Term Paper on "Beloved Themes"

Term Paper 5 pages (2142 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Beloved is a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison about the legacy of slavery. It depicts the negative consequences of slavery to the individual lives of people even after it has supposedly been abolished. The novel Beloved won Morrison the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 (Sparknotes, 2006).

The novel is situated in 1873, when Sethe and her daughter Denver live in 124, a house in the rural outskirts of Cincinnati. They are ostracized from the community because of Sethe's past and her obvious pride of being an independent black woman. Eighteen years have already passed since that day when she escaped from slavery at a farm called Sweet Home. Sweet Home was then run by a cruel white man who was called "Schoolteacher." Sethe experienced Schoolteacher's cruelty first-hand in an instance when Schoolteacher allowed his nephews to brutalize, rape, and whip Sethe while he took notes for his scientific studies of blacks. This became the final straw for Sethe as she finally decided to flee from Sweet Home. Since she was pregnant that time, she had no choice but to deliver the child along the way with help from a white woman named Amy. Sethe's husband, Halle was supposed to accompany her as they both decided to leave and start a new life away from Sweet Home. Unfortunately, Halle suddenly disappeared. After her escape to Cincinnati with her four children, Sethe enjoyed only twenty-eight days of freedom. This was before she was tracked down by her old master. In an attempt to protect her children and rather than allowing her children to be returned to slavery, she tried to kill all of them, succeeding only in killing her third child, a baby girl. Her master saw before him that Sethe was no longer fit to serve, so she was saved from hanging and was eventually released to raise her remaining children. Since then, the ghost of the dead baby began to haunt the house- literally and figuratively since the memory of her child just keeps on disturbing her family. Sethe's two sons, Howard and Buglar, then decided to run away, feeling that they can no longer bear the fright that their house gives them. The grandmother, Baby Suggs, died a spiritually broken woman. In the past, Baby Suggs had been a great positive element in Cincinnati's black community. She was regarded by many as an inspiring holy woman because early then, Baby Suggs encouraged the blacks of Cincinnati to love their own flesh and color. But after what happened to Sethe, she stopped preaching and never left her bed. Years after her death, Denver and Sethe continue to live in the house alone. That same year, two unexpected visitors came in the lives of Sethe and Denver. The first is Paul D, a slave just like Sethe way back at Sweet Home. Paul D, like Sethe, is haunted by the brutalities that the past left imprinted in their lives. The second visitor is a girl that is surprisingly named Beloved. Although a lot of questions surrounded her sudden arrival and the name she carries, it gradually becomes clear to Sethe and Denver that she is the ghost of the dead baby come back to life, at the age that the baby would have been had it lived. Awkward in terms of motor skills, unable to speak like an adult, dressed in strange clothes, and obviously immature for her age, Beloved initially seemed vulnerable. Later on, she proves to be a powerful and malicious lady. Her purposes initially seemed harmless and are never fully understood, but by the end of the novel her presence is deeply destructive for Sethe, Denver, and even Paul D. Paul D. becomes Sethe's lover, staying for a time despite friction between him and the two young girls- Beloved and Denver. Beloved loathes him because Sethe's attention and affection is not centered on her. Because of this, she tries desperately to separate Sethe from Paul D. She even became successful in seducing Paul D. To have sex with her. This malicious event was observed by Denver, and made her hate Paul D. even more, just as she was beginning to have doubts about Beloved. Paul D. eventually leaves when he learns about Sethe's dark past, that of murdering her own baby girl. Paul D. just couldn't comprehend how Sethe views that incident as an act of love and protection. Sethe, upon discovering Beloved's identity that was proven when Beloved actually sang a song that only Sethe knew, believes that she has been given a second chance to make amends with the past. Sethe tries to make things right with Beloved. But Beloved has suddenly changed from that of an innocent child to someone irrationally needy and demanding. Beloved's actions and misbehavior were getting way out of proportion. Yet all of these Sethe takes in, believing that it is her fault that Beloved acts in such rude ways. In order to assuage the years of guilt, Sethe becomes a slave to Beloved. Beloved's stay in the house becomes an ordeal for Denver who notices how Beloved has become a parasite, sucking out all the strength from her mother and yet asking for more. Sethe's sanity begins to wither as her will grew faint. She stopped working in order to attend to Beloved. She ignored Denver. She forgot all about taking care of their house and other important concerns. Her everyday life revolved on pleasing Beloved. Out of desperation and pity for her mother, Denver is forced to go to the community for help. With Sethe's seeming illness and the rumor of the rebirth of Beloved, a group of women decided to go to 124 to exorcise Beloved's ghost. After this incident, Beloved suddenly disappeared. But Sethe's spirit has nearly been broken. Paul D. returns to her, promising to help Sethe heal herself and move on. With everything that has happened and probably with the effect that Beloved had on their lives, Denver, Paul D, and Sethe then learns how to deal with their painful pasts while focusing on the future (Borey, 2000). This critically-acclaimed novel of Toni Morrison tackles on the quests for liberty against a life-long endurance of slavery. It discusses the general theme of unfortunate circumstance brought about by a painful past. As the following essay ensues, the same themes in Beloved are given meaning:

Julie lay on the hospital bed, half awake and half-asleep. She has just finished taking in her medication for the day. That morning, her doctor had already visited her for check-up. And now, she has nothing left to do but think and look back on the torture she and her son, Tom experienced in the hands of Steven, her husband. Three years ago, the torture ended. On that fateful day, she and her son were freed from a life of unspeakable violence. It was a Wednesday night. As usual, Julie's thirty-two-year-old husband arrived drunk and quite possibly drugged, too. Nothing was new with this behavior of Steven. In their ten years of marriage, Julie had never actually seen him sober. She had already grown used to Steven's extreme drinking behavior and addiction to drugs. She had grown numb of Steven's heavy beating, humiliating demands for sex, and rude remarks about her physical appearance and personality. There was even a time when Steven verbally abused her in front of his drinking buddies, while trying to sexually assault her in an attempt to show-off. Julie was only 16 years old when she married Steven. She imagined a blissful life in the arms of this man that she loved- even if it meant going against the wishes of her family and turning her back from them. This didn't happen, of course. And Julie thought that maybe if they had a child, things would be different. Things became different, alright. Because instead of having only one punching bag, Steven now had two- Julie and their son, Tom. At four-years-old, Tom had never been out of the house. Steven wanted him to always be inside the house so that people won't be able to find out that Julie has a son. Steven was convinced that the boy was not his, and that Julie had sexual relations with other men. If people would see Tom, they would think otherwise. And they would have all these moral issues of how Steven is expected to take care of Tom. This increasingly became unbearable for Julie. It was one thing for Steven to treat her like an animal. It was another thing to see her own son being beaten and treated like crap by Steven. There was even a time when possessed with alcohol and drugs, Steven locked his own son Tom in a cabinet for three days without food and water. At that time, Julie started thinking that Tom would not last this insanity of Steven. He would die for sure. But Julie refused to have her little angel's body be mangled by Steven any longer. Julie thought that… READ MORE

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