INDEPENDENT BOOK 4th Quarter- Beloved

Sean Kim

Beloved

 

Beloved, by Toni Morrison is about a few characters who are living through the age of slavery and struggle leave their painful past behind. Sethe, the main character, wants to be independent after her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, dies, however seems to be making all the wrong decisions since she has never had the idea of choices in the past as a slave.. The choice that haunts her the most is when Sethe chose to kill her own babies with the idea that she was saving them from the horrible experience of slavery and sending them to heaven. Although Sethe, herself, seems satisfied with her decision, everyone around her is highly disturbed and mistakes her calmness as a state of mental illness. Her lover, Paul D. is also so disturbed that he decides to leave her. Sethe meets a reincarnated version of one of her dead children, Beloved.
Although Sethe does not realize immediately when Beloved enters the world in adult form, Sethe becomes obsessed with her, vowing to never leave her side now that she has found her again. Sethe’s obsession turns unhealthy as she cannot focus on anything else but serving Beloved. Beloved takes advantage of Sethe’s guilt and constantly uses it against her to be constantly fed and babied. “Then the mood changed and the arguments began. Slowly at first. A complaint from Beloved, an apology from Sethe” 283. This quote describes the miserable atmosphere in which Sethe was stuck in. Over time Sethe is forced to be isolated from the rest of the community, including Denver, her only surviving daughter, and faces a miserable life as she shrinks into just bones and Beloved grows plumper. Eventually Sethe learns to leave behind Beloved to put herself out of her misery. As Sethe is decides to slowly deteriorate away, Paul D. and Denver come back to mend their relationship and keep moving on with their life. At the end, Beloved, although not completely forgotten, is swept away like a dark nightmare as Sethe, Paul D. and Denver continue their own lives as a family.
The novel is written in a combination of first person and third person. This is because the novel alternates between narrations in the shoes of different characters to show the different sides to the story and third person narrations where solid facts are told objectively to help the reader understand the basic plot of the story. The novel also alternates between events that currently happen and flashbacks to past events. The author does this to help the reader understand what kind of events molded the characters into carrying the personality that they have as well as relate past situations to how they still effect the characters lives years later. Although the constant switch of the format of how the story is told may be confusing, it is definitely creative and helps move along the plot of the story. Morrison does a great job in organizing the string of events with smooth transitions so the reader does not have difficulty following along.
The general tone of the novel is disturbing chaos. Throughout the book, a series of shocking information is constantly revealed at a fast pace, puzzling both the characters and the reader. “I love my mother but I know she killed one of her own daughters, and tender as she is with me, I’m scared of her because of it” (243). Because events such as the dead returning or murdering of a mother’s own children are so out of the question of what people are used to hearing, there is a chaos that results from those involved as well as those who watch and judge the situation. Although disturbing chaos seems to dominate the whole atmosphere of the book by introducing one unfortunate event after another, there is still also a tone of small hope whenever a character learns to put their past behind. An example of this hope is when Paul D. returns to Sethe and asks her to step back into his future and start their lives over again quoting “’me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow’” (322).
Judging by the title of the story most would expect the book to be a common story of a beautiful bond between a mother and her children, however I believe Tony Morrison wrote the book with the intentions of her audience being an older group of mature young adults who can not only enjoy the book, but look past just the text and make insightful interpretations from hidden signs. Beloved is one of the most unique books that really puts a twist on the definition of what relationships between mothers and daughters should be. This novel, however shows the realistic measures that some mothers would go to give only the best for their children, even if it means having to cut their necks with a saw. Although the book is very interesting, I don’t think the book exactly is exactly effective in getting the intent across. Because the book is very bizarre and would not happen in an everyday situation, I would think most readers would find it hard to connect to the situation. “Not the way he had beat off the baby’s ghost— all bang and shriek with windows smashed and jelly jars rolled in a heap” (143). This quote shows as an example to show the bizarre situation that the readers may have a hard time connecting to their own lives. Unlike this quote, there are very few if any households that need to scare away ghost of previous babies. Rather than taking the meaning very deeply, I think the book just serves as entertainment and a fun read.