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Orat1 Posted 16 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
WHAT IS BELOVED’S ROLE IN THE TEXT? HOW IS THE CHARACTER USED TO RETRIEVE THE REPRESSED HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA
WHAT IS BELOVED’S ROLE IN THE TEXT? HOW IS THE CHARACTER USED TO RETRIEVE THE REPRESSED HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA
"Sixty Million and more..." this statement serves a as a reminder of slaves that died between Africa and North America during the slave trade era. Morrison’s artistic endeavour which aims at showing the undesirability and worst dangers of slavery to suit the purpose of being abolished, by giving the slaves a platform to voice their personal opinions on their first hand experience on slavery. The text Beloved is sourced from slave narratives (Burns, 2008), the story of Margaret Garner and Harlem Book of the Dead and they were used to creatively weave and blend history with fiction to reveal trauma, memory and healing of a historical recovery of the slaves and slavery products. This text aims at showing the readers that, the unforgotten and repressed past can return to haunt the present and implies the possibly of a brighter future. For that reason a 124 ghostly character, Beloved suited this role and represented in the text as the incarnation of Sethe’s third dead daughter and most importantly a representation of all slavery victims. This essay aims at analysis and discussion of the role played by Beloved in the text as well as discussion of themes that arises in retrieval of the memory of the repressed history of slavery in America. This mounts certain questions and debates that emerge at the intersection of history, culture and fiction in an attempt to understand collective ideas, attitudes and assumptions that are different from Sethe’s time to our own.
The main character’s position and responsibilities are to achieve an aim of showing the power of one’s repressed past to affect the present and the future. Usage of past and present events combination serves to reinforce the idea that the past is alive in the present. It further encourages the readers to deal with their past willingly before considering a possibility of a brighter future. It is always kind of bittersweet experience when an individual, forced to interact and engage with his or her repressed and inescapable past in the present. Morrison used historical event sensitive as slavery sourced to reflect its monstrous actions in the society (Aroussi, 2008). Both the master and the slave suffer from its devastating effects. Therefore, many reasons that facilitate the repression of the past’s dire events as somehow considered disappeared or as history. In addition, to some unpleasant experiences rise and spoil the present because they did not face the challenges put forward in the past. Some characters such as Paul D and Sethe chose to repress their past while others like Stamp Paid worked against it. The truth is, whatever the chosen solution could be the ultimate solution is to transact with the past to pave a bright way forward. This as explained by Sethe, “"It's so hard for me to believe in
. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. . . . But it's not. Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it's gone, but the place-the picture of it-stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world” (Morrison, 1987:36). Above all the bad conditions posed by slavery, motherly love proved a stronger tie as Sethe murdered her daughter aged one at that time in an attempt to prevent them from being sold back to slavery and from gradual destruction brought by slavery she was suffering from. Morrison somehow have incarnate slavery with a character Beloved, Sethe’s daughter as they are similar and contrast in some instances either in destruction, loss of identity; hope, self confidence. This character plays many roles of which all combined, are aimed at retrieval of the repressed history of slavery in America.
Beloved’s role as a representation of all slavery victims is manifested upon her appearance and entrance at 124. The appearance that could also be related to the retrieval of slavery with the memories she awakes; when Sethe sees Beloved she had a feeling of her waters breaking, Beloved aged 20 but 21 in appearance sings children songs Sethe made for her Children and do other things which clearly portrays her as Sethe’s dead daughter. This emphasis the presence of mother and child bond after what could be termed after years in captivity. This forces Sethe to interact with her intact painful past, as she has to explain and justify her actions to the victim of her merciful murder who re-appeared to seek both revenge and affections from Sethe. Therefore, in the process Sethe deals with her painful past which unnoticeably smoothes a way for her gradual healing. With her strange manner in speaking, she seems to wear a eternal smile, of which were told to be shared by Sethe’s mother. A twist or reversal of roles between Sethe and Beloved show a complex of roles, that combined serves as a representation of all slavery victims and has the power to enact the historical events in a linear sequence. Some characters lost their humane side like Paul D who is determined to love nothing intensely and locked away his feelings away in “tobacco tin” heart due to Sethe’s possessiveness of her children. The extent of the painful experiences the victims have been subdued to, are only personal first hand experiences of which we can not be familiar with unless we too at present consider placing ourselves in their positions like feeling the worst treatment of slavery in its totality and why it has long been declared a human rights violation.
Despite her tyranny and outrageous behaviour on Sethe and the community of 124 in retrieval of their repressed past, Beloved’s role was to bring past back into the present so that the victims of slavery be possibly healed from the emotional, physical and spiritual devastation brought by slavery. The power of metaphor, simile, metonymy, irony, and wordplay in context with the title of the text can yield various explanations and references to possible meanings. America’s future depends on its understanding of the past: just as Sethe must come to terms with her past before she can secure a future with Denver and Paul D, before we can address slavery’s legacy in the contemporary problems of racial discrimination and discord, we must confront the dark and hidden corners of our history (Aroussi, 2008). This kind of slave treatment affects both the oppressors who become more inhumane to other human beings and the oppressed who endures the appalling work and discriminative treatment and conditions of slavery (Guthrie, 1994). On the oppressor’s side, schoolteacher gives pupils a lesson on animal characteristics in reference to Sethe, which causes Sethe to feel alienated due to the treatment of being subhuman. Paul D from the oppressed side concluded that any feelings he had, he locked away in the rusted “tobacco tin” of his heart, and he concluded that one should love nothing too intensely. Other slaves namely Jackson Till, Aunt Phyllis, and Halle went insane and thus suffered a complete loss of self. Sethe fears that she, too, will end her days in madness as she then killed her Beloved. Denver conflates her characteristics with Beloved’s, and Beloved feels herself actually beginning to physically fall into pieces. Slavery has also limited Baby Suggs’s self-conception by shattering her family and denying her the opportunity to be a true wife, sister, daughter, or loving mother. Though Paul D’s hatred for Beloved never ceases, their strange, dreamlike sexual encounters open the lid of his “tobacco tin” heart, allowing him to remember, feel, and love again (Aroussi, 2008).
The retrieval of history by mixing history (truth) and fiction (questionable validity) on slavery was to capture the feelings of the people, therefore, Beloved is more than a story its history.
Words: 1285
REFERENCES
· Guthrie, T.D. (Editor). (1994). Conversations With Toni Morrison. Available from: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/toni-morrison/conversations-with-toni-morrison.htm. Accessed 23/03/2010
· Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. Penguin Books Edition. London: Vintage.
"Sixty Million and more..." this statement serves a as a reminder of slaves that died between Africa and North America during the slave trade era. Morrison’s artistic endeavour which aims at showing the undesirability and worst dangers of slavery to suit the purpose of being abolished, by giving the slaves a platform to voice their personal opinions on their first hand experience on slavery. The text Beloved is sourced from slave narratives (Burns, 2008), the story of Margaret Garner and Harlem Book of the Dead and they were used to creatively weave and blend history with fiction to reveal trauma, memory and healing of a historical recovery of the slaves and slavery products. This text aims at showing the readers that, the unforgotten and repressed past can return to haunt the present and implies the possibly of a brighter future. For that reason a 124 ghostly character, Beloved suited this role and represented in the text as the incarnation of Sethe’s third dead daughter and most importantly a representation of all slavery victims. This essay aims at analysis and discussion of the role played by Beloved in the text as well as discussion of themes that arises in retrieval of the memory of the repressed history of slavery in America. This mounts certain questions and debates that emerge at the intersection of history, culture and fiction in an attempt to understand collective ideas, attitudes and assumptions that are different from Sethe’s time to our own.
The main character’s position and responsibilities are to achieve an aim of showing the power of one’s repressed past to affect the present and the future. Usage of past and present events combination serves to reinforce the idea that the past is alive in the present. It further encourages the readers to deal with their past willingly before considering a possibility of a brighter future. It is always kind of bittersweet experience when an individual, forced to interact and engage with his or her repressed and inescapable past in the present. Morrison used historical event sensitive as slavery sourced to reflect its monstrous actions in the society (Aroussi, 2008). Both the master and the slave suffer from its devastating effects. Therefore, many reasons that facilitate the repression of the past’s dire events as somehow considered disappeared or as history. In addition, to some unpleasant experiences rise and spoil the present because they did not face the challenges put forward in the past. Some characters such as Paul D and Sethe chose to repress their past while others like Stamp Paid worked against it. The truth is, whatever the chosen solution could be the ultimate solution is to transact with the past to pave a bright way forward. This as explained by Sethe, “"It's so hard for me to believe in
. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. . . . But it's not. Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it's gone, but the place-the picture of it-stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world” (Morrison, 1987:36). Above all the bad conditions posed by slavery, motherly love proved a stronger tie as Sethe murdered her daughter aged one at that time in an attempt to prevent them from being sold back to slavery and from gradual destruction brought by slavery she was suffering from. Morrison somehow have incarnate slavery with a character Beloved, Sethe’s daughter as they are similar and contrast in some instances either in destruction, loss of identity; hope, self confidence. This character plays many roles of which all combined, are aimed at retrieval of the repressed history of slavery in America.Beloved’s role as a representation of all slavery victims is manifested upon her appearance and entrance at 124. The appearance that could also be related to the retrieval of slavery with the memories she awakes; when Sethe sees Beloved she had a feeling of her waters breaking, Beloved aged 20 but 21 in appearance sings children songs Sethe made for her Children and do other things which clearly portrays her as Sethe’s dead daughter. This emphasis the presence of mother and child bond after what could be termed after years in captivity. This forces Sethe to interact with her intact painful past, as she has to explain and justify her actions to the victim of her merciful murder who re-appeared to seek both revenge and affections from Sethe. Therefore, in the process Sethe deals with her painful past which unnoticeably smoothes a way for her gradual healing. With her strange manner in speaking, she seems to wear a eternal smile, of which were told to be shared by Sethe’s mother. A twist or reversal of roles between Sethe and Beloved show a complex of roles, that combined serves as a representation of all slavery victims and has the power to enact the historical events in a linear sequence. Some characters lost their humane side like Paul D who is determined to love nothing intensely and locked away his feelings away in “tobacco tin” heart due to Sethe’s possessiveness of her children. The extent of the painful experiences the victims have been subdued to, are only personal first hand experiences of which we can not be familiar with unless we too at present consider placing ourselves in their positions like feeling the worst treatment of slavery in its totality and why it has long been declared a human rights violation.
Despite her tyranny and outrageous behaviour on Sethe and the community of 124 in retrieval of their repressed past, Beloved’s role was to bring past back into the present so that the victims of slavery be possibly healed from the emotional, physical and spiritual devastation brought by slavery. The power of metaphor, simile, metonymy, irony, and wordplay in context with the title of the text can yield various explanations and references to possible meanings. America’s future depends on its understanding of the past: just as Sethe must come to terms with her past before she can secure a future with Denver and Paul D, before we can address slavery’s legacy in the contemporary problems of racial discrimination and discord, we must confront the dark and hidden corners of our history (Aroussi, 2008). This kind of slave treatment affects both the oppressors who become more inhumane to other human beings and the oppressed who endures the appalling work and discriminative treatment and conditions of slavery (Guthrie, 1994). On the oppressor’s side, schoolteacher gives pupils a lesson on animal characteristics in reference to Sethe, which causes Sethe to feel alienated due to the treatment of being subhuman. Paul D from the oppressed side concluded that any feelings he had, he locked away in the rusted “tobacco tin” of his heart, and he concluded that one should love nothing too intensely. Other slaves namely Jackson Till, Aunt Phyllis, and Halle went insane and thus suffered a complete loss of self. Sethe fears that she, too, will end her days in madness as she then killed her Beloved. Denver conflates her characteristics with Beloved’s, and Beloved feels herself actually beginning to physically fall into pieces. Slavery has also limited Baby Suggs’s self-conception by shattering her family and denying her the opportunity to be a true wife, sister, daughter, or loving mother. Though Paul D’s hatred for Beloved never ceases, their strange, dreamlike sexual encounters open the lid of his “tobacco tin” heart, allowing him to remember, feel, and love again (Aroussi, 2008).
The retrieval of history by mixing history (truth) and fiction (questionable validity) on slavery was to capture the feelings of the people, therefore, Beloved is more than a story its history.
Words: 1285
REFERENCES
- Aroussi, A (2008).Fiction and History in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. France.
- Burns, M. C. E. (2008). Toni Morrison’s Beloved analyzed in the context of the African American experience of slavery, and slave narratives. Available from: http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/morrison-slavery.html . Accessed: 23/03/2010
· Guthrie, T.D. (Editor). (1994). Conversations With Toni Morrison. Available from: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/toni-morrison/conversations-with-toni-morrison.htm. Accessed 23/03/2010
· Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. Penguin Books Edition. London: Vintage.
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