Identity, Love, and Healing in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' - A Student's View | Summaries English Literature

November 16, 2010 1

Nov. 16: Beloved to p. 138 1

Baby Suggs 3

>Something I have keep a close eye on is the character of Baby Suggs and her similarities to 5

biblical figures. Note how she washes Sethe before she sees her children. This is a practice 6

performed in the Bible where the host would wash the feet of the person. It was a big deal when 7

Jesus washes others' feet. 8

¶What is the significance of the Beloved watching the two turtles mate? I never understood 9

that. 10

>After reading this section, I was once again really amazed by Baby Suggs character. Her loving 12

and vibrant spirit is developed even more in the haunting description of her own kind of 13

religion, her own kind of love, her own kind of vibrance in a not so vibrant world. I was 14

positively transfixed by the calling forth of the children to laugh and the men to dance and the 15

women to cry. It was a remarkable how Baby suggs called upon some new sort of healing 16

within the people that was focused exclusively on self love and not upon the Christian religion 17

which can often lead to so much self hate. Baby Suggs commanded the situation with so much 18

passion and so much color. It was striking how mere lines later the narrator states that Baby 19

Suggs had been like this until 28 days after her daughter-in-law had arrived. It was almost as if 20

Sethe ripped all this life and color from baby suggs and could only give her fake pieces of it 21

from then on out. 22

Paul D 24

>I enjoyed this section of the reading a lot. I have not been to enthralled with the novel thus far 26

but this section has proven much better than the rest in my eyes. I think the plot is thicker and 27

the writing is better. It is a section that is rich with detail and history and I learned a lot about 28

the characters. I am a real fan of Paul D, he is my favorite character hands down. I feel such a 29

ridiculous amount of feminism out of this book that I enjoy rooting for Paul. Even though he 30

should not have lain with Beloved I applaud him for trying to withstand her. I find his story to 31

be one of the most interesting. A wanderer, conscious of the fact that something is amiss with 32

Beloved. He is the most logical and is a rambling man. Independent, wandering, but caring and 33

intelligent. Solem after a hard life, wise in the ways of life, and not afraid to speak his mind and 34

stand up for himself and what he cares for I think Paul is the only good thing the book has and 35

once he leaves it is going to fall apart. Without Paul the household will crumble and Beloved 36

will get her way. I will miss Paul once he is gone, he is a good guy. 37

>Paul D’s story about the rooster called Mister expands the comparison of slaves to animals 39

further—in this case, the rooster has status, a name, and freedom, where Paul D does not. He 40

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1 Nov. 16: Beloved to p. 138

3 Baby Suggs 4 5 >Something I have keep a close eye on is the character of Baby Suggs and her similarities to 6 biblical figures. Note how she washes Sethe before she sees her children. This is a practice 7 performed in the Bible where the host would wash the feet of the person. It was a big deal when 8 Jesus washes others' feet. 9 ¶What is the significance of the Beloved watching the two turtles mate? I never understood 10 that. 11 12 >After reading this section, I was once again really amazed by Baby Suggs character. Her loving 13 and vibrant spirit is developed even more in the haunting description of her own kind of 14 religion, her own kind of love, her own kind of vibrance in a not so vibrant world. I was 15 positively transfixed by the calling forth of the children to laugh and the men to dance and the 16 women to cry. It was a remarkable how Baby suggs called upon some new sort of healing 17 within the people that was focused exclusively on self love and not upon the Christian religion 18 which can often lead to so much self hate. Baby Suggs commanded the situation with so much 19 passion and so much color. It was striking how mere lines later the narrator states that Baby 20 Suggs had been like this until 28 days after her daughter-in-law had arrived. It was almost as if 21 Sethe ripped all this life and color from baby suggs and could only give her fake pieces of it 22 from then on out. 23 24 Paul D 25 26 >I enjoyed this section of the reading a lot. I have not been to enthralled with the novel thus far 27 but this section has proven much better than the rest in my eyes. I think the plot is thicker and 28 the writing is better. It is a section that is rich with detail and history and I learned a lot about 29 the characters. I am a real fan of Paul D, he is my favorite character hands down. I feel such a 30 ridiculous amount of feminism out of this book that I enjoy rooting for Paul. Even though he 31 should not have lain with Beloved I applaud him for trying to withstand her. I find his story to 32 be one of the most interesting. A wanderer, conscious of the fact that something is amiss with 33 Beloved. He is the most logical and is a rambling man. Independent, wandering, but caring and 34 intelligent. Solem after a hard life, wise in the ways of life, and not afraid to speak his mind and 35 stand up for himself and what he cares for I think Paul is the only good thing the book has and 36 once he leaves it is going to fall apart. Without Paul the household will crumble and Beloved 37 will get her way. I will miss Paul once he is gone, he is a good guy. 38 39 >Paul D’s story about the rooster called Mister expands the comparison of slaves to animals 40 further—in this case, the rooster has status, a name, and freedom, where Paul D does not. He

41 realizes that he is ‚less than a chicken sitting in the sun on a tub,‛ a truly depressing image. One 42 of the worst parts for Paul D is the fact that he got Mister out of his shell, literally gave him life, 43 and Mister still had more freedom than he did. The description of other slaves on page 78 all 44 show an animal status that they willingly, or out of necessity, take on: ‚hidden in caves, fought 45 owls for food…stole from pigs…slept in trees…buried themselves in slop,‛ live in the woods 46 for their whole lives. Finally the slaves extend their bestiality to family, as with the example of 47 the woman who believed ducks were her babies—the saddest part is, the woman had to steal 48 her ‚family,‛ proving that they have no sense of possession in the first place. 49 50 > pg.84: Irons 51 I was shocked to find out that the iron that kept Paul from speaking to Halle referred to a literal 52 tool. I interpreted the iron to represent some kind of repression. In establishing that the terms 53 "Sweet Home" and "sweet home men" are constructs used to further subdue the agencies of 54 many a slave on that plantation, we also establish the master's desire in maiming the humanity 55 of his enslaved persons.Certainly the conditions of Paul's bondage had debilitating effects but 56 this example speaks towards the master's power to retard or prevent social relations of an 57 enslaved person with people of like circumstances. In this regard, the irons are symbols of social 58 repression. 59 60 p.86 & p.138: Red Heart 61 In the first part of today's reading, Paul D uses the image of a rusted tobacco tin as a 62 representation of his heart: the vile smelling tobacco that lies at his core, and of which he is 63 ashamed, being hidden in a tin case so to prevent the shame of his true nature becoming 64 known. In this earlier part, he claims that his red heart has been replaced by that tin, but the last 65 paragraph would suggest that the true content of his tobacco tin is his red heart. Maybe the red 66 heart suggests a bestial nature, he does claim that his heart is less than that of a rooster. Thus, to 67 obtain a red heart may be to elevate oneself unto the level of a beast. In having sex with 68 Beloved, he is awoken to his own animal nature, that was released upon the lid having given 69 way. 70 71 > Although the focus of the story centers on Sethe's inability to remove herself from the past, 72 Paul D has his own problems in dealing with his long suffering history. I find the two parallel 73 each other in how they wish to cope with the past. Sethe wishes she could stop thinking about 74 the horrible events that happened to her and on page 83 we see her only means of escape is 75 insanity. A better ending for her entails sitting with butter on her face, completely crazy like 76 Halle. At least then she is excused from and removed from what went on. Paul D struggles with 77 a similar concept to Sethe's when he mentions the wildness in his eyes. He says there are ways 78 to put it in and take it out of your eyes, and his uncertainty about which is better raises 79 questions whether or not he believes it would be better or not to remain in that separate wild 80 state, lost in the moment, instead of being "free" from what is going on and being able to reflect 81 on the atrocities.

124 o Beloved - She is only concerned with Sethe and claims that she loves her, but her 125 actions make us question her love. 126 127 The lady that helped Sethe and Denver once they crossed the river said, "If anybody was to ask 128 me I'd say, 'Don't love nothing.'" The idea is that things come and go, and it is up to you to risk 129 loving something that might leave you. The degree of love and expression of love will be seen 130 throughout the novel. 131 132 > -‚Nothing better than that to start the day’s serious work of beating back the past.‛ 133 -the past will hurt 134 -Who are the other people that are down where Beloved came from and what does she mean 135 that some are dead? Are they all not dead? 136 - ‚This is where I am‛ Beloved is there to stay 137 - ‚She is the one. She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have.‛ Is Beloved 138 saying that she wouldn’t mind if Denver dies? Sibling jealousy? 139 -Denver and Beloved both love the story of how Denver was born. 140 -Seems as if water has a big healing power throughout the book. 141 -Denver is born in it 142 - ‚Her heavy knives of defense against misery, regret, gall and hurt, she placed by one on a bank 143 where clear water rushed below.‛ 144 - ‚She begged him for water ad he gave her some of the Ohio in a jar. Sethe drank it all and 145 begged more.‛ 146 -Seems as if Baby Suggs started a new community 147 -Sethe brought all of the grief to 124 148 -Stamp Paid- seems like a name he put together himself from reading random things. 149 -Why did Sethe only have 28 days of unslaved life? 150 - ‚Beloved’s fingers were heavenly‛ – heavenly because shes dead? 151 -Three women in the middle of the Clearing 152 -Three=trinity 153 -why is clearing capitalized? 154 -Beloveds breath smelling like new milk…doesn’t Sethe get the point?? 155 - ‚Beloved so agitated she behaved like a two-year-old‛ 156 -Beloved describes the Cardinal as a blood spot 157 -How did Denver go deaf? And why at that point? 158 -Paul D tried to kill his new owner? 159 -jailed…part of a chain gang 160 -Water (rain) helped the prisoners escape 161 -Paul D locked his memories into his tobacco tin in his chest? 162 163 >And just when you think it couldn't get any worse....Beloved tries to strangle her mother in her 164 reincarnated ghost self? I am also quite disturbed that Denver would choose Beloved over her

165 own mother. She is that starved for attention? The reader is finally introduced to Sethe as a 166 murder through Denver's eyes. Although like the rest of the book it is hard to accept one 167 character's narration because they all link together. This book just keeps getting stranger and I 168 find myself confused most of the time. True the pieces are starting to come together, but I have 169 a feeling there will always be questions unanswered. Morrison's style is haunting and addictive 170 and keeps me reading. 171 General 172 173 > This novel gets more and more disturbing, but paradoxically, the prose is rich and beautiful. 174 Toni Morrison uses a lot of imagery. Imagery, combined with personification, is often used to 175 describe a character's emotion. Using rich imagery and other forms of literary devices is much 176 better than simply stating, "It had a great impact." Morrison's work adds deeper meaning and 177 hold greater purpose. This is very effective when speaking of a topic as grave as slavery and life 178 after slavery. 179 >I'll break things down by chapter: 180 181 ¶Chapter 7: I felt like this chapter was interesting in that it seemed to fulfill a sort of 'prophesy' 182 that was mentioned earlier in the book: I can't remember the exact chapter, but I recall Amy 183 telling Sethe something to the effect of "something that has died hurts when it comes back to 184 life". Here, in Sethe and Paul D's "shared memories of violation", both characters discuss and 185 confide their feelings in each other despite the pain that results. 186 187 ¶Chapter 8: I found it ironic that Sethe's water breaks in the retelling of Denver's birth upon 188 stepping into a boat, while Beloved was 'reborn' years later not soon before Sethe is reminded of 189 her water breaking upon returning from the carnival. Also, while Beloved's description of her 190 birth undoubtedly holds some parallels with the experiences of a fetus in the womb, for me, it 191 brought to mind the stories of slaves who were brought to America via ship - and the dark 192 small quarters they were forced to endure for extended periods of time. 193 194 ¶Chapter 9: Baby Suggs telling her listeners to love their hearts most of all - is this a response to 195 Paul D's "tobacco tin" comment? Ironic, because that's where he claimed to 'store his shame'. 196 197 ¶Chapter 10: You mentioned the parallel between Paul's 'rebirth' in this chapter with the 198 'rebirth' of Beloved. Adding to this, could one parallel the cramped darkness of the womb to the 199 small boxes the prisoners were locked in? 200 201 ¶Chapter 11: Once again, we're given the image of a daughter who sort of attempts to 'take her 202 mother's place' (I'm referring to scene when Paul D. first arrives and Denver attempts to win his 203 attention). I felt like the sexuality that manifests itself in Beloved sort of forms a break in the 204 parallel to her being the reincarnation of a dead infant. Regardless, I know you had mentioned

Identity, Love, and Healing in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' - A Student's View, Summaries of English Literature

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Download Identity, Love, and Healing in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' - A Student's View and more Summaries English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!

1 Nov. 16: Beloved to p. 138