Toni Morrison - Beloved
Toni Morrison's novel "Beloved" is set in a time when slavery was supposed to be finished and over with after the Civil War. The newly freed slaves were depending on the Constitution to give them the rights that every man is born with, but daily life for the ex-slaves continued to be a struggle. This is the case for the main character of the story, Sethe, who had to confront the demons of her past. In 124 Bluestone Road Sethe and Denver are haunted by the ghost of her baby daughter whom she killed in an act of love and mercy. Sethe, unwilling to take abuse from School Teacher, decides to runaway from Sweet Home with the rest of her family. When confronted with the reality that they may be caught, she takes the life of her two-year-old daughter to prevent a life of slavery and injustice for her child. The baby ghost prevents Sethe and Denver to have any friends but the ghost itself. This changes when an acquaintance of Sethe's comes to 124. Morrison uses Paul D. as a tool to get a fee
During these flashbacks, Morrison never lets the reader know too much. We learn of past events by flashbacks of the main characters and this sometimes creates confusion for the reader. Sethe loves Beloved so much and maybe feels guilt for her actions so Beloved is able to dictate her mother's life. Other questions also begin to surface towards the ending because the ending doesn't seem to be definite. Slavery is the main topic behind this novel. We are forced to wonder what will happen to the people who live in 124 Bluestone Road, especially Denver because she surprisingly changed her attitude and swallowed any pride she had to ask others for help. Beloved comes as a young runaway slave and is offered shelter with Sethe. A touch of the supernatural is evident with the flesh and blood reincarnation of the baby ghost in Beloved. The characters in the story don't question whether the ghost is real or not because they all believe in ghosts. He becomes a major factor in forcing Sethe to talk about events of her past. Morrison is able to describe the physical and emotional horror that many endured during that time. Morrison is careful to not stereotype all the white people as bad people. Throughout out the novel, readers are introduced to different sides of how white people felt about slavery. It isn't until towards the end of the novel where some of the questions start to get answered.
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Acceptance Essays
