Firstly, I loved this lengthy read, but I did find a few things confusing. I did not understand why Toni Morrison made the character of Beloved the returning spirit of Sethe’s deceased baby daughter. Of course the story will probably have a twist, but as far as I got, I do not understand why Morrison would make this deceased character come back to life. I was thinking that maybe it was a symbol of Sethe’s inability to let the past stay in the past. Sethe is constantly living in the past, recalling memories that fog her sight of the present. I was thinking that perhaps Beloved is the physical form of Sethe’s defensive wall that she built inside herself when she committed the murder of her daughter.
Also, she could be the physical aspiration of Sethe’s pent up guilt throughout the years. When she saw Schoolteacher coming down the road, something inside her snapped. All she thought was that she was going to protect her children anyway she could, even if it meant death. Once she had time to regain some sanity after she was arrested, I think she realized what she did and the guilt never left her. I think this could be a possibility for why her house is ‘haunted.’
Next, I was confused as to why Baby Suggs’ neighbors were so callous to Sethe after her incident. Obviously it was a horrendous thing that she did, but I was shocked that no one sympathized for her. They were supposed to be a community and be there for each other, but she was left alone in her time of need, and I did not understand that. I was not so much confused as to why this happened, just more disappointed that a community of people that seemed to really look out for one another, crashed and burned when one of them was in real need.
I also hated that Paul D left and let Beloved win. I thought it was really great how Morrison made this happen, though. Sethe’s issues with her past, which is physicalized in Beloved, ran her only chance at a good and happy life out the door, literally.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment