Psychological Effects as a Res

             A dynamic representation of African American literature that is filled with frightening tragedy, Toni Morrison's novel Beloved represents a fictional work based upon a historical matter, slavery. Sethe, the story's African American protagonist, finds herself yearning to overcome the oppressed society as a freed slave as she remains continuously haunted by a "ghost." Critics conclude that it is the social conditions of the slavery system, which Morrison portrays in the novel, that allude to the overall ominous message of the narrative and create a sense of imbalance amongst the characters and their roles in society. Many critics, including Barbara Schapiro, Stanley Crouch, and Carole Iannone, delve into these underlying psychological and emotional elements of slavery as caused by the social conditions. Schapiro focuses on the interconnection of social and intrapsychic reality. Crouch focuses on women's roles in the black society. Iannone addresses the effects of being owned.
             Barbara Schapiro states in "The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's Beloved" that "[The novel] penetrates [...] the unconscious emotional and psychic consequences of slavery" (303). She explains of the external justifications of society create the internal repercussions of an individual. Sethe has experienced the effects of slavery, even though she is now a freed slave. Because of this emotional longing to become free from the conformities of African American slavery, Sethe herself is affected internally, feeling subjected by her own social environment. However, even after she is freed from the bondage of slavery, "the self will sill be trapped in an inner world that prevents a genuine experience of freedom" (303). Physically, Sethe is a free woman but she seems unable to claim ownership of her own freedom, leaving herself to remain psychologically bonded to this falsit...

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Psychological Effects as a Res. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:39, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/19629.html