Beloved Essay

The first scene in the novel when a character directly involving Paul D’s question of self identity is seen during a scene in the barn where he compares his freedom to a roosters. Paul D maintains a generally strong willed attitude when confronting torment by his slave owners, as shown in this incident

The novel Beloved is a work of literature so compelling, readers must allow themselves to submit to the author’s literary genius in order to understand her message. Toni Morrison destroys the barrier that is censorship in African American history by giving account to real life events through fiction. The novel is raw and uncut, and leaves the reader with a new perspective on society. Morrison acts as an advocate for racial and social equality, and the importance of accurately represented history. She also explores gender perspectives and the roots of humanity itself. Morrison’s use of symbolism is, although bold, subtly powerful and gripping. These symbols in the text give dimension to the characters and allow

“It was some time before he could put Alfred, Georgia, Sixo, Schoolteacher, Halle, his brothers, Sethe, minister, the taste of iron, the sight of butter, the smell of hickory, notebook paper, one by one, into the tobacco tin lodged in his chest. By the time he got to 124 nothing in this world could pry it open.” (Morrison 133) The tobacco tin represents privacy and his past. Paul D was locking up his past in this tin can. The tin can isn’t even something Paul D can open up himself. In this next quote, Paul D and Sethe were discussing the past but they decide not to go in too deep into their memories. “Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn't get back from. He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. It's lid rusted shut. He would not pry it loose now in front of this sweet sturdy woman, for if she got a whiff of the contents it would shame him. And it would hurt her to know that there was no red heart as bright as Mister’s comb beating in him." (Morrison 86). This quote shows that both Sethe and Paul D were unwilling to dwell on the past too much due to their fear of reliving it. Paul D attempts to force his memories into that tobacco tin but they always found a way to leak back out once again. Next it is important to discuss how Emily holding onto her father represents the theme.

glimpses of Paul trying to reach out and re-embrace his old thoughts and emotions and

Due to the extended time that they were forced to spend on the Sweet Home plantation, both Sethe and Paul D experience lifelong repercussions in the form of PTSD. For example, due to the vast amounts of physical abuse that Sethe underwent, she will forever have to live with these vindictive memories that frequently are aroused by the sight of her own scars. These frequently reoccurring memories cause Sethe to feel as though she is still living on the Sweet Home planation and leads to her having a skittish personality. In concurrence with this, Paul D also struggles to deal with the terrifying memories of the years on end that he was a slave. As he is still in touch with the slaves that he lived with on the plantation, Paul D struggles to be

Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, allows for one to experience slavery through three generations of women. The complex development of the horrors of black chattel slavery in the United States intertwined with a story a freedom helps the reader to understand the ongoing struggle of the Afro-American population after emancipation. Denver, although never a slave, is at first held in bondage by her mother's secrecy about her past and only sets herself free when her mother is forced to cope with her memories.

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “I breathe deeply and say over to myself:– ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a

Paul D is left in shock and denial claiming, “That ain’t her mouth,” attempting to obscure the reality where Sethe did indeed kill her baby (154). The once idealistic woman who Paul D had known and loved for years has turned to do something so evil, leaving him in dismay. He did not understand Sethe’s motives; no one truly did. No one could draw the line of connection between the idea of saving one’s children by killing them. As Stamp Paid continues to read the news clipping, Paul D goes into a frenzy, shaking his head in disbelief. The look on Paul D’s face was so full of terror that even Stamp Paid thought that “the stranger the lips in the drawing became” as Paul D continued to shake in apprehension, questioning if the event really did occur

Sethe’s physical scars serve as a reminder of a time when she was unable to care for herself and her family, and she is continuously haunted by the feeling of helplessness. When Paul D comes to visit Sethe, she is reminded of Sweet Home and the many memories she hid away. Sethe mentions the “tree” on her back which peaks Paul’s interest and leaves him confused, she tells him that the night of the escape she had her breast milk stolen from her: “Those boys came in there and took my milk. That’s what they came in there for. Held me down and took it… Them boys found out I told on em. Schoolteacher made one open up on my back and when it closed it made a tree. It grows there still” (20). Sethe recalls this memory many times throughout her life, much to her dislike, because it is something she has never professionally dealt with. Sethe does not mention the whipping by name, only stating that Schoolteacher made “one open up” on her

So often, the old adage, "History always repeats itself," rings true due to a failure to truly confront the past, especially when the memory of a period of time sparks profoundly negative emotions ranging from anguish to anger. However, danger lies in failing to recognize history or in the inability to reconcile the mistakes of the past. In her novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison explores the relationship between the past, present and future. Because the horrors of slavery cause so much pain for slaves who endured physical abuse as well as psychological and emotional hardships, former slaves may try to block out the pain, failing to reconcile with their past. However, when Sethe, one of the novel's central characters fails to confront

She lost a part of herself by losing the milk, but also lost herself psychologically. This event not only affected Sethe, but also her husband, Halle. Halle was in the barn when this event took place. After witnessing his wife’s rape, he loses his mind. It was scarring for him to watch this event while in hiding, but also he also felt guilt-ridden because he could not do anything to help his wife.

At first glance, the thing that may strike a reader most about this passage is the seemingly overuse of punctuation. Paul D is contemplating how risky Sethe’s love for her daughter is, turning ideas over and over in his head. The overuse of commas and a semicolon make the reader pause, consider what is written, Perhaps Paul D does not want to feel the way he does, perhaps he is considering if these thoughts are something he should voice to Sethe, perhaps he simply takes time to think. Regardless, the punctuation draws on the reader. Further, the passage is very telling of Paul D’s character. Paul D thinks ‘the best thing [... is] to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit,’ showing that he is used to fleeting hopes. He would

First off, for a little bit of context, this is around the time Paul D. begins really contemplating his new and old life around Sweet Home and at the current house at 124. The list of names that appears here are all memorable characters, senses, objects, and even the chicken, Mister, from his past. Some of these especially memorable things include Sethe, the sight of butter, and of course his so called “tobacco tin” lodged in his chest. Of course, Sethe is very memorable for Paul D. because of his current relationship and attraction to her, as well as the history of his attraction to her back at Sweet Home. The sight of butter comes from the last mentioning of Halle, who Paul D. say covering his face in butter and apparently delusional. This mentioning of Halle plays a big part in the later breaking apart of Sethe and Paul D. as Sethe certainly did not want to know about her husband’s unfortunate end. And finally, what I would consider the most important piece from this excerpt, would be the “tobacco tin” that Paul D. says is lodged in his chest. Of course, there is no actual tobacco tin lodged there; however, Morrison is using the tobacco tin as a metaphor for what I believe is actually a place in his heart, although technically it is a place in his brain. By this I mean he is storing all these old memories in his mind, but they come from the heart, which is why Paul D. states it is lodged in his chest. As it applies to the overall novel, this excerpt really helps to bring out Paul D’s inner thoughts and feelings toward his past, similar to other parts of the novel that touch on Sethe’s

Although this novel’s setting is post-Civil War with Paul D. being a freed slave, his past of slavehood continued to haunt him. This is seen most prominently during Chapter 24 when Paul D.’s situation is at his all-time low in the novel where he is found living in a small church drinking and able to reflect back on his past. This state and moment of reflection eventually lead him to ponder over the validity of his own manhood. Mr. Gardner, his first slave owner, was in the context of the novel, a very kind slave owner and had called Paul D. and his slave brothers, men. He also remembers how to his slave brother, Sixo, pondering over whether their first owner, Mr. Gardner, was “naming what he saw or creating what he did not”(125). Elaborating, Paul D. is left wondering over who got to decide who had the ultimate right to decide whether he was a man or not. Was it Paul D. himself, as an individual, that got to decide? Or was it Mr. Gardner- and later the schoolteacher-that got the right for being his owners? Falling more into his reminiscing, Paul D. is also led to remembering his own price as a slave and wondering on how much the other prior slaves in this novel, like Sethe, the protagonist, was worth. “More than nine hundred dollars? How much more? Ten dollars? Twenty?”(130) Overall, this showed how Paul D.’s time as a slave has left a negative psychological impact, with him questioning his manhood, and more importantly, his value and place as a human being.

Morrison describes countless instances of abuse and terror that ran rampant during the era of slavery in America. Sethe and her friends and family both witness and experience the atrocious institutionalized wrongs and unethical societal norms of slave culture. An example of how destructive the experiences of slavery were for the characters is the metaphorical replacement of Paul D’s heart with a rusted tobacco tin. Morrison explains how slavery destroyed Paul D’s ability to love and express himself, “Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from. He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut” (Morrison 86). Slave owners, Mr. Garner and Schoolteacher, reduced Paul D to a worker without a heart. Paul D escapes Sweet Home, but he subsequently suffers jail time and further mistreatment. At 124 Bluestone Road, however, Paul D starts to reconnect with his emotions. After he sleeps with Beloved, “... he didn’t hear the whisper that the flakes of rust made either as they fell away from the seams of his tobacco tin. So when the lid gave he didn’t know it … He was saying, ‘Red heart. Red Heart,’ over and over again” (138). Beloved serves as another escape for Paul D, restoring his heart and allowing him to love again.