Toni Morrison’s book Beloved Essay Example

inner thoughts of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved, with Beloved's section written in an unpunctuated stream of consciousness style to reflect her childlike perspective. The timeless quality of the prose and the gaps on the page convey Beloved's gaps in experience as she fills baskets and opens grass, hindered only by the clouds in her way.

Toni Morrison uses Beloved as a symbol for all those who were lost and forgotten13, adding even more complexity to an already intricate text. Through Beloved's internal thoughts, readers are transported to the ships that transported slaves from their homes, where they faced unimaginable conditions14. Beloved represents those who never made it and whose stories are no longer remembered. She appears in different forms throughout the novel, such as a ghost and as a physical twenty-year-old girl, and is remembered through the memory of a two-year-old child who died by her mother's hand15. The use of Beloved adds depth and significance to Morrison's narrative.

The difficulty in categorizing Toni Morrison's "Beloved" stems from the ambiguous portrayal of Beloved's identity - is she a pitiful victim of slavery, an malevolent spirit, or possibly both? The supernatural elements in the book contradict its realist qualities, but it is based on the true story of Mary Garner, a slave who killed her child to avoid returning to slavery. This inability to speak about certain things is also illustrated in Sethe's scars, which are described as decorative work by Paul D, a choketree by Amy, and roses of blood by Baby Suggs. Morrison portrays the pain and suppression of a culture faced with unbearable trauma by showing the reality of Sethe's disfigurement. She does not shy

away from the truth and forces the reader to confront it.Despite the time gap of 8 years after slavery, the novel focuses extensively on the subject of slavery, particularly during that period. The disorderly state depicted in the story highlights the damaging impact that slavery had, affecting not just those who were enslaved but also the slave owners. It also underscores that although slavery came to an end, it did not entirely rectify all the injustices prevalent during that time.

In Beloved, Toni Morrison highlights how the past continues to influence the present, leaving characters unable to escape its grasp or the long-lasting effects of slavery, even after its abolition. The novel presents a suspenseful narrative that captures the reader's attention while attempting to uncover the full extent of the horrors that took place. This is complicated by Sethe's desire to forget or "disremember" her traumatic experiences. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how deeply ingrained the effects of slavery are on individuals and society as a whole.

According to Linden Peach, the novel's underlying text is concealed beneath the surface narrative and must be recovered by the reader, just as Sethe must reclaim it to comprehend the story's main events. Additionally, Toni Morrison deliberately withholds information about Halle's character, allowing the reader to know him without actually meeting him, thereby contributing to the story's communication. The book's characters, like the reader, also feel the absence of Halle, who is omitted from the novel. At the conclusion of the novel, Morrison uses a cryptic ending to remind readers that slavery did not end happily, while also hinting at a conventional happy ending by depicting Denver venturing out into

the world and Paul D asking to share his story with Sethe.

Toni Morrison purposely leaves the reader with an unresolved conclusion to demonstrate that there was no tidy resolution to slavery for those who suffered. As she states, "The paradox of how to live in the present without cancelling out an excrutiatingly painful past remains unresolved at the end of the novel" (26). The uncertain statement, "It was not a story to pass on" (27), can be interpreted in two ways. It could indicate that the story should be disregarded and forgotten or that it should be remembered and not dismissed lightly. In a story about slavery, the message is clear: it is too agonizing to retain, yet too vital to disregard. Through Beloved, Morrison incorporates both of these meanings and allows "slavery accessible to readers for whom slavery is not a memory, but a remote historical fact to be ignored, repressed or forgotten" (28).