Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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.
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In the novel Beloved, Sethe found herself a victim of free will. She chose to take her youngest daughter’s life away when the white men came to her house, and she chose to continue to care and love Beloved when she was essentially killing herself. Sethe was not willing to move on from her time as a slave, unwilling to engage in society or help her only remaining daughter grow as a woman. Sethe believed that all of her troubles would vanish if she would isolate herself from it all.
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