What Beloved Meant - Book Report/Review Example

What Beloved Meant "Beloved" written in 1987 is the fifth novel of Toni Morrison an African-American She also won 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this novel. The novel is based upon the life of a slave and how the transition process from slavery to freedom was covered by her and what cost did she have to pay. Influence of slavery is shown on each character and how it affects them physically, emotionally and psychologically. The centre of the story is Sethe, who was slave and bear a family of three children and a husband. Then when she ran from the place named as Sweet Home where they all work as slave, she was not joined by her husband and caught by the cruel owner of Sweet Home, the school teacher. They torture her sexually and physically. She manages to escape from there and on the way back home at 124 in Cincinnati , she gave birth to her fourth child a girl whom she named Denver, to her mother-in-law Baby Sugg. A month later after the reunion with her four children and mother-in-law she was tracked down by school teacher and in the attempt to save her children from being slave she tried to murdered them, all escaped but third child, a one year old girl was killed by her. This very incident haunts her for the rest of the novel and gave birth to main character named as "Beloved" after twenty years. Beloved, the name used for a twenty year old girl who suddenly appeared on the footsteps of 124, it's also the only word written on the tombstone of Sethe third child's grave. This word reckons Sethe of her little crawling baby and all her motherly affections overwhelms her. Beloved is used in both forms in the novel, as a character and as a symbol. As a character in the sense that she depicts a year old child when author mention her characteristics like the name, baby skin, asking for sweet, fragile domination of language. She is used as a character of little baby coming back to life at the age she might had been if lived. The concept of reincarnation is employed here for the character Beloved. Author describes her appearance for the very first time to be coming out of the water as if she is coming out of the mother's womb. Her feeling is of a small child who is demanding and self-centered. Beloved as a character is very intense and passionate about her mother, she couldn't relate to anyone else except her mother just like a small child. Her obsession is shown by these lines: "I am Beloved and she is mine." (p. 221) She wanted to know the reason why her mother killed her and was unable to forgive her for such a brutal act. Beloved is a ghost of little girl who this time comes in the form of a human having flesh and blood. The ghost has also been mentioned earlier in the novel to be haunting the house, making two elder sons Bugler and Howard so much frightened that they ran away and even horrified Paul D, a person who was slave in Sweet Home as well, when he came to live with Sethe. Beloved also shows jealousy and hatred toward anyone else who captures Sethe's attention like Paul D. Her character also bears determination and compassion to go to any extreme in order to eliminate anyone and to gain sole attention of Sethe. Her character at the end of the novel, when her reality become clear to Sethe and Denver becomes more and more demanding, full of rage, irrepressible and vindictive toward her mother and toward her act of her assassination. Beloved, is also used here as the symbol of past and it represent all the black dead wretched conditions when she reckon to be with dead bodies and rat infected place where all living and dead were pilled up together. It is the symbol of horrible treatment that was given to black people during slavery. According to a website "She serves both as a character as well as a symbol for the past and the sixty-million slaves killed in the Middle Passage" (A Homework Online: Beloved by Toni Morrison). She plays the role of a character and symbol beautifully and intermingled. Being a character is tries to gain attention of Sethe and at the same times ask her question about her childhood and drive her back into her memories of the past. She makes her rememorize her painful experiences with her mother and being a child. She is also describes as follows: "She is the embodiment not only of the baby's ghost but also the legacy of slavery. She represents the power of the past to intrude into the present" (Borey, 2000: Character list). She symbolizes the past which can come live in present to question your acts. In represent that whatever goes away can come back and it is never gone too far not to return as she return even from death. She also symbolizes that haunting memories of the past can affect your present as she affects Sethe's relationship with Paul D, whom she was going to marry and her youngest daughter Denver. Beloved is different for all the character she interact. She interacts with only three characters in the novel Sethe, Denver and Paul D and she meant differently for each of them. For Sethe, Beloved is her one year old girl whom she had killed out of the fear of slavery, she thinks that she has come back to her now when she is free and can love her as she wanted. She explains to her within her thought why she murdered her and gave explanation repeatedly seeking clemency for her act (Borey, 2000). Beloved happens to be as a gift of God to her because Sethe had always regretted killing her daughter and longed for her, so now when she comes to know about Beloved she thinks her family and life to be complete. Beloved also remind her of her past because she manage to ask her the question whose answers she couldn't remembered otherwise related to her mother and her childhood. Sethe thinks of now compensating her desire of caring for her children and love them fearlessly. Beloved to her is the completion of her motherhood and the lost piece of her heart which had been discovered now. "You are my Beloved, You are mine, you are mine, you are mine (p 217) "(A Homework Online: Beloved by Toni Morrison) For Denver, Beloved is a companion of loneliness. Denver has spend her childhood in solitude where she had no one to play with or talk to , she was afraid of going ahead of 124's courtyard as she thought that all troubles came from outside. She was also afraid of her mother because she had killed her sister. When Beloved comes to 124, Denver finds a friend in her, she thinks that now she will never be alone. She considers Beloved as a resort. Denver dances with Beloved and also argues about her mother. When it is revealed upon Denver the true identity of Beloved then she tends to incline more to her as she thinks her apart of herself. When Beloved asks Denver about what she sees, she replies "it's me" meaning that Denver sees herself in Beloved. She also thinks that it is her responsibility to save Beloved from Sethe as she doesn't trust Sethe (Borey, 2000). Denver is immensely attached to her and it is shown when she says "She's mine, Beloved. She's mine". Paul D firstly got suspicious about Beloved because of her behavior and appearance. His curiosity was raised when Beloved failed to recall anything from her past not even her last name. Paul D argues with Sethe about Beloved and insists to find her somewhere else to live. In the beginning they share stranger's relationship. When Sethe decides to marry Paul D, which Beloved couldn't stand, she creates a gulf between Paul D and Sethe She also succeed in seducing Paul D sexually which he related to his lack of muscularity. Because he couldn't resist her he began to question his helplessness as not being man. Beloved first appeared when Paul D had arrived to live with Sethe, because she didn't like him to be with her mother. Her appearance was triggered by her obsession and possessiveness for her mother. Then when Paul D came back after feeling guilt of his sexually involvement with Beloved, Beloved confronted her limits and disappear, it is describe in the novel by loosing wisdom tooth and crying for the first time. In the end when community women come to rescue Sethe Beloved confront the crowd and then disappear suddenly. She disappeared on the occasions when her powers was challenged or resisted successfully. Morrison idea of "Rememory" is not just the way the past is experience, in Beloved Morrison through Sethe describe that "I used to think it was my rememory. You know. Some things you forget. Other things you never do. But it's not. Places, places are still there." This means that people come and go along with their experiences but places remains there in outside world picturing whatever existed or experienced there(Peter Hewlett, 2001 ). For the Sethe the past is not dead and is alive in present so the word "remember" is replaced by "rememory" reckoning that nothing is lost from memory rather it is kept in her mind.(A Homework online Study Guide: Beloved By Toni Morrison). In "Beloved" there is the story moves in present but the flashes of the past keeps on coming back. Every incident and question brings back memory from the past and the feelings related to them appear so real and forceful as if they were never forgotten. So the Morrison concept of "rememory" is employed in such a way that characters were unable to let go their pasts and keep on recalling or rememorize them again and again. REFERENCE: 1- Borey, Eddie, May 11 2000: Classic Note: Beloved Study Guide: Full Summary and Analysis http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/beloved/fullsumm.html 2- "Beloved by Toni Morrison: Symbols and Motifs": A Homework Online Study Guide. http://www.homework-online.com/beloved/sybmols-motifs_memory.asp 3- ---"Beloved by Toni Morrison: Character Analysis 4- Hewlett,Peter."Messianic Time in Toni Morrison's Beloved." Agora:OnlineGraduateHumanitiesJournal. 1.1(Fall 2001). [May 10, 2007] . Read More