Beloved
B. Beloved Summary
Beloved by Toni Morrison is an epic tale set after the Civil War of the horrifying damage slavery instilled both physical and mental for each slave. Beloved’s main character Sethe is driven to unspeakable acts in her minds attempt to keep her children safe and free from slavery.
Slave life began simple enough for Sethe as her owner was a kind and gentle man, but after his death her new overseer was cruel and inhumane. The horrible treatment Sethe endured caused her to secretly send her children up north to her mother in law, while she herself escaped later on. Sethe’s escape into Ohio and freedom was short lived as she was found and attempted to keep her children from being drug back into the horrors of slavery killed her oldest daughter by slitting her neck.
Eventually, through significant religious pressure Sethe was released from prison only to be shunned by her community and consumed by the ghost of the daughter she killed. A fellow slave from Sethe’s past, Paul D arrives and helps ease the isolation Sethe and her remaining daughter, Denver, face. Sethe never able to escape the ghost; in fact Sethe’s finances only allowed her to place a simple tombstone marked, “Beloved” on her dead daughter’s grave and years later a young woman named Beloved shows up on Sethe’s doorstep.
The physiological impacts of slavery, as told in the novel, a far reaching and significant, individuals imprisoned as slaves confront are unable to move past their fears and embrace their future as it’s been ingrained into them that they are worth nothing.
C. Characters
Sethe is the main character of the novel and is the mother of four children and a former slave. Sethe escapes slavery, while she is pregnant with her fourth child, to Cincinnati to Baby Suggs, her mother-in-law. Sethe is found and fearing she and her children will be forced back into slavery she attempts to kill her children, however, she is only successful in killing her oldest daughter.
Denver is Sethe’s only surviving daughter and is 17 years-old. Because of her mother’s actions she has been shunned by the community and is very sheltered and lonely. At first, Denver, accepts and befriends the real live ghost, Beloved, but when her mother’s life is endangered, Denver acts in the best interest of her mother and becomes more mature and responsible.
Beloved is Sethe’s oldest daughter’s ghost in a human body. She is 18 years-old and comes ot live with Sethe and Denver. At the beginning brings happiness into Sethe and Denver’s life but she eventually starts to harm and treat Sethe bad.
Paul D-The physical and emotional brutality suffered by Paul D as a slave at Sweet Home and as part of a chain gang, has caused him to bury his feelings deep inside his heart. Sethe welcomes him to 124, where he ends up becoming her lover and the object of Denver’s and Beloved’s jealousy. Though his union with Sethe provides him with stability and allows him to come to terms with his brutal and terrible past, Paul D continues to doubt his identity, such as that of his manhood and what he values as a person.
Baby Suggs - After Halle buys his mother her freedom she travels to Cincinnati, there she becomes the source of emotional and spiritual inspiration for the city’s black community and above residents. She holds religious gatherings at a place that she calls the Clearing; this is where she teaches her followers to love their voices, bodies, and minds. Though after Sethe’s act of infanticide, Baby Suggs stops her preaching and retreats to a sickbed to die.
D. Setting
Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved was written in the 1980’s in Albany, New York and first published in 1987. The story is a fictional tale set after the Civil War. Beloved exams the physical and mental cruelty slaves endured and their daily struggles to overcome the abuse they lived day in and day out. Beloved opens our eyes to the extent of how a mother will carry out unspeakable acts to protect her child while at the same time question whether those acts are truly justified and can ever be understood or forgive. Beloved also shows us just how difficult it was for black people that were slaves at one time to overcome the horrors and memories and move forward in life.
E. Conflict
The novel Beloved is layered with many different types of conflict, essentially including all of the main types of conflict. Seth fights against herself and her past demons and memories, preventing her to forge ahead with a new life and start fresh. Seth and Denver also struggle against society and they are shunned for the killing of Sethe’s older daughter. Essentially, Beloved is about being able to come to terms with your past and move ahead for your future.
F. Themes
1. Good versus evil- the theme of good vs. evil is shown through the struggles over the slaves and their former selves. And also the conflict between themselves and others
2. Dealing with the past- each and every character has a past that is haunting them. This past is keeping them from enjoying the future.
3. Loneliness- each character feels alone once they are freed. None of them know where to go or what to do. This is causing them not to trust, either which is causing them much loneliness.
G. Symbols
1. The color red – The color red symbolizes the past bloodshed.
2. Rusted Tobacco tin – The rusted tobacco tin Paul D carries represents how he has closed his heart to give or receive love.
3. Beloved – The ghost “Beloved” represents the past and the horrors of slavery and how Seth cannot move forward with her future because of the past sins.
Images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNz7mV8ob2Q
Works Cited
Robinson, Mary, and Kris Fulkerson.CliffsNotes on Beloved.1 Apr 2013
< http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/id-32.html>.
Beloved (novel)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
Allgood, John Hunter,
<http://mail.baylorschool.org/~jstover/coursemat/IVAP/beloved.htm>
Beloved by Toni Morrison is an epic tale set after the Civil War of the horrifying damage slavery instilled both physical and mental for each slave. Beloved’s main character Sethe is driven to unspeakable acts in her minds attempt to keep her children safe and free from slavery.
Slave life began simple enough for Sethe as her owner was a kind and gentle man, but after his death her new overseer was cruel and inhumane. The horrible treatment Sethe endured caused her to secretly send her children up north to her mother in law, while she herself escaped later on. Sethe’s escape into Ohio and freedom was short lived as she was found and attempted to keep her children from being drug back into the horrors of slavery killed her oldest daughter by slitting her neck.
Eventually, through significant religious pressure Sethe was released from prison only to be shunned by her community and consumed by the ghost of the daughter she killed. A fellow slave from Sethe’s past, Paul D arrives and helps ease the isolation Sethe and her remaining daughter, Denver, face. Sethe never able to escape the ghost; in fact Sethe’s finances only allowed her to place a simple tombstone marked, “Beloved” on her dead daughter’s grave and years later a young woman named Beloved shows up on Sethe’s doorstep.
The physiological impacts of slavery, as told in the novel, a far reaching and significant, individuals imprisoned as slaves confront are unable to move past their fears and embrace their future as it’s been ingrained into them that they are worth nothing.
C. Characters
Sethe is the main character of the novel and is the mother of four children and a former slave. Sethe escapes slavery, while she is pregnant with her fourth child, to Cincinnati to Baby Suggs, her mother-in-law. Sethe is found and fearing she and her children will be forced back into slavery she attempts to kill her children, however, she is only successful in killing her oldest daughter.
Denver is Sethe’s only surviving daughter and is 17 years-old. Because of her mother’s actions she has been shunned by the community and is very sheltered and lonely. At first, Denver, accepts and befriends the real live ghost, Beloved, but when her mother’s life is endangered, Denver acts in the best interest of her mother and becomes more mature and responsible.
Beloved is Sethe’s oldest daughter’s ghost in a human body. She is 18 years-old and comes ot live with Sethe and Denver. At the beginning brings happiness into Sethe and Denver’s life but she eventually starts to harm and treat Sethe bad.
Paul D-The physical and emotional brutality suffered by Paul D as a slave at Sweet Home and as part of a chain gang, has caused him to bury his feelings deep inside his heart. Sethe welcomes him to 124, where he ends up becoming her lover and the object of Denver’s and Beloved’s jealousy. Though his union with Sethe provides him with stability and allows him to come to terms with his brutal and terrible past, Paul D continues to doubt his identity, such as that of his manhood and what he values as a person.
Baby Suggs - After Halle buys his mother her freedom she travels to Cincinnati, there she becomes the source of emotional and spiritual inspiration for the city’s black community and above residents. She holds religious gatherings at a place that she calls the Clearing; this is where she teaches her followers to love their voices, bodies, and minds. Though after Sethe’s act of infanticide, Baby Suggs stops her preaching and retreats to a sickbed to die.
D. Setting
Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved was written in the 1980’s in Albany, New York and first published in 1987. The story is a fictional tale set after the Civil War. Beloved exams the physical and mental cruelty slaves endured and their daily struggles to overcome the abuse they lived day in and day out. Beloved opens our eyes to the extent of how a mother will carry out unspeakable acts to protect her child while at the same time question whether those acts are truly justified and can ever be understood or forgive. Beloved also shows us just how difficult it was for black people that were slaves at one time to overcome the horrors and memories and move forward in life.
E. Conflict
The novel Beloved is layered with many different types of conflict, essentially including all of the main types of conflict. Seth fights against herself and her past demons and memories, preventing her to forge ahead with a new life and start fresh. Seth and Denver also struggle against society and they are shunned for the killing of Sethe’s older daughter. Essentially, Beloved is about being able to come to terms with your past and move ahead for your future.
F. Themes
1. Good versus evil- the theme of good vs. evil is shown through the struggles over the slaves and their former selves. And also the conflict between themselves and others
2. Dealing with the past- each and every character has a past that is haunting them. This past is keeping them from enjoying the future.
3. Loneliness- each character feels alone once they are freed. None of them know where to go or what to do. This is causing them not to trust, either which is causing them much loneliness.
G. Symbols
1. The color red – The color red symbolizes the past bloodshed.
2. Rusted Tobacco tin – The rusted tobacco tin Paul D carries represents how he has closed his heart to give or receive love.
3. Beloved – The ghost “Beloved” represents the past and the horrors of slavery and how Seth cannot move forward with her future because of the past sins.
Images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNz7mV8ob2Q
Works Cited
Robinson, Mary, and Kris Fulkerson.CliffsNotes on Beloved.1 Apr 2013
< http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/id-32.html>.
Beloved (novel)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
Allgood, John Hunter,
<http://mail.baylorschool.org/~jstover/coursemat/IVAP/beloved.htm>