BELOVED by Toni Morrison

{Bridget Hulburt}

[noelimei-blog]

The African-American experience was real, and it is a dark, but also important part of our American history. I still astounds me how I group of people could oppress another group based only by the color of their skin for this long. Still today, this problem is not resolved. The most interesting...

[bhulburt2015]

Sami, I like the point you bring up about slaves being the real reason plantation owners have power. You state the irony in how the power roles are reversed when the white people need something from slaves, like having their children breastfeed or their houses kept. Without slaves, or the accepting of slavery, our American history would have surely been very different. It's angering and astounding how racism and oppression based on skin color is still prevalent in today's society.

[bhulburt2015]

[bhulburt2015]

Final Assignment...

      Finally finished with Beloved, it is hard to choose one moment that surprised me most--the novel is full of complex tangents, all thickening the plot. I think one of the main "surprisers" is the somewhat abrupt ending, not knowing where Beloved herself goes. As to other aspects that surprised me, surely the horrors of slavery including physical abuse, rape, and murder in Sethe's life as a young African American woman are very shocking and difficult for me to read about.

      Regarding race in the U.S. today, I think a history with such a magnitude of racism and horrible treatment of blacks carries a lot of weight and remembrance in the minds of all Americans. Primarily, the abusive, slaveholding white man that once was all too prevalent in our country, often now carries some shame of ancestry in the white American person. Unfortunately, the issue of racism is very much alive today, despite the huge gains that African Americans have accomplished since that time.

      These similar issues are encompassed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim, Miss Watson's slave, and eventually Huck's traveling partner, experiences first hand the struggle and entirety of slavery and discrimination. He is disrespected because of his race, but that treatment is "the norm" for him. It is sad that this pain has become regular and commonplace, making that all that Jim has ever known. At one point in the novel when he talks about the bounty over his head and how much he was worth, Jim is almost proud of the price he is worth. I feel that although those extremes aren't present in this society today, some racial comments and slurs have become so widely used in humorous ways that we are immune to their real severity. 

[musicforthetroubledmind]

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[bhulburt2015]

     This modern Mary J. Blige song talks about hardships that young girls face today. Although Sethe's situation is in a different time period and setting, the theme of trying to escape the clutches of a horrifying life still resides in her story. 

[unicef]

Bahati Traoré holds her sleeping newborn daughter, wrapped securely against her for warmth to reduce the risk of hypothermia, at the Kita Regional Reference Health Centre in the town of Kita in the western Kayes Region of Mali. The treatment is part of the ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ method and was invented in Colombia in the 1980s to provide an alternative for premature or underweight newborns who have no access to incubators. Ms. Traoré’s daughter was born at a nearby centre two months early – a delivery brought on by shock following the death of another of her children, from malaria. The Kangaroo Mother Care method is now a standard treatment in Malian regional reference centres and is taught as a best practice in UNICEF-supported midwife trainings.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-2330/Olivier Asselin Mali, 2010

http://www.unicef.org

[bhulburt2015]

I really love this touching picture of a newborn baby resting on her mother's chest. This made me think that somehow, someway, Sethe must have stopped for a second to look at her beautiful child and feel immense love for her. I can't imagine the feeling of knowing and deciding that you are about to sacrifice your baby for safety. This UNICEF post is inspiring and uplifting because it shows how mothers and babies are being taken care of today, especially in their time of need. I can't help but wonder how Beloved's life would have turned out if there was a safe shelter or home like this for young, single mothers, like Sethe.

[bhulburt2015]

The Protagonist's Situation

     I have now read 200 pages in Beloved and one of the most important and shocking details of the novel has been revealed. As Beloved's past is being expressed through her actions, cryptic words, and needs from Sethe, I understand more who she is and why Morrison has placed her in the novel as this character. Despite the complexities of the plot, the reader sees more of the trials that Sethe has lived through, helping us to sympathize with her and her attempt at mothering Beloved once again.

     When I found out Sethe killed her daughter Beloved, I felt a sense of disappointment and almost anger toward her. I thought, 'How could you murder your own child; your own flesh?' Then, recalling the horrors Sethe endured at Sweet Home, I felt empathy toward her very tough situation and understand her decision. She felt hopeless as though there was no possibility of a safe life for Beloved. She was incredibly brave and courageous by deciding that she could not allow any pain or hardship or horror to be inflicted on her daughter, so she had to kill her. In such a tense and emotionally challenging situation, it is hard for me to imagine what I would personally do. I haven't experienced anything nearly as terrifying as Sethe has, so my mind would not be clouded by those kinds of events. That being said, I would never choose to kill my child, no matter how desperate a situation. I would try to find a way to either transport my child to safety, find somewhere far away for us to escape from harm, or leave my child with someone I trust with the hope that it will receive a better life than I can provide. Now knowing this major detail, I see how Sethe and Beloved's relationship is sometimes awkward and distant, but also at other times, they are unmistakably connected like mother and child.

[noelimei-blog]

“When the busy day is done And my weary little one Rocketh to and fro; When the night winds softly blow, And the crickets in the glen Chirp and chirp and chirp again; Where ‘pon the haunted green Fairies dance around their queen, Then from yonder misty skies Cometh Lady Button Eyes

[bhulburt2015]

Sami, your insight and dedication to understanding is very impressive and admirable! I loved how you looked deeper into the novel by researching and making connections as to why and how the author (Toni Morrison) carefully constructed this story. I was intrigued to hear about how she left out the third stanza of the poem, considering it is about a ghost. I was also struck by the poem's author that was somewhat knowledgable regarding black people's rights back then, due to his father's occupation. Thank you for sharing your findings!

[caseybarbosa]

Toni Morrison includes traditional, folkloric, non-literary African-American culture in Beloved in more ways than one. However, the aspect of African American culture she includes that stands out to me the most is the almost permanent physical, emotional, and mental effect of the torture the main...

[bhulburt2015]

Casey, I liked how you focused on the character's innermost feelings and struggles throughout the novel. Ultimately, this is what drives the novel along and what is responsible for each of their thoughts and actions. You clearly point out how Sethe's, Denver's, and Paul D's pasts have molded and constructed them into the people they are today. Beloved's presence has almost become a strain on the other three main characters causing painful remembrance of the hardships they have endured in the past and the struggle of everyday life amongst each other. I think your observations are very insightful and observant, looking beyond the surfaces of the characters.

[bhulburt2015]

book club prompt...

     Throughout Beloved, Morrison chooses to insert cultural aspects of African-American life in America. By doing this, she not only connects the reader with her characters like Sethe and Beloved, but also gives a clear understanding and depiction of their unique experiences. I think Sethe has gained a lot of insight and "street-smarts," per se, due to her traumatic and poignant past. The inclusion of this harmful culture that Sethe endured at Sweet Home, parallels many African-Americans' experiences living as an enslaved population.

     When she says, "Some things you forget. Other things you never do. 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 remory, but out there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around out there outside my head. I mean, even if I don't think if, even if I die, the picture of what I did, or knew, or saw is still out there. Right in the place where it happened,” (Morrison 88) Sethe clearly displays her insight to painful memories. This shows that after all she's been through, despite how hard it is to talk about, she won't ever forget where she came from and what she's endured. This honest, raw attitude of hers can be related to by many African Americans of her time and even those that have come before her.

[bhulburt2015]

[bhulburt2015]

symbolism...

        The symbol I chose to emphasize on my blog is clearly the tree. Trees are numerously referred to in Beloved, but carrying different meanings to each separate character. For Denver, the "emerald closet" of trees provides comfort as well as solitude. Despite Sethe's unthinkable past, she found the trees as consolation amidst all the horrors that occurred at Sweet Home. Also, the scars on her back replicating a "chokecherry tree" acts as a powerful philosophy. Although the scars represent something horrible, ugly, and painful, the thought of it as a tree morphs the hardship into something beautiful and life-giving.

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[elisavocaat]

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[bhulburt2015]

main conflict in Beloved

        There are several underlying themes and conflicts within the complex novel that is Beloved, but I think the most prominent is the fact that Sethe cannot bring herself to discuss and/or deal with her past much. There are several occasions throughout the book where some action or event strikes up a poignant memory for Sethe and the reader is transported to one of her flashbacks. These often painful memories are very hard for her to relive, much less vocalize. The arrival of Beloved herself also contributes to Sethe's internal struggle. Being a living, constant reminder of the baby Sethe lost, Beloved acts as a supporting detail and reason for the main conflict.

        As far as relating this to the African American experience in America, I feel that many try to hide or avoid their pasts. Generally speaking, their experiences and histories are definitely very different from White Americans whose families can be traced back generations to the first immigrants from Europe or maybe Founding Fathers of our country. Although everyone has pieces of their past they don't like to think about, African Americans have certainly been placed under much oppression in America. As slaves they weren't respected; when emancipated they weren't seen as equals; and even today racism toward black people in America is unfortunately more present than we'd like to admit. Like Sethe, many people try to shut out their bad past experiences, but sometimes this method can only make the internal being more frustrated and depressed.

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[brutalgeneration]