True Identity In Toni Morrison's Beloved

Throughout the book Beloved by Toni Morrison, the characters’ identities are both obscure and illuminated. This is due to Morrison’s writing style, as well as her usage of the technique “in media res”. Although many might say that making something obscure as well as illuminating it is near impossible, Toni Morrison manages to accomplish just that. Morrison starts off Beloved by introducing her characters with vague descriptions and no backstories at all. Instead, she lets the reader form their own opinions on the characters based on the small amount of information she gives them. For example, Baby Suggs was introduced into the book in a fairly negative light; she viewed life as “intolerable”, and was “Suspended between the nastiness of life
Aside from connotation, Morrison also uses a technique called “in media res”. In media res is a latin term, and using this technique means to start the story in the middle of the action, then backtrack to explain and to help the reader better understand what’s going on. Morrison uses this technique in her own unique way; she introduces a character, then explains their actions through backstory later on. This can also be demonstrated with Baby Suggs’ character, as it is revealed later in the book that Baby Suggs was freed from slavery mostly broken, except for her heart. Instead of living quietly and being miserable, Baby Suggs showed how strong she was by using her heart to reach out to others and help them with their sufferings. Only then is Baby Suggs’ true identity revealed to the readers, therefore illuminating it for the readers. Baby Suggs’ identity is very complicated. She sees herself as a tired, torn-up-inside woman who has seen and been through many horrors as both a mother and a slave. And yet, she was known throughout as such a