Beloved is a spooky read. There are many supernatural elements in the novel and the book and many of its characters are haunted. They are haunted by their pasts and the decisions that they have made; literally.
As we are now aware of, Sethe has murdered her baby. She killed her child to stop Schoolteacher from bringing the baby back to Sweethome. This shows how much pure hatred Sethe has for her slavery-ridden past. She would rather kill her own child than have them endure the pain of slavery. Sethe believes that being dead is better than being in a place like Sweethome. She thinks it is better to have no future than to go back into the past — her dark and vile past.
Sethe and her family are haunted in their house, 124. The town knows of the haunting but also of the wicked past of the family. The family is being haunted by a ghost who is causing many physical disturbances to the family such as hurting the dog, moving objects, and breaking things. We can infer that this supernatural force is the Sethe's murdered baby, possibly seeking revenge (??).
Paul D, a man who Sethe knows from Sweethome, begins to live with the family. During the beginning of his stay, things were not looking very up for Paul D. Many odd occurrences were happening to him and even Denver, Sethe's daughter, disliked him. One day, Paul D takes the family out to the carnival and here the family feels like this setup could possibly work out. They think that this could work out in the future and this is shown when it looks like they are holding hands. But once they get home, there is this woman. Beloved. She is the manifestation of Sethe's dead baby. Beloved is here to haunt the family and not have them progress into the future but drag them back into their pasts.
While Beloved is with the family, everyone becomes more haunted by their pasts, especially Sethe and Paul D. Sethe now finds out new information on her husband, Halle, that she did not know. She now reopens her whole understanding of her husband and what type of person he truly was. A Beloved is seducing Paul D, his past begins to unravel as he does not know if he is a real man. His tin box is beginning to pry open because of Beloved. His past is being ripped out of its tin box so the world can see and so Paul D will have to deal with it again. Beloved is a character in the novel that is trying to unveil the past of the family and they will have to deal with the implications of their past. Sethe, Paul D, and Denver are all looking towards the future and a better life but Beloved, their past, is haunting them.
As we are now aware of, Sethe has murdered her baby. She killed her child to stop Schoolteacher from bringing the baby back to Sweethome. This shows how much pure hatred Sethe has for her slavery-ridden past. She would rather kill her own child than have them endure the pain of slavery. Sethe believes that being dead is better than being in a place like Sweethome. She thinks it is better to have no future than to go back into the past — her dark and vile past.
Sethe and her family are haunted in their house, 124. The town knows of the haunting but also of the wicked past of the family. The family is being haunted by a ghost who is causing many physical disturbances to the family such as hurting the dog, moving objects, and breaking things. We can infer that this supernatural force is the Sethe's murdered baby, possibly seeking revenge (??).
Paul D, a man who Sethe knows from Sweethome, begins to live with the family. During the beginning of his stay, things were not looking very up for Paul D. Many odd occurrences were happening to him and even Denver, Sethe's daughter, disliked him. One day, Paul D takes the family out to the carnival and here the family feels like this setup could possibly work out. They think that this could work out in the future and this is shown when it looks like they are holding hands. But once they get home, there is this woman. Beloved. She is the manifestation of Sethe's dead baby. Beloved is here to haunt the family and not have them progress into the future but drag them back into their pasts.
While Beloved is with the family, everyone becomes more haunted by their pasts, especially Sethe and Paul D. Sethe now finds out new information on her husband, Halle, that she did not know. She now reopens her whole understanding of her husband and what type of person he truly was. A Beloved is seducing Paul D, his past begins to unravel as he does not know if he is a real man. His tin box is beginning to pry open because of Beloved. His past is being ripped out of its tin box so the world can see and so Paul D will have to deal with it again. Beloved is a character in the novel that is trying to unveil the past of the family and they will have to deal with the implications of their past. Sethe, Paul D, and Denver are all looking towards the future and a better life but Beloved, their past, is haunting them.
In Beloved, Sethe and Denver seemed to relish living in the past, especially Sethe. We know that she came from Sweet Home, a horrific place, and we would assume she doesn't want to remember anything from it. Yet, she brought it up several times throughout the book. Furthemore, Beloved herself is the chain that is holding Sethe to the past. Sethe has to continuously try to convince Beloved why she had to do what she did. Denver was also on that same train for a while, but I think she eventually realizes this and broke free of the Beloved's chain. As evident in the last few chapters, Denver would finally leave 124, leave the past behind, and move on with her life.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the concept of rememory makes this novel that much more interesting. Its basically PTSD of the past she so desperately wants to forget. She made a choice, a choice she knew she would have to live by for the rest of her life, and in the moment took it knowing she did the right thing. However, as soon as Beloved ghost shows up, its almost like she loses her head and forgets how sure she felt of making the choice to kill her. I feel like that's what allowed the ghost to get as powerful as it got. Good post!
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