The Historical Trauma of Slavery in the Film Version of Toni Morrison's Beloved

Toni Morrison’s Beloved was not intended to stand alone as a story and novel; a standalone novel iswill be relevant, meaningful, effective and moving regardless of anything going on outside the world that the author has created. Beloved does not stand alone because it doesn’t render the world outside the novel unimportant; it is so integrated into the context of its time period and the one we live in now that to separate the book from its surroundings would be counterintuitive, and the primary message Morrison intended to convey through the story would be lost.

In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the Black literature author touches upon tough subjects such as slavery, the affects of slavery, and the cruelty that is brought by it. For a person to be cruel, they commit inhumane crimes against a victim or victims that ultimately dehumanizes them. This concept displays itself several times throughout the novel, depicted through the characters that represent not only the "sixty million and more," but also the broken system of a slavery-ruled society, effectively showing the affects of such heinous crimes. In Beloved, the community commits cruel acts to characters such as Paul D, Denver, and Sethe, prompting them to act cruely themselves.

Robert A. Rosenstone certainly has a critical eye for films based on historic people and events. He captures the spirit of various discussions we’ve had in our Film As Social History class over the course of the semester. In an excerpt from his book, Visions of the Past, he critically examines historical film, and how its dramatic representations of the past shape our own perceptions. Some points of particular interest included exaggerated history films being more engaging than factually based ones, films can focus on groups as opposed to individuals, and sensory and emotional emphasis in films, “...altering our very sense of the past,” (Rosenstone, Excerpt Pg. 2). Inherit the Wind, Norma Rae, and Good Night, and Good Luck all provide evidence for and against Rosenstone’s perspective.

The film is also considered by writers including Bell Hooks a “new political film of intervention”. But to critics of Hollywood it’s considered a “soft” “character drama” film. How can a

Slavery is one of the ugliest scars in human history not physically nut mentally, it destroys a persons life forever. In the novel “Beloved” by Toni Morrison a family of ex-slaves african americans struggle to move on with life, after escaping slavery. Despite the fact that Sethe, the main character, and her family were now called “free people” they could not escape their own horrible past. The memories, the trauma and the presence of Beloved, a real girl and ghost, haunting her and her family would make them relived their past and won't let Sethe and her family go forward with their lives. “Beloved” is not just a story of girl and ghost in a stranger nobel but it also symbolizes those millions of slaves and their lost stories and their lost

Their version of the criteria causes them to dislike the film and write negative reviews. James Berardinelli claims, “The characters are one-dimensional” (para. 5). His criterion might be slightly different which causes his view of the character to be different from the view taken in this evaluation. Since he has a different point of view it doesn’t mean that the film was terrible, it just means that unique person does not like the movie because of his set of criteria. Berardinelli also says that, “Melissa McCarthy is a lousy lead actress, and is better seen briefly” (“The Internet Movie Database”). This couldn’t be farther from the truth, because his view on the movie was of a person who cares too much about the person playing that part, and less about the details of the film. There are a lot of good movies that have the same actors, but the parts are better suited for those actors. Dealer has a different perspective on why he thinks the movie is bad. Clint O’Connor states, “Who could have guessed that the funniest thing in a Melissa McCarthy movie would be Jason Statham” (Dealer, para.1). There seems to be nothing stating why the author doesn’t like the movie, they mainly focus on the people in the movie, and not the details of the movie. One reason the actors were not a criterion in this evaluation is because they act what is given to them

In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison develops character Beloved as an allegorical figure to embody slavery’s horrific past and the lasting impact that unresolved past trauma has upon the present. Morrison develops the character Beloved to represent all the unremembered and untold stories of slavery and to further the message that we must maintain a collective memory of slavery in order to pursue a hopeful future. Morrison develops Beloved as a character through her interactions with other characters in the novel and they way in which they interact with their past trauma. In Lina Krumholz’s The Ghosts of Slavery: Historical Recovery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, she comments on Morrison’s construction of a parallel between individual and community memories and the nature of history making as a healing process. Krumholz’s argues that the individual memories of the characters of the novel function as collective memories as well, just as slavery does in our history. It is both deeply personal while being a collective experience, the importance of community and of confrontation of the past therefore presents itself as the theme that Morrison hopes to further. Morrison therefore forms the tragedy of slavery into something that can be manageably remembered and able to handle, while also setting the tone for an optimistic future in the face of this rememory.

The film received a warm reception from critics. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that the

Toni Morrison defines her writing as a kind of literary archaeology which relies on memory, history and autobiography. How does her literary practice reflect a postcolonial sensitivity?

Since the 17th century, there has been a practice of bondage that was involuntary to others. This practice is most commonly known as slavery. White men thought it was acceptable to purchase African American men and women and make them do whatever they wanted. African Americans did not have a say nor could they speak up for themselves. They had no rights like white men did.

Racism has been a part of the world's landscape for centuries. Despite the progress of society, inequality has still manifested its way into today's population. The detrimental effects of racism are not limited to simply the survivors themselves; they continue to influence the lives of families for future generations. Inequality has a lasting legacy. This idea is represented well in Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Each novel examines the legacy of inequality, and racism haunts each novels characters. The destruction of identity, the backdrop of social injustice, and separation of families can all be displayed in both texts.

Toni Morrison’s 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved is clearly a work of well deserved literary acclaim. It has been hailed as one of the most revolutionary, poetic, and poignant pieces of modern American literature. The work is characterized by it’s portrayal of the “Slave Narrative” and follows the strife of former slave and mother: Sethe as she is tormented by the memories of her past, the haunting of her home, and the appearance of this enigmatic woman who is dubbed Beloved. The work as a piece of literature is truly genius but, is it a good representation of Post-Civil War America from the perspective of a former slave? Before that question can be answered the work

Until its abolition , slavery made it legal to own another human being. Families were torn apart, millions had their unalienable rights stripped down to nothing, and black children were sold almost at birth. Beloved, by Toni Morrison, delves deep into the many dark facets of slavery. Through the main character (Sethe’s) experiences both in slavery, and in freedom, the reader learns firsthand what it was like for the slaves at Sweethome, and the lengths Sethe would go through to insure her family's departure from slavery altogether. Most of all, Morrison demonstrates how through dehumanization of Sethe, Paul D, and Halle, slavery caused the main characters to lose the connection with who they truly were before experiencing slavery. Whether evaluating Paul D’s tin can heart, the way Sethe closed herself off from other people, or the events that caused Halle to smear butter on his face, it is clear that slavery induced major psychological changes in the main characters of Morrison’s shady tale.

Harriet Tubman declared, “Now I've been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave” (Harriet Tubman Quotes). In the novel Beloved, the dehumanizing elements of slavery affect the characters in every aspect of their lives. Toni Morrison paints the picture of slavery in a realistic frame. In her foreword she explains she wanted to throw the readers into chaos to simulate the real effects of racism and slavery (Morrison XIX). Throughout the story, readers get a brutal taste of how slavery was. They juggle the possibility of a moral fuzziness within the grey areas of slavery, and the consequences of cruelty on a

Imagine being chained, being forced to live in a different place and having no freedom. In the United States, slavery went on for years; causing many horrific effects on people. Toni Morrison explores the topic of slavery in her book through the characters of Sethe and Paul D. In the story Beloved, Sethe and Paul D are former slaves who suffers in a place called Home Sweet. They both escaped slavery, but are still trying to live a new, free life, but their past isn’t allowing them too. All of Sethe’s devastating memories continue to go on in her mind which lead her in the attempt of the murder of her children, Beloved and Denver. Although, it turns out she is only able to kill Beloved. But later on, Beloved comes back to revenge on Sethe for her actions. Toni Morrison uses conflict, character development and symbolism to show that slavery continues to haunt those who are former slaves even when they’re free.