Connection #9 (Beloved)

The novel Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, is a story about a family of African Americans and the struggles they face as they attempt to live their lives post-slavery. The grief and tragedy lived by the mother of the family, Sethe, during her times as a slave causes her to become an over-bearing mother to her children, shielding them from all of life’s potential troubles. However, it is when she sees a white man for the first time since her slave days that she takes her role too far, killing her youngest daughter (at that time) in fear that the white man has come to bring them back to slavery. Sethe and her other daughter, Denver, are forever haunted by this “act of love and care.” The constant remembrance of their lost daughter and sister is brought back to life through the form of a ghostly human, named Beloved. Beloved appears on the scene and takes control of the family right away, causing Denver to follow her and Sethe to over-care for her. Beloved eventually causes Sethe to turn insane, by driving away the only normalcy the family was beginning to have in their life, their friends. It isn’t until Denver, a shy, reserved girl, goes into town looking for help is the family finally rescued. The town responds courageously and “drives” Beloved away from the family so that they may begin to live a normal life again.

Connection #8 (The Metamorphosis)

The novella The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is a short story about a young man named Gregor who one day transforms into a bug. At such a young age, Gregor already had a full time job and was the sole financial support for his entire family. However, one day Gregor could not roll out of bed, for he had turned into a bug. His parents and his boss persisted for several hours to enter his locked room, but Gregor could not get out of bed. After learning to function with his new body with numerous legs and a shell as hard as a rock, Gregor opened the door to disbelief. His boss ran out of the house, his mother collapsed, and his father began thinking of ways to extinguish this new bug. Gregor was fired from his job, he couldn’t possibly sell any more insurance anyways, and his family shunned him. His father hated him because he actually had to work now and his mother was scared to look at him. Throughout the rest of the novella, Gregor becomes more neglected and the family turns into disarray. They cannot afford to send Gregor’s sister to music school, and they can barely survive financially, resorting to renting out their house to tourists. All the while, Gregor is kept locked up in his room where no one can come into contact with the family’s “horrible burden.” It’s not until one day in the Spring-time that this burden is lifted when Gregor the young man, the bug, and the burden dies. The family leaves the house as it is, grabs their suitcase and leaves the city to start a new life, without even shedding a tear for their once son and brother.

Connection #7 (The Stranger)

In the novel, The Stanger, Albert Camus describes the monotonous life of a man named Meursault. The novel opens with Meursault learning of his mother’s recent passing away. Meursault is to attend the funeral at-once, although he knows not when his mother actually died. This small detail, as well as others throughout the novel, is constantly on his mind. At the funeral, Meursault felt no grief, contrary to the other aged people who lived with his mother in the nursing home. Meursault felt it a burden to have to walk through the hot Algerian sun for miles to the cemetery. Once the procession was over, Meursault quickly moved on with his life, going swimming, watching a movie, and even "becoming one" with his girlfriend. Meursault did not have much of a personal life, choosing to sit in his apartment alone and watch the bystanders rather then engage with other people. He doesn’t really get along with the two other men that live in the apartments next to him. One day his neighbor Raymond asked him for some help, however. Raymond had been having some trouble with his ex-girlfriend, and he wanted to get back at her by writing her a letter. As a favor, Raymond asked Meursault if he would be so kind as to write the letter for him. Meursault agrees and does so. After this new friendship was formed over a couple of hours and a letter, Raymond invites Meursault down to his friend’s beach house for the weekend. Meursault agrees and brings his girlfriend Marie. At the beach house, Marie and Meursault enjoy swimming and being together. Raymond, his friend, and Meursault take a walk down the beach after lunch. On their journey, they come across a group of Arabs, one of which is Raymond’s ex-girlfriend’s brother. The two groups stare at each other for a long time, but nothing happens, even though weapons are drawn. The three men walk back to the beach house, but Meursault has the urge to keep walking. He goes back to the spring that he saw on their initial walk, still with the gun in his pocket that Raymond gave him for protection. As he approaches the spring, Meursault notices that one of the Arabs is still there. The Arab quickly shows Meursault his knife, blinding him with it. Out of reflex, Meursault grabs his gun and kills the Arab, shooting him five times. Meursault is later arrested and goes to trial. The prosecutor charges Meursault with murdering the Arab, but his evidence and reasoning has nothing to do with the act of shooting at all. The prosecutor brings in the fact that Meursault was not sad on the day of his mother’s death and that he quickly moved on with his life, deeming him a bad person for it. Meursault is awarded the death penalty, but it is this time in prison when he truly finds meaning in his life. He discovers that he is content with how he lived his life and the choices that he made. The connection to the culminating question……