Beloved
In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the core is made up of happenings in order to show how hard a time it was. Letting the memories go would be either very hard, or very easy. The main character, Sethe, has problems with life because she has no concept of time, and cannot grasp reality. At many times flashbacks cause her to abandon present responsibility, leaving her flustered and unable to move on. The woman named Beloved represents a time in Sethe's life that she needs to forget, and Beloved's return makes it impossible for Sethe to continue with life. With an unfinished relationship with her husband, the possibility of what might happen is another thing holding Sethe back. In Sethe's case, it is experiences in the past that provide a significant basis for explaining her rough attitude towards life. From the beginning the story rides on memories that seem confusing, but begin to piece together as it goes on. Not only is it an effective style, but it also portrays how hard it is to forget the past. One of Sethe's first memories is the pain she suffers during her pregnancy and birth of the only child she still has. The memory ends with: "Anything dead coming back to life hurts"(55), which is a line her friend says about her swollen
Anything and everything is holding Sethe back, and her future, her daughter's future, is at risk. Sethe subtly reveals that she after 18 years, still hopes her husband will return to her. Sethe learned the profound satisfaction Beloved got from storytelling. Sethe was out in the clearing of her house, and was remembering when she first arrived at that house after a hard hurting time traveling. Beloved's presence keeps Sethe at the bad state she is in as well as stopping her from moving past that state. This one line represents a lot about her trying to come back to life after so many hurting years. Beloved is making Sethe tell her stories about the past, which is making it impossible for Sethe to move on. Sethe realizes her inability to live normally and finds it hard to change in any way. Although it helps on some level, it really just makes her want to know more. We got more yesterday more than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow" (273). "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another"(88).
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