its crescendo. With Morrison’s air of mystery surrounding Beloved’s origins, it will likely be up to the reader to decide which truth they see in 124’s inhabitants.
Throughout the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison creates a duality in the character Beloved. As the reader traverses through the book, they see the duality created and question their stance on Beloved. At some points in the book, evidence points towards the fact that Beloved is a ghost, yet at other parts, evidence points to Beloved being on a slave ship and then being taken to work for a white slave owner. Although the reader is constantly guessing between the two dualities, that is Morrisons point as it creates depth in the story and highlights multiple perspectives and histories.
ReplyDeleteMorrison portrays Beloved as a ghost to change the perspective of the reader. She uses Beloved’s actions and other characters thoughts to make Beloved seem suspicious and make the reader believe that it is a ghost. Paul D is the first one in the house to become wary of Beloved. He realizes that Beloved “‘Acts sick, sounds sick, but she don’t look sick. Good skin, bright eyes and strong as a bull’... ‘ can’t walk, but [has] seen her pick up the rocker with one hand’” (67). Morrison creates a contrast between the physical appearance and the strength of Beloved to connect her to being a dead baby ghost. Sethe killed Beloved when she was a baby to save her the life of being a slave, so, Morrison directs the reader to believe that Beloved may be a ghost. Paul D points out that she seems sick, and a ghost, would be sullen and unapproachable. Morrison wants the reader to connect that smooth skin alludes to the skin of babies; as they have very clear and nice skin. Beloved can’t walk because babies don’t know how to walk, so she would have never learned. Although Paul D already had his suspicions about Beloved, Sethe and Denver also catch on to her odd behavior. When Beloved asks Sethe “‘Where your diamonds’” (69), Sethe and Denver do not notice at first, but later realize that it strange that Beloved would know to ask about the diamonds. Denver noticed “how greedy she was to hear Sethe talk. [and] she noticed something more. The questions Beloved asked: ‘where your diamonds?’ ‘your woman she never fix up your hair?’ and most perplexing: tell me your earrings. How did she know” (75). If no one ever told her about the earrings, or the hair, how would she know unless if she were supernatural? This mystery forces readers to think outside the box, and questions whether or not Beloved could be something other than human. From this point of view, the reader is able to understand the effect that slavery had on people. Sethe was willing to kill her daughter just so that she wouldn’t have to go through what she went through. This sheds light upon the impact that slavery can have.
The other half of the duality that Morrison creates, comes from Beloved’s past. Morrison creates evidence that points Beloved to being on a slave ship where she was eventually sold to a white slave owner. When Denver asked Beloved about where she had been previously, she says that “‘I’m small in that place. I'm like this here’ she raised her head off the bed, lay down on her side and curled up. Denver covered her lips with her fingers. ‘Were you cold?’ Beloved curled tight and shook her head. ‘Hot. nothing to breathe down there and no room to move in’ ‘You see anybody?’ ‘Heaps. A lot of people is down there’” (88). From the descriptions of where she was in the dark, it sounds like she was on a slave ship. Slave ships used to consist of all the slaves on the bottom deck of the ship all stacked on top of each other. If Beloved was on a slave ship, it explains why Beloved said it was hot and crowded, and how there were a lot of people with her. Another piece of evidence that supports this duality is when Denver is asking Beloved about her mother, “Beloved, scratching the back of her hand, would say she remembered a woman who was hers, and she remembered being snatched away from her... And she knew one whiteman” (140). From Beloved’s description, her mother was on the slave ship and then jumped off and died. Beloved was then sold to a slave owner. If she only knew one “whiteman”, it is likely that the whiteman was the white slave owner. Eventually, Beloved escapes the plantation she is working at and runs away. When she first arrives at 124 it is described that “a fully dressed woman walked out of the water.. . All day and all night she sat there, her head resting on the trunk in a position abandoned enough to crack the brim in her straw hat. Everything hurt but her lungs most of all” (60). It would make sense that she was exhausted and out of breath since she had just trekked miles away from the slave plantation. Walking through the events that Beloved remembers, evidence points to the idea that Beloved was on this slave ship. From this version of her past, the reader is able to gain insight on the experiences of a slave who gets sold to an owner.
DeleteMorrison creates a duality in the identity of Beloved. She drops pieces of evidence leading the readers to believe that Beloved is a dead baby ghost, but also evidence that makes the reader believe that Beloved ran away from a slave plantation after being sold to a whiteman from a slave ship. Throughout the whole book, the reader picks up on hints comparing both sides of the duality. Morrison keeps the reader always guessing and engaged. This helps the reader understand both perspectives and educates the reader in two different ways instead of just one. For the rest of the novel, Morrison will continue to shed light upon the complexity of Beloved. At some points in the book, she may lean more towards one side compared to the other.
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ReplyDeleteOftentimes in literature, a character is forced either into the label of “good” or “bad.” While, in most cases, it is simple to distinguish a “good” character from an antagonist, some books prove the opposite. In addition to the duality of ghost or slave girl with Beloved’s character in Beloved, Toni Morrison meddles with the idea of Beloved being an angel or a devil. Clearly, either would make sense; Beloved has simultaneously harmed and enhanced Sethe’s life, as well as Denver and Paul D’s. However, whether Beloved is angelic or demonic could determine how the novel ends.
ReplyDeleteFor many authors, dualities are a valuable tool. Though they may help the reader better understand the book’s characters, dualities might also make their thoughts conflicted. The dualities that lie within Beloved’s character emphasize this idea. Perhaps the most prominent example of this would be whether or not she is the ghost of Sethe’s Beloved, or a former slave girl. Again, there are several pieces of evidence that advocate both ghost and slave. For instance, “we are all trying to leave our bodies behind” (Morrison, 249) might convince the reader that Beloved is a spirit caught in purgatory, and the dead man she encounters might be Halle. In addition, Beloved stating how “she cannot lose her again” (Morrison, 250) could indicate that she does not want Sethe to leave her, perhaps both in memory and physically. This could explain why the ghost of Beloved haunts Sethe, as well as returns to 124; she does not want Sethe to forget her. Another instance where Beloved might be a spirit is when she explains, “she (Sethe) was going to smile at her” (Morrison, 250) before Sethe goes to “a hot thing” (Morrison, 250). For Beloved, this could be a fearful memory of Sethe killing her. The description of “the men without skin making loud noises” (Morrison, 250) supports this idea, wherein the shed, Sethe hears Schoolteacher approaching them. Clearly, these two scenes parallel each other, where Beloved believes Sethe will protect her, despite her murdering her later. Beloved being a ghost would connect to the major themes of the novel, emphasizing the weight of Sethe’s past and how it has manifested into something physical. However, one might argue that these details reveal Beloved is a slave. Beloved being a slave would further highlight the effects slavery has on someone, and how it can distort one’s identity. Instead of purgatory, the place where Beloved is “always crouching” (Morrison, 248) with dead men around her could be a slave ship. Also, the woman Beloved describes could be her mother that dives off the ship, abandoning her. This could explain Beloved’s attachment to Sethe; clearly, she correlates her own identity with her mother’s, stating that she “sees her face which is mine” (Morrison, 251). Due to her desperation for love and a sense of self, she concludes that Sethe is “my face smiling at me” (Morrison, 252). Also, this could justify Beloved’s actions towards Paul D., where she instructs him to “‘touch me on the inside and call me Beloved’” (Morrison, 137). Considering the fact that Beloved could have been an abused, raped slave, perhaps this was the only way she knows how to communicate with men. Again, this resembles the events on the slave ship, where Beloved reflects on the “men without faces” “putting his fingers there” (Morrison, 251).
Throughout the novel, Beloved has both damaged and improved Sethe’s life, while also altering the lives of those close to her. If Beloved truly is a spirit, the destruction and rescuing she has brought to Sethe could illustrate her being either demonic or angelic. Like the duality of her being a slave or a ghost, there are several examples that could justify both devil and angel. First, one could consider the ice-skating scene as an instance of Beloved being an angel. This moment mirrors the events at the carnival, which embodied joy and hope. Similar to how “nobody noticed (them holding hands) but Sethe” (Morrison, 57), “nobody saw them falling” (Morrison, 205) when they were skating. Like the shadows holding hands, Sethe, Denver, and Beloved ice-skating together acts as a moment of pure, unaffected love--something that Sethe has long neglected. Furthermore, it is vital to recognize how the “angelic” Beloved has impacted Sethe and Denvers’ lives. For Denver, Beloved acts almost as a guardian angel. Evidently, Denver fears Sethe, as well as longs for her father’s arrival at 124. Beloved helps Denver confront both of these issues, where, in times of fear, Beloved would “play with her and always come to be with her whenever she needed her” (Morrison, 247). Concerning Halle, Beloved also restores Denver’s optimism towards her father. Here, Denver believes that “Beloved has come to help her wait for her daddy” (Morrison, 246), who she also considers to be an “angel man” (Morrison, 246). Naturally, Beloved’s effect on Sethe is far more intense. In Sethe’s case, Beloved’s return acts as a gain of control for her. Being a former slave and a black woman at her time, control is something Sethe has always lacked. In a way, Beloved’s murder was a response to Schoolteacher’s abuse and dictation over Sethe’s life. Now, Sethe interprets Beloved’s return as her stealing Schoolteacher’s power, where he cannot take Beloved away again. Earlier in the novel, Paul D. had contemplated, “To get to the place where you could love anything you chose--not to need permission for desire--well now, that was freedom” (Morrison, 191). With Beloved, Sethe no longer needs permission to love. Finally, she has achieved her true freedom.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to the events that establish Beloved as an angel, there are moments that make her seem the opposite. As mentioned before, Beloved’s supposed return has led both her and Sethe to have obscured identities. Sethe has now lost her sense of individuality as she equates herself with Beloved. Her continued statement of how “she’ll understand. She my daughter” (Morrison, 236) might imply that Beloved has become her id. In addition, Beloved has also forced Paul D. out of Sethe’s life, who had once acted as a symbol of comfort and reality for Sethe. If Beloved truly does represent the devil, in contrast, this could mean that Baby Suggs is representative of an angel. Then, it could be concluded that the “holy” Baby Suggs and Beloved are foils, protecting and shattering Sethe’s life. If the demonic Beloved remains at 124, Sethe’s identity may be more confused, leading her further into chaos.
ReplyDeleteJust as slavery distorts Beloved's identity, the question as to whether or not Beloved is a slave or a ghost distorts our perception of her character. As previously discussed, there is evidence to both arguments, such as the slave ship verses purgatory, Beloved’s encounter with Paul D., and so on. If Beloved is a spirit, one might also wonder whether or not she is demonic or angelic. Naturally, Beloved being an angel ensures a happier ending for the novel, where she could live amongst Sethe and Denver peacefully. However, Denver might still continue to fear Sethe, despite having Beloved’s presence to comfort her.
Jill, I feel like your analysis and how you took on this prompt was really unique. I liked it a lot. The angel/devil piece is really interesting.
DeleteIn literature, the purpose of a duality is to add an element of complexity to a story; to make the reader think. It is through this complexity that the true meaning of the work can be found and explored. The character Beloved represents this and through the development of her past, grows to reveal the true ghosts of the novel may not be in the character herself, but rather in pasts of the residents of 124.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the novel presents Beloved as a ghost in the most literal way; “looking in a mirror shattered it...two tiny handprints appeared in the cake (1).” It is easy for the reader to diverge down this path and accept the story as horror. Seemingly too spot on to be coincidence, Beloved emerges from the water in a symbol of rebirth after “the ghost” is expelled from 124 by Paul D, and at that moment, Sethe’s water appears to break suddenly and inexplicably as if she is giving birth again. Following this thread, Beloved’s raspy, death-like voice, the way she seems to melt into the shadows, and even her name all seem to point to her being the reincarnation of Sethe’s dead daughter, and a figure to bring forth the guilt of her past crimes. However, what seems to be the most convincing is Beloved’s knowledge of things she could not have been aware of without previously being linked to Sethe. “‘Where are you diamonds?’” she asks at one point, “on your ears (29).” Sethe had previously owned diamond earrings, given to her by Mrs. Garner while she was enslaved at Sweet Home. Another example of this is when Beloved is humming and Sethe recognizes the song. “I made that song up,” she says, “I made it up and sang it to my children. Nobody knows that song but me and my children (87).”
Yet, despite the name and the knowledge, Morrison seems to suggest that Beloved is not the specter that most want to make her out as, but instead an abused former slave who sailed to the United States from Africa and has no direct ties to Sethe. A narrative from the perspective of Beloved appears to confirm this. Most likely referencing the horrific journey many slaves made across the Atlantic, Beloved explains that “I am always crouching...the man on my face is dead...I do not eat...small rats do not wait for us to sleep (105).” In this same section, “they do not push the woman with my face through, she goes in (106).” This would explain that Beloved’s mother, the woman with her face, jumped off of the ship abandoning her. She would be left to search for her mother until she found the first person who resembled her: Sethe.
While the way Beloved speaks appears to be like that of a young child, her skin is smooth like a baby, and she has a scar on her neck, that isn’t necessarily because she was murdered as an infant but could be because of how she lived once she reached America. “I am standing in the rain falling...the others are taken...I am not taken...I am going to be in pieces...he hurts where I sleep...he puts his finger there...I drop the food and break into pieces (106).” The way Beloved describes what happened to her leads the reader to believe that she was hidden away and abused by a white man, rather than having spent her days haunting 124.
However, whether or not Beloved is a literal phantom does not keep the novel from being a ghost story. Either way, Beloved serves as a ghost of the past and a representation of how the past has the power to haunt an individual. Her presence at 124 coerces the residents into telling their stories and forces the characters into coming to grips with what they have lived through. Beloved’s presence seems to convince Sethe almost unconsciously to share the story of her mother’s death. Sethe had repressed and forgotten this memory which shows Beloved’s power over “rememory.” Similarly, it is when Paul D and Sethe are fighting about Beloved that Paul D’s repressed memory of Halle comes up. One second they are arguing about Paul D’s bad feeling about Beloved and the next Paul D is describing the image of Halle “sitting by the churn [with] butter all over his face (34).” At one point Denver and Beloved are having a conversation in which Beloved convinces Denver to tell the story of her birth, a story that belongs to Sethe’s memory but has been shared with Denver over the years. However, in Beloved’s presence, Denver is able to tell the story vividly, expressing details that make it seem as though she actually remembered what happened herself such as “the quality of Amy’s voice, her breath like burning wood. The quick change weather up in those hills-- cool at night, hot in the day, sudden fog (39).”
DeleteBeloved’s presence at 124 makes Paul D, Sethe, and Denver realize that maybe the pain that reliving the past brings is worth it, in order to have a history and an identity. They begin to fill in each other’s gaps concerning the past and, spiritually or not, with Beloved’s help, begin to construct the story of their lives that had previously been forgotten or denied.
I like how you don't just explain the plot but you analyze the reasons as to why Morrison creates the duality
DeleteGrace, I thought this was really well done. You looked at the novel holistically which I liked, and you were able to make a very advance analysis that definitely could assist in understanding this duality. I really though your line "However, whether or not Beloved is a literal phantom does not keep the novel from being a ghost story. Either way, Beloved serves as a ghost of the past and a representation of how the past has the power to haunt an individual." was spot on!
DeleteThe question of Beloved’s past reminds me of Paul Revere; one if by land, two if by sea, or rather, one from six feet underground and two from a slave ship. The only difference is that in this case the best answer is probably three. Inexplicable textual evidence exists for both cases, eliminating the possibility of choosing only one. On page 253 Beloved recalls “gunsmoke” separated her from her mother, which would not fit within the context of Beloved the baby, in addition to her reference on page 251 to a house she was held captive in and hurt by a white man. This would seem to indicate she was a slave, taken from Africa, and keep in close confinement by a sexually abusive slave owner, as first proposed by Sethe on page 140. Conversely, there are red lights, a floating dress, hand prints in cake, and a very uncommon name choice, among other strange occurrences, that indicate otherwise. However, in the end, one and two both mean the same thing. The British are coming. Beloved will seek answers for her abandonment, and Sethe will seek forgiveness for her abandonment. As Beloved stated, “All I want to know is why did she go in the water in the place where we crouched?”, (page 253), and on the next page Sethe questioned “Do you forgive me?”. Both parties need their questions answered and so they will see the answers they need. This intense need is also demonstrative of the larger conflict between Sethe’s intense maternalism and the devastating force of Slavery that has been central to the rest of the text. This fundamental unity is exemplary of Morrison’s genus with creating meaning on multiple levels. Additionally, it adds more prosectives, such as in the clearing when Beloved kissed Sethe’s neck after she was choking. We initially see it as Sethe did, as a demonstration of child-like affection, but retrospectively it can be biting a chain from Sethe’s neck, flipping the established dynamic and making Beloved the protector. Similarly, Sethe’s earrings could represent a gift from a sympathetic white person, or a symbol of African prosperity stolen by white slavers. By removing the cap of one meaning to a word Morrison’s product is more dense, disturbing, and deep than a conventional plot.
ReplyDeleteConsidering all of the confusion of Beloved's past, it is understable that it has carried through with her into a currently divided mental state. It seems that Beloved is only limited in her ability to express complex feelings, not experience them. As such, her feelings for Sethe are much more nuanced than they first appear. Scattered in with Beloved’s outpouring of love for Sethe are flecks of hesitation. She does seem to register Denver’s warning about Sethe by repeating the sentiment of too much love. She also seems to express interest in the return of Halle by responding to Denver’s “Daddy is coming for us” (page 255), with “a hot thing” (page 255), which is her expression for something that is desirable. These feelings exist on the periphery, but her need to understand why she was abandoned is a central piece of her psyche. On page 253 she outright said it, but the repetition of the three times she identifies as when she “lost” her mother indicates a deeper significance. All three instances also line up with major turning points in her life, the day she was enslaved, the day her mother jumped off the ship and the damage set in, and the day she escaped...
Beloved possibly attempted to communicate her duress over this by spiritually strangeling Sethe in the clearing, or with vague sentiments such as, “You forgot to smile,” or, “You left me,” (page 256). The cumulative effect of these confused and powerful emotions seems to be mounting toward a resolution in which Sethe and Beloved will confront their abandonment issues, for better or for worse.
DeleteAs someone who has grown up with a twin, I am accustomed to the phrase “there are two sides to every story.” However, this is my first experience with both sides coming from the same person, regarding both their past and their current personality. Beloved may be the ghost of Sethe’s murdered daughter who returned from a purgatory reflective of a slave’s suffering, or a slave girl stunted by a monstrous owner, who must balance pent up love and abandonment issues with her new mother. Either way, both and Beloved and Sethe must confront the ghosts of their pasts, face to face.
In the novel Beloved, the author Toni Morrison introduces us to the character of Beloved through two different lights. This duality makes the reader wonder which identity is “correct”, however, that information is not revealed to us. Toni Morrison uses the duality of Beloved to represent the complexities and multi-level struggles of life, specifically for African Americans in the United States. In addition, we are given many perspectives of Beloved, such as the point of view of Paul D, Sethe, Denver, and Beloved herself. This can represent how the view of African Americans varies greatly, both person to person and throughout the span of time.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the novel, we see Beloved as a spirit who haunts over 124. She seems to have a strong influence over everyone in the household, causing them to divulge information that they normally wouldn’t. However, her character also has a physical component such as when there are handprints in the cake and when she says, “the baby's spirit picked up Here Boy and slammed him into the wall hard enough to break two of his legs and dislocate his eye, […] still her mother had not looked away” (14). What seems the most convincing is the mere fact that Beloved’s name is the same name on the baby’s tombstone that we saw earlier in the book. “She had not thought to ask him and it bothered her still that it might have been possible… she could have had the whole thing, every word she heard the preacher say at the funeral… engraved on her baby’s headstone: Dearly Beloved. But what she got, settled for, was the one word that mattered” (5). It was a smart decision by Toni Morrison to choose a name such as Beloved that is so meaningful in terms of the plot and also extremely unique, making it seem like the tombstone and spirit of the young girl must be related. Toni Morrison’s evidence is so compelling in fact that we catch ourselves undoubtedly believing in ghosts.
ReplyDeleteWe are introduced to the duality of Beloved in the final part of the book, in the chapter beginning with “I Am Beloved…” (248). Toni Morrison sets the scene with the excerpt, “some who eat nasty themselves I do not eat the men without skin bring us their morning water to drink we have none at night I cannot see the dead man on my face day light comes through the cracks” (248). Beloved starts by referring to the slaves who vomit after eating the terrible food. White men bring them water in the morning, and at night, Beloved can no longer see the dead slave that lies on her. She glances through the wooden slats and sees the morning sunlight shining through. Toni Morrison uses vivid descriptions to show how Beloved, now a slave girl, looks at the world around her and sees Sethe on the slave ship. One of the many connections that Toni Morrison makes between this chapter and the previous ones is her reference to Sethe’s neck. Earlier in the novel, Beloved says, “‘“I fixed it didn’t I? I fixed her neck?” “After. After you choked her neck.” “I kissed her neck. I didn’t choke it. The circle of iron choked it.” (119) Then in this chapter, she references the iron ring again by saying, “if I had the teeth of the man who died on my face I would bite the circle around her neck bite it away I know she does not like it” (249). One of the reasons it is so difficult for the reader to decide which of Beloved’s identifies is correct, is because Toni Morrison provides so much interconnection within each of her ideas. Just when you think you have finally figures out if she is a slave or a ghost, more evidence comes up to support the other side.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s duality makes the novel incredibly significant and thoughtful. One of my major observations was how Beloved’s identity on the slave ship is from a first-person perspective. Contrastingly, her identity as Sethe’s daughter who was killed out of love is told from the point of view of many characters, but not Beloved herself. The way that Toni Morrison chooses to show multiple perspectives of Beloved represents the way that complexity and perspective play a role in racism today. The fact that Beloved’s second identity is from her own perspective. may represent how African Americans are often misunderstood and not seen by others how they deserve to be seen. As an author, it was very smart to allow the reader to see both perceptions of Beloved. It is more important to acknowledge the oppression and injustice that Beloved faced rather than to know specifically what happened. No matter which of Beloved’s identities is true, it is evident that she faced a lot of adversity during her lifetime. As Paul D put it, “The girl Beloved, homeless and without people… he had seen Negroes so stunned, or hungry, or tired or bereft it was a wonder they recalled or said anything.” (78)
I really liked how you talked about the connection between racism and perspective. It was interesting how you included the dangers of the single story in your piece.
DeletePaige, I really like your analysis. Especially the part where you mentioned "It is more important to acknowledge the oppression and injustice that Beloved faced rather than to know specifically what happened. No matter which of Beloved’s identities is true, it is evident that she faced a lot of adversity during her lifetime." I think that this is correct, and something Morrison tries to get at a lot in her writing
DeleteOne’s past, whether it was positive or negative, builds their identity. From abusive pasts to nurturing childhoods, everyone’s history exists with them for eternity and effects their present as well. Toni Morrison uses her novel, Beloved, to demonstrate this point through the duality within the characters of Sethe and Beloved. In the character Beloved, there is an significant ambiguity as to whether Beloved is the ghost of a baby, who was murdered by her mother or an abused slave, who was removed from her mother. The story of Beloved intertwines with Sethe’s background as she too had a daughter Beloved, who she was forced to kill to end the pain of her past slave life. Using these dualities present in the characters, Morrison provides the information and forces the reader to make a decision and analyze what lies underneath.
ReplyDeleteIn the two narratives, it is clear what Beloved is searching for: why she was abandoned. However, the case that Beloved may be the ghost of Sethe’s murdered daughter has little supporting evidence within these sections. Although the floating dress, the coincidental name, moving of objects, handprints in the cake, and other events suggest that she may be a ghost, the narratives clearly demonstrate that she was an abandoned slave, completing half the duality. Beloved recalls that “ the men without skin bring us their morning water to drink”(248), which indicate that she was once on a plantation and was controlled by white owners. She later elaborates on page 251, describing how she was sexaully assaulted by a prejudice white individual and held against her will. Through these narratives, it is evident that Beloved’s past has been horrific and clearly her past is affecting her present. Without a maternal figure in her life, Beloved immediately held a high regard for Sethe as she took on that role. In the early sections of the novel, Beloved even pushes off Denver and Paul D because they interfered with her connection with Sethe. Beloved states, “Sethe’s is the face that left me… Sethe sees me see her and I see the smile… her smiling face is the place for me”(253), which clearly indicates how Sethe has completed her by being that maternal figure.
Not only does Sethe help Beloved, but Beloved also helps Sethe, creating the duality. Prior to meeting Beloved, Sethe was controlled by her past life as a slave. She wanted to protect her daughter Denver from knowing of her past and she even attempted to kill all her children so they would never have to endure a life as painful as hers. Her essential mindset was that by keeping her troubled past bundled inside her, she could eliminate it. However, within a few days of meeting Beloved, she asks Sethe “where are your diamonds?”(69), and for the first time in the novel, Sethe opens up about her past.
Morrison creates the duality to emphasize the importance of confronting your past rather then letting the past control you. Sethe was so affected by her past history as a slave that she kept to herself almost always, and Beloved was traumatized with the abandonment of her parents and was left alone. However, we see the duality of the two characters when they ask questions to one another. Beloved wants to know “why did she go in the water in the place where we crouched?”(253) and Sethe wants to know if her daughter forgives her for the abandonment. Although both characters have independent stories, Morrison shows how they needed one another to find the underlying problem within them. Prior to Beloved and Sethe meeting each other, they had their memories encapsulated, but through the conversation we see both of them face their past. This duality allowed Beloved and Sethe to face their past and for the rest of the novel, I believe that both characters can finally get closure and live their independent lives.
The complexity of Beloved’s character is ultimately described best by Amy Denver’s belief that “anything dead coming back to life hurts (42).” This expression encompasses not only the dual interpretation of Beloved being a ghost or an unrelated escaped slave, and additionally the purpose of leaving this duality unresolved and the effect it has on all the characters within the novel. Before Beloved makes her tangible appearance, foreshadowing throughout the very beginning of the book demonstrates just how much her arrival will prompt those around her to finally consciously reevaluate their pasts. Sethe’s first instance of ‘rememory (43),’ or repressed memories unwillingly bubbling to the surface, occurs when Denver mentions Beloved to her. This causes Sethe to spiral into searingly painful thoughts about life as a slave at Sweetwater, and is ultimately very telling as to how deeply Beloved’s manifestation will eventually alter the psyches of Sethe, Denver, and Paul D.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s duality is crafted with clever nuances that purposefully lead both the reader and the characters within the work to be uncertain of her true origins and have widely varying opinions of her intentions. Though Beloved is strongly hinted at being a ghost with the symbolism of her unexpected reappearance aligning with Sethe’s “bladder filled to capacity (61) after the carnival,” her unexplainable knowledge of Sethe’s past diamond earrings causing Denver to question “how did she know? (75)” and strange hold over Paul D, a definitive confirmation is never given. This same notion applies for the possibility of Beloved being an escaped slave; Beloved describes her past to Denver by explaining having been “curled up” next to “heaps of people” and “in the dark (88)” for a long time, possibly describing being held captive on a slave ship. Both possibilities are left open-ended for multiple reasons, primarily in order to explore the different repercussions and purpose that each feasibility presented.
One purpose of Beloved’s duality is the family’s skewed opinions of her leading to extreme conflict as time progresses. The psychological rationales behind each family member’s opinion of Beloved demonstrates their deepest individual weaknesses and fears to each other, leading to drastic alterations of their relationships with each other. Even though Denver personally witnessed Beloved being able to lift a table with one hand when she claimed to be sick, she purposefully betrayed Paul D’s trust and closed an “open latch between them (67)” by defending Beloved to Sethe and saying no such thing had happened, though both her and Paul D had seen it. Denver’s eagerness to accept Beloved into the family as “my [her] sister (242)” demonstrates her overwhelming feeling of loneliness, seen throughout the book as she feels excluded by Sethe and Paul D. While Denver actively ignores any peculiarities of Beloved due to her excitement of finally having company, Sethe is so overjoyed by having Beloved in her life that she is completely blind to any possibility of suspicious origins or behavior. Her eagerness to accept this daughter figure into her life is a call-back to her value of “thick love (193)” which earlier proved to be a disastrous trait. Beloved rapidly becomes all that Sethe cares about, leading to ominous tones for the future of their relationship. Paul D’s reaction to her ambiguous duality is especially interesting, as even though he distrusts and opposes Beloved, he still describes her as ‘shiny’ and is drawn to her. His cynicism of her character is likely rooted within fears that her incorporation into the family will result in his upheaval, and loss of finally having a set home and family. Furthermore, this inability to save his world from crumbling around him extends beyond this instance, as he witnessed Sethe’s rape alongside Halle’s fall into insanity, without being able to do anything. These traumatizing occurrences from slavery were rehashed due to Beloved’s appearance, and go to further demonstrate that the past can never be fully forgotten.
ReplyDeleteDeveloping upon this aspect of Beloved’s duality reveals another purpose to her ambiguous origins. Even though Beloved is set after the abolishment of slavery, the long-lasting mental impacts still riddle freed slaves with psychological issues, and will continue to. Operating under the assumption that Beloved is a ghost, it’s likely that her manifestation could be fueled by Sethe’s trauma, as her repressed memories and Beloved appear to be correlated. Operating under the assumption that Beloved is an escaped slave, insight into the real-life tragedies that slaves endured are demonstrated through her character’s journey. This experience is accurately described by Beloved as having come “a long, long, long, long way. Nobody bring me. Nobody help me (77).” Both hypothetical aspects of Beloved’s duality are purposefully remained ambiguous, as the confirmation of one would shatter the other. Morrison intentionally leads the reader to analyze both possibilities, and what they would entail for the characters involved.
Had Beloved’s duality not existed and not been held purposefully unresolved throughout the story, a much deeper meaning to the book would be lost. Her appearance and assimilation into the family alongside differing beliefs of her nature bring out weaknesses within relationships that may not have been explored otherwise. Due to Beloved, the symbolism of hand-holding evolved from the trio of Sethe, Denver, and Paul D to Sethe, Denver, and Beloved. This removal of Paul D from the family hints at further tensions to occur within the novel regarding Beloved’s impact on relationships, and causing Sethe to isolate herself even more so from everyone but Beloved. Prior to her appearance, Sethe, Denver, and Paul D had been suffering internally and separately due to varying insecurities and traumas. Beloved abruptly forces these issues to bubble to the surface, causing repressed memories and unsaid truths such as Halle and Paul D’s witness of Sethe’s rape to come into the light. Ultimately, discovering whether or not the Beloved that returned is a ghost or an escaped slave is not the most important element of this book. Arguably, why she returned and what her multifaceted return represents is.
ReplyDeleteThe connection between Beloved and Sethe is undeniable. Weather Beloved is a lost slave girl or the spirit of Sethe’s deceased baby. The two need have a relationship no one else can quite understand, and it only gets more complex. The themes of abandonment and the burden of slavery complicate and intertwine the narratives of the two characters. Morrison introduces the idea of Beloved as an abandoned slave in order to add depth to the relationship between Sethe and Beloved. It also creates a new duality between the life as a slave Beloved would have led if she had not been killed, opposed to the character of the spirit readers saw at the beginning of the novel.
ReplyDeleteBefore Beloved’s return, there was a gaping hole in 124 and in the lives of Sethe and Denver. The fragility and chaos of 124 symbolizes the need to complete their triad, “124 was loud”. As the reunion of the family develops further the women find peace with one another, as they all fulfill one another’s needs. Sethe provides the motherly love Denver and Beloved so desperately desire. Beloved came to 124 in search of closure, to believe no one would actually leave her. She puts her whole being into attaining Sethe’s love and affirmation: “She is the one. She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have.” Beloved gives Sethe something to live for, allows Sethe to believe she truly is a good mother, and to momentarily move on from her past mistakes: “For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love.” For so long Sethe felt she had failed as a mother and was permanently reminded of the tremendous guilt on her psyche as 124 was riddled with bad omens. Even if it was just temporary, the women had found each other, and in return found themselves, “When Sethe locked the door the women inside were free to be what they liked, see what they saw, and say whatever was on their minds.” The trinity is finally whole.
The shift in narration that turned the perception of Beloved to a runaway slave offered an explanation to the instantaneous connection Sethe felt for this random girl who just showed up at 124. Whilst reading the 248 pages leading up to the reveal Sethe was seen as crazy for embracing Beloved so openly with no explanation as to who she was. Now it is made obvious as to why, the two connected over their slavery experiences, and their traumatic pasts. The consequences of one’s past was a theme throughout all of Beloved: “Nothing better than that to start the days serious work of beating back the past”. For Sethe it was Sweet Home and Beloved it was that daunting slave ship. Neither could escape this daily nightmare but this new Beloved allows for the family to have the opportunity to move on from the demons that had held them back for so long. This Beloved was searching; searching for love, and protection. She’s was searching for answers, and at 124 she found them. Although Sethe is not the mother that abandoned this girl, she is a mother that has abandoned all her children. Sethe is now responsible to act as the mother figure Beloved never had, “She is mine”. In order for both Beloved and Sethe to finally have their needs met Sethe will need to come to terms with the reality that she was not the mother her children needed. In return this would force Sethe into finally giving her children the apology they deserves, and putting an end to their concerns.
Maybe she was a slave, a really lost girl in search of home, or maybe she was the real Beloved, the Beloved who saw a horrific end at the hands of her own mother. Both narratives of the character are essential to the plot because they offer different things. One reconnects the family and brings a new light to 124 yet the other brings about closure and new beginnings. Either way the relationship between Beloved and Sethe requires personal growth from both characters, and this addition of the new foil in Beloved’s character only enhances that.
Your analysis of the dual-meaning plot line offered some good points as to how despite being different, both possibilities contribute to the development of characters within the text. Also, describing the importance of acceptance and moving forth was very important as I agree it served an integral piece in the book.
DeleteFrom the beginning of the novel, Beloved by Toni Morrison, we have been left out of the full story, given bits and pieces of the full picture but we don’t get to know the full truth. Lost and kept in the dark from a definitive truth, we are left to search to understand where Beloved has come from, whether she could be the ghost of Sethe’s Beloved or if she is her own person, a girl who came to America on a slave ship and watched her mother die. This leaves many other questions left unanswered including, what this means for Sethe and Beloved’s relationship and what Beloved’s intentions are.
ReplyDeleteThe people of 124 live troubled lives, lives that have grown out of years of slavery, abuse and fear. In Sethe’s case she is haunted by her time at sweet home with schoolteacher, the chokecherry tree on her back, the men who stole her milk and having to leave Halle behind are all things that she cannot forget and develop her into the person that she is in 124. Even earlier than this certain things happen in her life, that define who she is as a mother. She said that when she was a child “Nan had to nurse whitebabies and me too because Ma’am was in the rice. The little whitebabies got it first and I got what was left. Or none.” (236). This disconnect from her own mother, leads to her desire to keep Beloved close to her, saying that because of her past “nobody will ever get my milk no more except my own children” and that “[she] won’t never let [Beloved] go” (236). In turn this distance with her mother causes her to distance herself from her living daughter, Denver. She does not give her the love and care that she deserves, instead keeping Denver in 124 while she’s out spending all her time working. After “the four horsemen came-schoolteacher, one nephew, one slave catcher and a sheriff” (174) came and Sethe did what she thought she had to do to protect her children, maiming her two young boys, killing Beloved and trying to kill Denver, her two boys, Howard and Buglar, left living, are scarred. Their mother’s desire to kill them leaves them sleeping in the same bed holding hands every night and giving the same warning to their sister Denver which helps to increase the distance between them. As a coping mechanism for her loneliness and fear of her mother, she relies on what she believes to be the ghost of Beloved who “messed up all the ironed clothes and put its hands in the cake” (246). This “ghost” is used by Denver in the place of friends and family members, as she doesn’t talk to anyone but this “ghost”. She believes that Halle is coming to save her and this version of what she believes to be Beloved, is what’s keeping her going.
Understanding Sethe and Denver’s pasts, we’re still left questioning Beloved’s past. Morrison creates a duality wherein we’re allowed to question where she could be a slave girl or she could be Sethe’s Beloved. In chapter 22, Beloved’s narrative chapter, she tells the story of her life which could be interpreted in two different ways. Lines like “I am always crouching the man on my face is dead his face is not mine his mouth smells sweet but his eyes are locked” (248) could be interpreted as Beloved seeing dead people in the afterlife or as her traveling on a slave ship with a dead man lying on top of her. In her narrative she allows for many discrepancies like this one. Most evidence leads towards her being a living girl, who lived her life as a slave. When reading the book this way all the pieces seem to fall into place, for example, the question of “where are your earrings” makes more sense that Beloved is remembering her African mother who wore large tribal earrings rather than being Sethe’s daughter who would remember her diamond earrings that Mrs. Garner gave her. This duality is symbolic for the effects of the past on a person, it’s important to understand where people come from and how that helps to them to grow into the person that they are. We are able to see how every character in the book has grown from their past.
Each part of the past directly correlates to pieces of the present situation in 124. Sethe’s desire to have her lost daughter Beloved once again and her loss of Baby Suggs affects how she feels about the situation and the decisions she makes. She’s left desperate for love and connection, leading her into the arms of Paul D who she’s lost. This leads us to believe that in the future parts of the book she’ll accept Beloved no matter since she’s desperate to fill a space in her heart. Also, Beloved is desperate for the love of a mother so she’ll most likely be able to find her place in 124 even though Sethe is not her real mother. While Denver, we can be less sure about, if one was to look optimistically you could believe that Halle is truly coming to save her but this is less than likely since he hasn’t been seen in years. More than likely, she’ll continue her life with Sethe unfulfilled and lonely. 124, after being greatly affected by Beloved coming into their lives will be left almost the same with the dynamic of a closed off mother and daughter now instead with a new presence added to their life.
DeleteThroughout the two narratives of Beloved, Toni Morrison explores Beloved’s character by using ambiguous language to craft a duality. Beloved could be interpreted as either Sethe’s daughter who she murdered or a girl who escaped from a slave ship and a life with a brutal slave master. This duality was created not to convince readers that either one of the scenarios is true, but to further expand upon themes that she has examined throughout the novel: the psychological impact of slavery, death, and the connection between them. Much of the writing in the sections narrated by Beloved can be interpreted to fit in either scenario created by the duality, emphasizing the importance of hearing both stories rather than expressing a definite answer to Beloved’s appearance.
ReplyDeleteMorrison creates a double meaning of Beloved’s character by using ambiguity in the writing of Beloved’s narrative. She crafts her writing so it can either be interpreted either as Beloved being taken onto a slave ship with her mother and then enduring life with a vicious slave master, or as Beloved returning as a ghost to Sethe after being in the afterlife after her murder. Beloved makes continual references to “the [dead] man on [her] face” which could simply mean that there is a dead man lying next to her on a slave ship, or that Beloved is in the afterlife and she is seeing her father Halle, who is also presumably dead at this point in the book (248). She also talks about seeing her mother and wanting to help her but not being able to because “clouds are in the way” (248). This could mean that there is a barrier between the living and the dead that separates Sethe and Beloved, or a more literal reference to gunpowder clouding the air while the slaves are shot at, seperating Beloved from her mother (248). Beloved also describes one of the “men without skin” and how “one of them was in the house [she] was in” and he hurt her (254). This upholds Sethe’s initial speculations about Beloved, that she “had been locked up by some whiteman for his own purposes, and never let out the door” (140). On the other hand, when Sethe asks Beloved “didn’t you come from the other side?” she answers that she did, suggesting that she is a ghost that has returned from the afterlife (254). All of these descriptions cause readers to decide which of the parts of the duality they believe best fits the storyline of Beloved that has been seen thus far.
Morrison created these two opposite versions of Beloved to explore two important themes that have been woven throughout the novel. The impact slavery has on people has been demonstrated during the book, such as when Sethe fears so much for her children’s lives if they are brought back into slavery that she chooses to kill them rather than have them become slaves again. Morrison has also talked about the theme of death throughout Beloved. Sethe lost Baby Suggs, Beloved, and Halle, three of the people she loved the most in her life. The sentiments of the deaths of all three of these characters have lingered with Sethe and affected her deeply. In creating this duality with Beloved’s character, Morrison is able to expand upon both of these themes. Ultimately, it is not important whether or not Beloved is a ghost or if she is Sethe’s daughter, what is more important is the powerful message that Morrison is sending to readers, which is the power that traumatic experiences and death can have on people.
In all of these scenarios, Beloved conveys her pain and the anger she feels towards her mother for abandoning her. When she and her mother were separated, Beloved felt like “there [was] no one to want [her],” like her mother had abandoned her (51). Beloved clearly has not been able to let go of this and is still hurt by her mother’s actions. Sethe, on the other hand, comes to the realization that Beloved may be her daughter and believes that she is not angry at her for what she did. Sethe killed Beloved only because “if [she] hadn’t killed her she would have died” at the hands of a slave master and she thinks that since “she come back to [her] of her own free will,” she is still not angry by what she did (236). Despite the fact that Sethe thinks that “[Beloved] understands everything” that she did to her, she still feels this anger from when her mother left her when she was a child, and she may not be so quick to forgive Sethe (237). During the rest of the novel, it is likely that tension will continue to build between Sethe and Beloved, especially since Beloved feels such resentment towards Sethe for what she did. Their relationship cannot continue indefinitely the way it is now, with Sethe believing that Beloved has forgiven her, yet her perception of reality is far-removed from the truth.
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ReplyDeleteThe past is often what shapes an individual to who they are today. It indicates how one has evolved, and creates hope of a brighter future. “If you go there and stand in the place where it was, it will happen again; it will be there, waiting for you.” (44) The arrival of Beloved single handedly recreates the traumatic memories of the past, not only questioning the identity of the character herself, but everyone around her as well. Throughout the novel, Toni Morrison brilliantly creates the duality of identity toward the character Beloved by utilizing the ideas of the past and what effects it has on the present. These two well-crafted life stories of Beloved leave the readers with a sense of mystery yet understanding of the character’s complexity. Morrison first portrays the character as the embodied ghost of Sethe’s daughter, but also portrays her as a former captive on a slave ship. These two very different stories create a juxtaposition between the same character, causing emotional struggles for not only Sethe, but the readers who must evaluate the different perspectives of Beloved.
Although the back story of Beloved may be unclear, the characters intentions are far from that. Sethe originally believed that Sethe was held captive on a slave ship. Beloved embodies the ghost of Sethe’s daughter. The character first appears soaking wet, as if she were being reborn. Sethe also feels as if her water is breaking once she sees Beloved. On the other hand, Beloved’s other identity could be considered a slave whom was held captive until sold by a slave owner. “What’s it like over there, where you were before…” “Dark.” (88)
The description of the journey on the ship is brutal and makes the readers question the real identity of Beloved.
One of the most dangerous impacts slavery has is how the memories continue to affect one’s sense of self. Beloved represents the past returning to haunt the present. Sethe is haunted by her memories from Sweet Home. “They used cowhide on you?” “And they took my milk.” “They beat you and you was pregnant?” “And they took my milk!” (20) This quote is from when Sethe had been attacked. Her repetition of her concern about the milk shows how much she cared about feeding her baby. She truly cared for Beloved and her safety. The mother-daughter dynamic presented in throughout the novel shows the impact slavery has on motherhood.
The past plays an integral role in the duality of Beloved’s identity. Throughout the novel, Morrison is able to keep the readers intrigued to leave it up to them to try and understand different perspectives onto the same character. Although Beloved’s impact on Sethe is unhealthy, the character does inspires growth of other characters in the novel. Paul D has a strong hatred towards Beloved, but their strange encounters open the lid of his “tobacco tin” heart, allowing him to remember, and love again. The presence of Beloved is a clear reminder of what many characters tried to leave in their past, but sometimes it is better to face the fear of the past to move into a hopeful future. I believe Morrison will fill in the gaps to Beloved’s intentions but may leave readers to interpret her complex story for ourselves.
“I will call them my people, which are not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.” (Romans 9:25) This is the epigraph that opens Beloved, but most readers tend to overlook it. In this case, however, it is a critical part of how Toni Morrison forms the plot and argument of her novel. The duality that she creates specifically in the Beloved narrative is based on the idea that Beloved may not be the daughter and sister that Denver and Sethe think she is. This epigraph foreshadows this duality before we even meet Beloved at the beginning of the novel, and gives us evidence that this girl is not whom everyone thinks she is. Toni Morrison creates this duality through examples such as the chain around her mother’s neck and coming out of the water for the purpose of allowing the reader to question reality. Going forward in the novel, this means that Sethe, Beloved, and Denver are going to have a very confusing relationship, and need to communicate with each other if they want to live in peace and harmony.
ReplyDeleteBeloved is the daughter that was brutally murdered by her mother Sethe and proceeded to haunt their house in the following years. It was not until an old friend of Sethe’s from her slave years, Paul D, forces the ghost out of the house when he comes back to visit. Only days later a girl finds them at their house at 124 and claims to be Beloved. Denver believes that without a doubt this is her sister coming back to get answers from her mother. However, in Beloved’s narrative, a duality is created and we have to question if Beloved is the returning ghost or just a slave girl that had lost her way. One clear way that Morrison expresses this duality is with the chain around the neck of the mother. In Beloved’s narrative, “she does not like the circle around her neck I know this”(249). If Beloved really was the ghost that returned, the chain around the mother’s neck in the story is a metaphor for the action of Sethe slitting Beloved’s throat when she was a baby. However, earlier in the novel, Beloved tried to strangle Sethe. If she was just a girl from the ship, she could honestly be trying to take the chains off her that she remembered her mother wearing. Another strong example of this duality is when Beloved emerges from the water and first found Sethe, Paul D, and Denver. Beloved say, “I come out of the blue water after the bottoms of my feet swim away from me I come up I need to find a place to be the air is heavy I am not dead.” (252) The ghost of Beloved could have very well done this because it was her “rebirth” back into the world and into her family. At this same time, Sethe has an overwhelming feeling of having to go to the bathroom which could symbolize her water breaking. If she is really just a lost slave girl like she claims to be, Beloved could have jumped into a body of water to look for her mother after the slave ship and ended up at 124. After Beloved got away from her capture, she jumped into the nearest body of water to try and find her mother that she saw jump into the ocean on the slave boat. By chance, she ended up at the home of Sethe and Denver.
Toni Morrison does not create this duality of Beloved for no reason. She creates Beloved’s narrative to make the reader question what they thought was obvious about Beloved for the majority of the novel. The whole novel we have just assumed that Beloved is a ghost. Morrison wants to make us realize that we can not assume that everything is going to happen as we predict, even if there is serious evidence to back it up. We have to question our judgement and what it is that makes us willing to forget what we know about the real world and ghosts, to make the situation more comprehensible and reasonable for ourselves. The confusion that we as readers feel is also parallel with Beloved as she reaches 124 for the first time. She ponders to herself, “All I want to know is why did she go in the water in the place where we crouched? Why did she do that when she was just about to smile at me?” (253). Beloved is clearly confused, and wants answers as to what has happened to her. Oppositely, Sethe has come to the conclusion that Beloved is really her daughter, and “she mine. See. She come back to me of her own free will and I don't have to explain a thing...I’ll explain to her, even though I don’t have to. Why I did it.” (236) Sethe and Beloved communicate in a very unnatural fashion, and this is explained by the fact that they are very unaware of what the other one is feeling. This tangled relationship mirrors the relationship that the readers have with the characters.
DeleteWith the duality now clearly present, it puts Sethe, Denver, and even Beloved in a different position than they were in before the narratives. Because there is obvious miscommunication between the three girls, there needs to be a turning point when Beloved confesses who she really is, even if Morrison does not make that clear to the reader. Sethe honestly believes, “She ain’t even mad at me. Not a bit” (214). She thinks that Beloved is here to be with because she misses her. At the same time, Denver has never expressed to Sethe how unnerved she feels around her, and how, “All the time, I afraid that thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again” (242) For the plot to continue, a crucial moment is needed when both Denver and Beloved confront Sethe about their concerns. For Beloved that conversation could be why she left her on the boat, or why she decided it was okay to kill her when she was a baby, depending on who she really is and where she came from. Denver is a voice of reality and is one of the first characters that we as readers see truly question the morality of Sethe ‘killing her children out of love”. Every person has a breaking point, and Denver needs closure if she plans to stay at 124 any longer. She needs to approach Sethe in a way that she can get the answers she longs for.
Toni Morrison creates a thought-provoking novel from a third person view, but when it shifts to the point of view of the main character Beloved, a clear duality emerges. The reader has to struggle with the inner conflict if Beloved is really the dead daughter or a girl off a slave ship.
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ReplyDeleteToni Morrison’s Beloved follows a family who has been torn apart by slavery in America. Throughout the story, Morrison is creative in using everyday life as a metaphor for the horrors suffered by those who were enslaved. Initially, Beloved’s character is introduced as the ghost of Sethe’s deceased daughter. Later, however, Morrison portrays Beloved as an abused and disoriented young woman who escaped the torture of her slave master. Morrison creates this duality to catch the reader's off guard, and to make them think more deeply about the stories presented. Additionally, both perspectives serve to demonstrate some of the horrendous effects of slavery.
ReplyDeleteVery early on in the novel, Morrison introduces readers to the ghost of Sethe’s dead baby who lives in 124. The ghost is full of rage and is often disturbing or bothering Sethe and Denver. Beloved, the ghost, is described as having such a negative presence that “looking in a mirror shattered it” (1) and “kettlefuls of chickpeas [smoked] in a heap on the floor” (1). These descriptions, along with the “two tiny handprints that appeared in the cake” (1), show the literal and physical presence of the ghost living in the house. When the reincarnated spirit of Beloved returns, there is a supernatural aura surrounding her miraculous return to Earth. Suddenly and with no explanation, “a fully dressed woman walked out of the water”(60). Morrison uses this image to imply the ghostly nature of this woman. The emerging out of the water, fully clothed, is odd and seeing has her name is Beloved, that seems too far-fetched to simply be a coincidence. Continuing with the ghost narrative, Morrison shows how Beloved is mentally aware of things from Sethe’s past. Innocently, Beloved asks Sethe,“where your diamonds?”(69). The “diamonds” are a reference to a pair of earrings Sethe received while living at Sweet Home. This question convinces Sethe that Beloved is her deceased daughter, as she used to let her baby play with the diamond earrings. This subtle connections made by Morrison to Sethe’s past is meant to strengthen the possibility that Beloved is the true ghost of Beloved. Morrison plays with the ghost storyline to show that the mental damage of slavery is permanent. The only reason Beloved exists as a ghost is because Sethe murdered her baby out of fear. Sethe was so traumatized and was overcome with painful memories that she killed her own daughter so she would never be caught and sent back to work as a slave.
In addition to Beloved’s background as a ghost, Morrison also creates a backstory where she is an escaped slave who suffered abuse at the hands of her owner. Morrison really adds depth and substance to this idea in the chapters written from the perspective of Beloved. In Beloved’s chapters, Morrison purposefully writes in incoherent sentences and without punctuation, allowing the readers to assume that Beloved was never educated and is delayed in her development. Uneducated and mentally delayed slaves were common, the abuse suffered stunted and effected mental ability. Beloved thinks of her past and recounts how “I do not eat the men without skin bring us their morning water to drink we have none at night I cannot see the dead man on my face day light comes through the cracks” (248). It is easy to assume that Morrison is alluding to the fact that Beloved was brought to America on a slave ship. The “men without skin” is a reference to the white men who ran the slave ship and “light comes through the cracks” is noting how slaves were forced to live below the ship’s deck, having light come through the cracks in the wood. Slave ships were notorious for their inhumane living conditions and Morrison is conscious of this as she writes the chapters from the viewpoint of Beloved. Beloved describes how “the bread is sea-colored” (249) and “those able to die are in a pile” (249). Beloved and the other slaves are given moldy bread and the dead slaves are carelessly strewn in piles around the ship. Morrison is informing readers of the truly nightmarish conditions slaves were forced to endure on the slave ships. Humans were stripped of all their rights; forced to live and sleep in their own feces, forced to stay in the damp and dark underpart of the ship, and forced to live off of moldy bread and urine from the white men.
DeleteInterestingly, Morrison includes an excerpt from the Romans at the beginning of her novel. The excerpt reads, “I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved” (Romans 9:25). This further develops the storyline that Beloved is, infact, an escaped slave girl. While on the slave ship, Beloved sees a woman go in the water with “her face” (251). This is the way Beloved identified her mother, they shared the “same face” because they were related and she was created from her mother. So when Beloved escapes her white captor and sees Sethe, an older black woman, she puts it together that Sethe must be her long-lost mother. It makes sense looking at it from the perspective of Beloved. She knows nothing but the slave ship and the white man’s abuse, her views of the world are narrow and underdeveloped, leading her to make the simple conclusion that Sethe is her mother. However, looking back at the Roman excerpt, Morrison implies that Beloved is mistaken. Sethe and Denver are not “her people” like she believes.
DeleteMorrison is purposeful with the duality she creates in her novel. The story of Beloved as the ghost of Sethe’s murdered daughter who has come back from another world is used to show how the painful memories and trauma endured while enslaved is inescapable. The ghost coming back is also a reminder of the power slavery had. Fear of enslavement is what drove Sethe to murder her daughter. She would rather have her dead than living her life as a slave. Morrison then creates the narrative that Beloved is an escaped slave girl so she can shed more light on the hellish conditions slaves were forced to endure as the crossed the ocean to America. She wanted to make sure her readers knew about the crimes against humanity that were commited.
“I AM BELOVED and she is mine” (22.1). This is how Morrison chooses to begin both narrations by Beloved in each of the chapters b this is not where the similarities end. In the two chapters both narrated by Beloved, Morrison is able to create a duality for the character Beloved. In chapter 22, we get a continuous stream of thought from Beloved. It lacks the use of proper grammatical convention, punctuation, and complete thoughts and sentences. But this fits very well seeming that Beloved is not a normal young adult, in all potential circumstances of her previous and current life, whether she was a real girl taken from her family, or a reincarnation/ghost making sense is not something that Beloved would necessarily know how to do or be concerned with. Her connection and yearning for Sethe becomes even more clear in this chapter, so much so that the reader can easily identify this as more of an obsession. In chapter 23, there is a similar plot of events and occurrences that creates parallelism with the prior chapter. However, in this chapter Beloved is no longer speaking in phrases and punctuation sentences, but rather verging on a what a usual narrative is supposed to sound like, with a beginning, middle, and end.
ReplyDeleteThe first line of chapter 22 and the first line of chapter 23 create a very noticeable duality in regards to Beloved’s narrative. Beloved’s first narrative starts off with “I see her take flowers away from leaves she puts them in a round basket the leaves are not for her she fills the basket she opens the grass I would help her but the clouds are in the way” (22.1). This description could be a recollection of many different possibilities, perhaps a funeral, or a glimpse of afterlife, or maybe something Beloved did truly get to experience. Even though it lacks any punctuation, it still creates a clear image in the mind of the reader. In her second narrative, she starts off with a noticeably similar description “Sethe is the one that picked flowers, yellow flowers in the place before the crouching. Took them away from their green leaves. They are on the quilt now where we sleep” (23.1). Here, the same story is told, but in more linear and comprehensible way.
Morrison is no stranger to being able to express ideas or theories in her work with the little choices that she makes in her writing. But what is the purpose of creating two narratives of similar substances, both right next to each other, only changing minor details and writing convention? Throughout Beloved, the common theme of rememory arises. Beloved was not allowed a proper childhood. Killed as a baby, the first chapter is very reminiscent of how Beloved's thought processes would not have reached levels mature thinking. Although she has returned to 124 as a young adult, she is still a child in the true sense of herself. Perhaps Morrison is dwelling on this idea of rememory, by giving Beloved another chance to retell her story as a normal person, one that has now learned how to speak. Maybe Morrison gives her this duality, these two chances to speak, so that Beloved can relive the life that was once stolen from her.
DeleteWhen Morrison creates these two dualities, she changes the whole game plan for the rest of the story. Without a fully developed idea of who Beloved truly is, the reader will be left forcing themselves to make a decision, and interpret the novel. No matter what the true identity of Beloved is, Morrison is able to apply the important idea of their lives being stolen from themselves by the middle-passage and the horrors of slavery.
Nadia, I like how you express the purpose of the character Beloved as a whole. Her impact on "rememory" is a crucial part of the novel whether she is a ghost or not.
DeleteThe exact definition of Beloved’s past will forever be a mystery. Toni Morrison deliberately portrays the character this way to teach us the universal idea of love and longing, and the natural inclination we have to discover or avoid these feelings. Whether Beloved is genetically Sethe’s daughter who was murdered as an infant or a young girl with an abusive childhood, she is desperate to find an explanation for that sense of loss and longing for a mother’s love. The bond between mother and daughter, or lack thereof, is a fundamental relationship and a deciding factor for the future of every child’s life. Beloved religiously repeats “the woman is there with the face I want the face that is mine” (249) throughout her narrative, instilling this mother-daughter connection in the reader’s mind. Morrison creates the duality between both of Beloved’s backstories to illustrate the universal desire to be wanted and loved.
ReplyDeleteIf Beloved is truly Sethe’s daughter, then she is a ghostly figure who has returned to ask Sethe why she left her on the other side. This perception of Beloved is built up for the entirety of the novel, beginning in the earliest pages, starting before Beloved returns in the flesh. As Denver, Sethe’s youngest daughter, peers into Baby Suggs room, she sees her mother kneeling by the bed, but what “was unusual was that a white dress knelt down next to her mother with her arm around her mother’s waist” (35). As the charmed child, Denver is guarded against the real world and her “sister” on the other side is one of her few forms of social interactions. After Paul D arrives and Beloved is thrown out of 124, Denver remarks to Sethe that “I think that baby’s got plans, the dress holding on to you gotta mean something” (45). By reiterating the child-like ghostly figure in the white dress kneeling beside her mother, as readers we are convinced that Beloved is Sethe’s daughter and Denver’s sister. Furthermore, when Beloved returns to 124 in the flesh, Sethe suddenly hurries to the outhouse but ” the water she voided was endless” (61). Sethe’s water breaking also implies this sense of rebirth, providing evidence that Beloved is, in fact, Sethe’s daughter. Finally, in the dialogue between Beloved and Sethe, when asked if she has returned from the other side, Beloved responds, “Yes. I was on the other side” (254). It isn’t until Beloved’s narrative that we discover this mother-daughter relationship isn’t necessarily true.
Beloved’s recollection and description of her life vividly resemble a slave ship. “Storms rock us and mix the men into the women” (249), “the men without skin push them through with poles” (249) and “She does not like the circle around her neck” (249) all correlate to images of slaves on a voyage overseas. This completely alters the perspective of Beloved’s character and the novel as a whole. From this point of view, Beloved is a former slave who was bought by an older man who used her for his personal benefit. She states that “he hurts where I sleep he puts his finger there” (251) and that “One of them was in the house I was in. He hurt me” (251). If this definition of Beloved is true, the amount of mental suffering she experienced as a child while being continuously raped, is plenty of mental turmoil to make her forget her past and be consciously convinced that Sethe is her mother. Furthermore, the forward of the book simply states “I will call her Beloved, even though she is not Beloved”. This implies that Beloved is not truly Sethe’s daughter, but the true answer to this question is unknown. Morrison purposefully creates this duality to illustrate that no matter the background or history, we all crave attention and desire to be loved.
This duality of the struggle between loss and love can be expanded to almost every character in the novel, as they are all dealing with the suffering of their own. Living as a slave, or direct descendant of slaves, is an extremely horrific experience that I’ll never be able to comprehend. Morrison relates this palpable feeling of suffering to us not just through Beloved, but through Halle, Baby Suggs, Paul D, and Sethe. Halle completely loses his sanity after watching his wife get raped, Baby Suggs dies of guilt after school teacher’s return, Paul D is demoralized to less than a chicken: the examples of suffering are endless. Although Denver did not experience slavery directly, she also experiences turmoil throughout her childhood. Before Beloved’s arrival, she was dealing with the loss of her siblings and her sole relationship being with her mother, whom she is secretly terrified of for murdering her sister. Once Beloved arrives at 124, Denver’s dependency on Sethe is destroyed as her focus shifts to Beloved’s needs. Denver’s mind has been warped from a complicated childhood, but like anyone else, all she wants is affection and love. Acting as Beloved’s caregiver, she desperately tries to ensure her safety, especially from Sethe. As Denver speaks to Beloved in their dialogue she warns her “don't love her too much” (256) and “don't fall asleep when she braids your hair”(256). It is clear that Denver has been holding in her fear of Sethe for many years by the way she distances herself and keeps up her guard. On the contrary, she literally keeps guard as she explains to Beloved “I watch the house, I watch the yard” (256), waiting for schoolteacher to return. This further highlights the amount of anxiety and angst Denver has experienced during her childhood.
ReplyDeleteMorrison creates the duality of Beloved to illustrate the universal idea of love and longing that we all crave as human beings. Although the truth of Beloved’s past will never truly be unveiled, the abandonment that both backgrounds include exhibits the desire for that mother-daughter relationship, and want to end the suffering they feel. By choosing such a rich, yet horrific, time in United States History, the emotions and experiences of all of the characters are heightened to an unimaginable extent. However, despite what physical and mental turmoil they have experienced, the longing for love remains prevalent. Suffering is an emotion that we cannot avoid, yet the void can be filled with love.
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ReplyDeleteToni Morrison creates a duality with the character Beloved to represent the past and the present. All three characters: Sethe, Beloved, and Denver are stuck on the past and their main goal is to fix their past overall. Whether Beloved is the ghost of Sethe’s daughter or a girl mentally torn trying to find her lost mother who jumped off a slave ship, all three have a common goal sticking together to save one another like they couldn’t in the past.
ReplyDeleteEach of the topics presented have enough evidence to support whichever the reader believes to be true. One example could be when Beloved questions Sethe,
“Where are the men without skin?...’
‘...They tried that once, but I stopped them. They won’t ever come back” (254).
From Beloved’s perspective she is referring to the men on the ship that fed them moldy bread and did not give them any water as well as her owner who always kept her in the dark. It’s assuming she either ran away or her slave owner died when she went off looking for Sethe. Sethe believes she is talking about the “four horsemen”, the school teacher and his nephews. Unfortunately, this infers that Sethe, who is under the assumption that Beloved was resurrected, believes that Beloved now understands why she was murdered by her mother. When Beloved first came back Sethe believed Beloved came back with her own free will, “She ain’t even mad with me. Not a bit” (214) reflecting how Sethe wants all her mistakes to be erased and start over with her family. Beloved continues off of this admitting, “One of them was in the house. He hurt me” (254) is referring to her slave owner that kept her in the house and did nothing but torture and rape her. However, Sethe believes that Beloved is referring to schoolteacher or one of his nephews.
Another example of how Toni Morrison creates two narratives is describing the earrings that Sethe and Beloved’s mother wore. Beloved first mentions the earrings earlier when she arrived to the house, “‘Where are your diamonds now?” (69), it allows Denver to become suspicious of how she would know about Sethe’s past stories. The diamond earrings that Sethe has were given to her by Mrs. Garner as a wedding gift, resulting in the significance and further proving to Sethe that this could be her resurrected Beloved. However from Beloved’s perspective she is describing her mother’s earrings on the ship, “The diamonds which are her earrings now” (251), so it’s coincidental but leads to a conclusion for both Denver and Sethe that this is Beloved because she knew the past at Sweet Home.
Morrison intended to create such a duality with Beloved to express how in the end, it doesn’t matter if Beloved is the ghost of Sethe’s daughter or not, but it demonstrates the impact of how slavery has left a permanent effect on both Sethe and Beloved. They have both achieved physical freedom but with a mental impact due to them being mistreated and dehumanized that causes them to fear society. Knowing how to love the people they considered family is all they know how to do, and whether or not Beloved is truly apart of family they have both achieved the love they have been seeking all their life. Towards the end of where all the narratives are joined together, it’s hard to distinguish who is talking amongst the three. With three repeatedly saying “you are mine” it starts to diminish the effort of trying to find whose dialogue belongs to what character but slowly crafts a bigger picture - they are all one, a chorus that sings in unison.
There was a complete atmospheric shift the moment Beloved stepped through the haunting doors of 124, captivating and manipulating the inhabitants. Her lustful gaze, familiarity and absolute disconnect made her true identity all the more intriguing. Toni Morrison was able to convince the reader that Beloved is the dead daughter of Sethe, using time as a means of rationalizing the supernatural, as well as providing the reader with the understanding that they know something Sethe doesn’t. She used Denver’s depravity of attention in order to make her more reliable. She is the only one who made the immediate connection that Beloved was the reincarnated form of her dead sister, Paul D blind to the possibility and Sethe too numb from the repression. Her beliefs become more significant than Sethe’s because she has never been the priority. Denver’s voice is rarely heard, never leaving the walls of 124, but she sees everything. Morrison allows her to know the truth because she can’t share it, but once others find out, it can no longer be the reality.
ReplyDeleteThe pivotal point for when the reader rethinks Beloved’s true identity is when Sethe convinces herself that she is her daughter. It would seem to work in Sethe’s favor if this were to be true, but the entirety of the novel has been Sethe wrestling with her past to try to move onto a better future, suffocating in delusions. Before the trifecta’s narratives, it is revealed that Sethe was Beloved’s murderer. Sethe is mentally unstable, convincing herself that her fateful decision was the only solution. It is clear that Sethe hasn’t had a clear head for a long time, growing hazier with time and isolation. Beloved’s return would bring Sethe clarity, clarity that hasn’t been granted, “She come back to me of her own free will and I don’t have to explain a thing. I didn’t have time to explain before because it had to be done quick… But my love was tough and she is back now” (236). Sethe believes that Beloved has granted her forgiveness because she knows that Sethe killed her out of love. Sethe’s resilience has brought Beloved back to her, and suddenly all is making sense to her, “I would’ve known right off, but Paul D distracted me. Otherwise I would have seen my fingernail prints right there on your forehead for all the world to see” (239). She continues to blame Paul D for everything, being angered by his truthful remark, “Too thick, he said. My love was too thick. What would he know about it? Who in the world is he willing to die for?” (239). Ever since that fateful day, Sethe has reassured herself that killing Beloved is justifiable because it would be nearly impossible to live knowing that there was another way.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though there may be a possibility for Sethe to be happy, but Morrison has other plans. It is no coincidence that once Sethe realizes Beloved is her daughter, Morrison reveals something that the reader brushed over once before. Earlier in the novel, Sethe explained to Denver where Beloved came from, “Beloved had been locked up by some whiteman for his own purposes, and never let out the door. That she must have escaped to a bridge or someplace and rinsed the rest out of her mind” (140). This would be a logical explanation for Beloved’s obscure behavior, but in the moment it seemed unreasonable because of Morrison’s parallels. Beloved asked Sethe about her earrings and sang her song. Beloved’s narrative reveals the possibility that Sethe’s initial assumption was true. Beloved is not the baby ghost at all, but a former slave searching for her mother, “I am not dead I sit the sun closes my eyes when I open them I see the face I lost Sethe’s is the face that left me” (252). Beloved had been enslaved presumably by a man who used her for sex, never leaving his home. Somehow, she was set free and her first response was to go to the water, the place where her mother and the dead man disappeared to. When Beloved came out of the water, she believed that Sethe was her mother because she hadn’t seen a colored woman in several years, so the first person that happened to resemble what she remembered her mother looking like, she went to them. Morrison created several parallels between Sethe and Beloved’s mother to create the illusion of the baby ghost’s return. When Beloved first came to 124, she asked Sethe where her earrings were. Sethe later realized that Beloved asked about her diamonds because she had once seen them, “when you asked me about the earrings I used to dangle for you to play with” (239), but Beloved reveals that her mother use to wear earrings before she went into the water, “she does not have sharp earrings in her ears or a round basket she goes in the water with my face” (251). Even the song that Sethe believed Beloved knew from when she sang it to her as a baby, Beloved explained it was the song the dead man use to sing to her, “his song is gone now I love his pretty little teeth instead” (250). Morrison had the reader grasping at straws to prove Beloved was the baby ghost, but things become clearer when her true identity comes unraveled.
ReplyDeleteBeloved the baby ghost and Beloved the former slave may be two separate entities, but at the root of it, they both want the same thing. They have come to 124 looking for the life they missed out on. They are looking for a home and a mother who can love and care for them. In the end, it may not even matter what Beloved’s true identity is because of this shared wanting, which seems to be Morrison’s intention.
ReplyDeleteYour response helped a lot to describe the two parallel ideas Morrison is focusing on with the ghost versus a slave. The duality shown yet the interconnections you explained about the text's descriptions showed the pertinence of both ideas creating one encapsulating message. Also, you mentioned it may not matter what Beloved's true identity is which I agree with as I believe the interpretation holds more importance.
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