November 21st, 2017
Different Themes in Toni Morrison's Beloved
The book Beloved by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison consists of a myriad of themes with regards to the deplorable conditions of black slaves during pre-civil war and post-civil war. The most poignant themes and imagery that the novel discusses are the dehumanization of slaves, the naming of slaves, the surrogate mother, the sense of family and community, the past and its afflictions and water as a vital symbol. In the novel Beloved, different themes such as race, family, sexuality, motherhood, community, and the past are displayed to illustrate how blacks were dehumanized during slavery.
The great encompass of the novel focuses on a collection of ex-slaves and how they eventually strive to normalize their lives. The novel makes the statement that the colored man just like any other man is a man. The novel asks the fundamental question, seen through the noble eyes of a teacher, what the distinction is between an animal and man! The Negro is replete with their aspirations, hopes even when steeped in their problems. The novel also makes the plea on whether it is apropos to suffer the injustices of a cruel people or to mount a revolution against them. For example, schoolteacher teaches his two nephews how the body of a negro is similar to an animal and not that of a white. In order for his nephews to find this statement true they rape Sethe by the breast, leaving her to feel less than what she is.
A Glimpse at Race Relations and How the Past Plays a Huge Role in improving it
The problem of race and effects of slavery are articulated well in the novel. Associated with the theme of race is the concept of the past. The reader perceives that the characters have had a stormy past, accompanied with such horrors as would be caused by a cruel white race. For instance, Sethe has been subjected to rape and compelled to commit homicide; Paul D is imprisoned; Stamp Paid gave his wife away to be a sex toy; it is a sad list (Morrison 140). But then again, resignedly, many of these folks have chosen like Paul and Sethe, to abandon the past and its demons. Others struggle with it. Nonetheless, no resolution is achieved by the characters until each resigns to accept and deal with the past (especially as seen in the present). Forgiveness lies in acceptance and the future can only be had in the accepting of the present(Morrison 234).
Moral Ambiguity in Race Relations
Moral ambiguity and slavery go hand in hand, and it plays a large role in the novel. Schoolteacher, one nephew, the sheriff, and a slave catcher came to arrest Sethe. Sethe refused for her kids to relive what she did so she attempted to murder them all only murdering baby girl and ended up arrested with Denver. When Sethe committed murder in her defense, the question becomes a right or wrong question; it appears extensively in the book. Once the question is eventually resolved, it is decided that it was the right thing to do, but Sethe was not endowed with the right to take the life. If she had not murdered, the situation would have been that she and all the children would have gone back to slavery. However, on the other hand, she precipitated the wroth of an entire community, having being placed at the mercy of a rather vengeful spirit. Playing with this theme, Morrison asks on what it truly means to be free (Morrison 215).
Slavery as an institution decimated pretty much all of the heritage the Africans took to the Americas; Morrison somewhat notes on the emergence of a new people and culture, a race that had been displaced and forced to craft an identity different from their original one. “Especially when the twin horrors of brutality and dehumanization become part and parcel of one’s life”. The white men had the sole right to enter into her space at any time. Even though Paul D was free, he didn't have the right to have affections on what he laid eyes upon. In fact, the question is begged and asked on the fact that if any of the Negroes could be considered truly free. Freedom, as Toni Morrison illuminates is more than an issue of not being the possession of one master (Branch 58).
To Name Oneself Is To Be Truly Free
The ability to name oneself showcases self-love and it is one's ultimate freedom. The imposition of names vividly depicts domination and oppression. The white man has the capacity to define the slaves in any way they fancy, the nonwhites are defined at the whims of their masters. Not to mention based on the behaviors exhibited by the slave in a particular situation. The novel highlights the naming of the Pauls’; Paul's half-brothers are christened after the English alphabet as such, Paul D, Paul A, and Paul F. Paul D has the feeling that he had lost what he essentially was and his dignity as a man smitten down (Morrison 180). The Garners and schoolteacher believe that the slaves can be molded, even tamed because they were property.
Motherhood In The Face of Slavery
The Figure of the Mother, another vital theme of the novel where the African regard the mother as a microcosm of the universe. Sadly and ironically, the colored slave woman hardly gets the chance to enjoy the joy of motherhood. Sethe in her formative years was suckled by different woman other than her mother (Branch 19). She didn’t get the treasured opportunity to enjoy the lap of her mother while being burped. Sethe’s mum could only be identified by the hat and the mark that her mother wore on her ribs. Even though Baby Suggs sired eight children from different progenitors, she was disenfranchised of her motherly rights. Sethe had to endure the cruel fate, too. She wishes to feed her child the milk of her bosom, but it is denied of her. Her milk is for the white babies. It is seen that many of the slave mothers have to give their milk to the white babies, whilst starving their babies. Truly a maddening thing. The only motherly act that she ends up doing is to kill her daughter so that she is not born into slavery. This is her sole act of protection and safety (Iyasere 45). The prevailing system of physical, sexual and mental domination of the slave mother dissipates the motherly love. Slavery, the enemy of motherhood.
Morrison explores the theme of motherhood through Sethe and Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs, whom Halle bought out of slavery, is a nurturing spiritual leader within the community. Sethe, on the other hand, is so traumatized by her experiences as a slave that her maternal instinct is warped by fear and guilt. Furthermore, under this theme, the sub-theme of family also is a pillar of the novel. Foremost, majority of the slaves were torn from their families in their younger years and there is very little hope in knowing what happened to their families. For example, the adverse effects of this kind of separation can be perceived in Sethe, who is aggressively possessive of her children, and Paul D has been imbued with the passion of not loving anything too much (Branch 98). Love was too heavy of a price to pay. Slavery interfered with the ability to form families. There are several instances that we see slavery interfering in families. For example, Baby Suggs's husband takes to his heels. Paul D's brother is sold away from the familiarity of Sweet Home.
Sexuality Has Always Been a Weapon of Dominance
Sexuality is a recurring theme throughout the novel. More often than not, sexual relations indicate love, yet they tied to power. In the arrival of Paul D, sexual congress takes place between him and Sethe. They begin their relationship by having coitus and we have the feeling that that sexuality is of a loving nature. Unfortunately, oftentimes, for slaves and ex-slaves, sexuality is tainted by power (Branch 60).
In one instance we see how Beloved is angered when she sees the intimacy between Sethe and Paul D and uses her own strong sense of sexuality to part them. She ends up moving Paul out of Sethe's room. Consequently, she comes an
d seduces him. Paul goes through humiliation because he finds it that he does not want to have any form of relation with her (Morrison 75). We perceive Beloved's sexuality as a powerful force to reckon with that comes between Sethe and Paul D.
Obviously, it is the white man’s sexuality that takes precedence over black women. Sethe's own mum was gang-raped by money men. Stamp's wife became mistress to his master and one woman laments being a sex slave to both father and son. The perverted white man has complete power over the black woman and her sexuality.
Community Is the Heart of a People and the Basis of Politics
A thematic point underpinning Morrison’s masterpiece in Beloved is her preoccupation with the sense of community, and the penchant to execute her writing in a format endeavors to inculcate politically; one can clearly see that anything she does, whether in writing novels or whatever….If it is not about the village or the community or the people, then it is no matter of consequence. She is careful not to indulge herself in the imaginative privation of her thoughts. In other words, what she writes must be political (Iyasere 68).
Community is a formidable tool for these former slaves. They have been subject to victimization all through their lives and relying upon each other brings them solace. When they gather in the Clearing for religious services, no one assumes leadership. The communal bonds bring laughter dancing, and singing. Interestingly, Baby Suggs throws an extravagant dinner, which ends up not sitting well with the community because they felt that she was elevating herself above them (Branch 80). Notably, Sethe considers herself and Denver to be apart from the community. She feels like a pariah because of her crime. Intriguingly, the community, in the end, becomes a part of Sethe's life again, consequently Beloved is driven away. It is only the community as a whole could banish the guilt and injustices of the past.
Trauma is at the Heart of Slavery
The afflictions of the past are a mental and emotional wound that may never heal, if given the sadness and vitriol among the black communities today as evidence. The entirety novel is a depiction of sad stories, revealing how the characters suffer from the painful past how it is a long and arduous journey to recovery. For them is about forgetting the past and cherishing the little sweet memories that they create. Beloved is essentially Sethe's past that haunts her now, and she cannot simply ignore the calls of her past, dreadful as it was. She killed her own daughter as act of protection and prevent slavery from swallowing her whole. Additionally, she has to justify her heinous crime to her spectred daughter. It is a past she cannot escape, a shadow that follows her constantly. Her commitment of murder leads to her being boycotted from society, dismissed from a job, and she has to take reign of her life in service to the ghost child (Iyasere 92).
Past trauma surfaces from the depths of her tortured soul. For Sethe, this is an opportunity for her to rid herself of the responsibility of a mother she once owed by feeding her sceptered child, Beloved. The past plays a central role according to the novel in extracting the lore of slavery in America. Sethe's is constantly being plagued by the past, which indicates the powerful impression it leaves amongst slaves. When the novel culminates, her embittered past, Beloved is forgotten which is a metaphor of the end of the painful past and the fruition of a bright future.
The Invention of an African American Novel with the Woman of Color as Heroine
Admirably, Toni Morrison, inclusive of other Negro women writers invented a new type of novel, one which they try to develop to represent the hopes, aspirations, and historical reminiscence of women of color. The African American women have struggled under double jeopardy: racial prejudice and a patrilineal society. The black men have been appreciated in creating a literature about the former. However, it has been the prerogative of the black women to analyze the entirety of the latter situation. Beloved, as a literary and political tool, is severely possessive of the Black Woman.
Slavery as Philosophy
Slavery has not just become an institution, but it is a preeminent philosophy that extends deep into the fabric of the society.
Works Cited
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Branch, Eleanor. Toni Morrison's Beloved. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1998. Print.
Iyasere, Solomon O. Understanding Toni Morrison's Beloved and Sula: Selected Essays and Criticisms on the Works by the Nobel Prize-Winning Author. Troy, NY: Whitston, 2000. Print.Bottom of FormBottom of Form
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Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. , 2004. Print.
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