Slavery In Toni Morrison's Beloved
Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, powerfully represents the aftermath of slavery and how that trauma affects both the individual and the society. The ghost of Sethe’s murdered child manifests itself in Beloved, whose character serves as a symbol of all of the victims of slavery. The victims of slavery are collectively represented in Beloved’s character in order to recognize their denied humanity, as well as to attempt to seek retribution for all the wrongdoings inflicted upon them, both individually and systematically. Morrison presents chapter twenty two of the novel in first person, as part of a series of chapters narrating the thoughts of the leading women, with this chapter featuring Beloved’s thoughts. This passage is particularly unique
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In this passage, Beloved comes to Paul D in the cold house, where she has compelled him to sleep farther and farther from Sethe. She continuously says to him, “call me my name” and, “touch me on the inside part,” (page 137). This repetition emphasizes Beloved’s longing to experience human emotion and connection. Her repeated request of Paul D to address her by her name specifically demonstrates a need to recognize individuality, a form humanization that was rarely given to slaves. This encounter between Beloved and Paul D also addresses ways that the still living victims of slavery have been affected. Earlier in the novel, readers are told that Paul D’s heart is locked up in a rusted tobacco tin so he can no longer feel and no longer be hurt. Paul D’s heart is shut away in the tobacco tin as a form of self preservation, and he refuses to confront his past because it is too painful and too traumatic. The danger of shutting up his heart so as not to feel pain is that he then will not be able to feel anything, even the good things. When Beloved comes to him in the cold house, she makes the lid of the “tobacco tin” give way; she makes the flakes of rust fall “away from the seams of his tobacco tin,” (page 138). This metaphor shows that living victims of slavery need human connection, emotion, and
In this passage, Beloved comes to Paul D in the cold house, where she has compelled him to sleep farther and farther from Sethe. She continuously says to him, “call me my name” and, “touch me on the inside part,” (page 137). This repetition emphasizes Beloved’s longing to experience human emotion and connection. Her repeated request of Paul D to address her by her name specifically demonstrates a need to recognize individuality, a form humanization that was rarely given to slaves. This encounter between Beloved and Paul D also addresses ways that the still living victims of slavery have been affected. Earlier in the novel, readers are told that Paul D’s heart is locked up in a rusted tobacco tin so he can no longer feel and no longer be hurt. Paul D’s heart is shut away in the tobacco tin as a form of self preservation, and he refuses to confront his past because it is too painful and too traumatic. The danger of shutting up his heart so as not to feel pain is that he then will not be able to feel anything, even the good things. When Beloved comes to him in the cold house, she makes the lid of the “tobacco tin” give way; she makes the flakes of rust fall “away from the seams of his tobacco tin,” (page 138). This metaphor shows that living victims of slavery need human connection, emotion, and