What is Beloved's Purpose?
The character of Beloved in Toni Morrison's Beloved is extremely complex. Her mysterious appearance at 124 Bluestone Road causes a lot of confusion for Sethe, Denver, and Paul D, but they take her in and she starts living there. However, they soon begin to notice that she isn't acting like a normal woman. She has similar characteristics to the Baby Ghost that has been haunting the house for years and Denver immediately notices the resemblance. Beloved cannot hold up her neck properly and she has weak legs and translucent skin that is ghost-like. At first, it seems like Beloved is there for a more intense version of haunting but as the book progresses, it is clear that she has a bigger purpose.
As Beloved continues to live with Sethe, she brings back memories of the things Sethe did while in slavery. Beloved represents the trauma that Sethe now has due to her experiences as a slave. For example, Sethe killed her two-year-old daughter and her two other children to save them from slavery. She was also sexually assaulted by Schoolteacher and other white people around her. Beloved's arrival disrupts Sethe and her family's daily life but eventually, she is what starts Sethe's healing process. She thinks back on her experience while escaping slavery and she revisits the guilt that she has for killing her children. This is important because it allows Sethe to forgive herself even though her past causes her problems with Paul D.
Beloved's character also highlights Sethe's motherly instincts. She clearly cares a lot about her children even though her way of protecting them ends up with them being dead. She was so against the idea of having her children live in slavery that she does everything in her power to make sure they don't have to go through what she had to deal with. Sethe taking Beloved in also shows her natural inclination to take care of people and this is especially apparent when Sethe realizes that Beloved is a physical representation of her dead baby. She immediately embraces Beloved and she forms a deeper relationship with her to compensate for lost time. This is shown when she tells her stories and
Ultimately, Beloved forces Sethe to revisit the most uncomfortable parts of her past and this is hard for her but by the end of the book she starts healing from her trauma. She also rebuilds her relationship with Paul D as Beloved leaves and doesn't return. Beloved's leaving after Sethe tells Paul D about what happened in the shed shows how Beloved's purpose was to help Sethe heal from her trauma. Even though Paul D is left unsettled by the information he learns, it helps Sethe come to terms with the events and heal from them.
Beloved's character made others in the book grow throughout their interactions with her. Beloved caused Sethe to spiral towards the end of the book which forced Denver into the world, eventually leading to Sethe and Paul D. reuniting once more. Without Beloved coming into their lives the other members that resided in 124 may never have worked through their trauma and gotten to the point that they did at the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteToni Morrison in Beloved plays with this idea of truly "confronting your past" as she does this by introducing the character Beloved. This mystical character in my opinion tests Sethe to see if she is able to let go of the past or become chained by it. Beloved does this test by directly representing the past of Sethe's life. Overall I think your analysis is great and this is a good post!
ReplyDeleteIf we follow through on the idea that, despite her quasi-adult-looking physical appearance and height, Beloved has the mentality and psychology of a two-year-old, it might be the case that SHE doesn't necessarily know what she "wants" out of this return to Sethe and 124. In her own account, she seems to be following a kind of instinct, a toddler's impulse to find her mother, and she does desperately want some sign of love or affection or attention from Sethe. But the idea that she has "plans" (as Denver seems to think early on) is hard to square with the chaotic and improvisational way she behaves among this family. Her manipulations of her mother, sister, and (virtual) stepfather are analogous to the ways that babies manipulate adults to do what they want and get what they need. Once Beloved starts to virtually "consume" Sethe, we see the "baby" as more of a parasite of sorts, where the figurative "milk" that Sethe can deliver to her baby starts to sap her own life-force.
ReplyDeleteWith an "adult ghost," it's easier to see what its "plans" might be, or what its "haunting" means to the people being haunted (e.g. Jacob Marley's ghost in _A Christmas Carol_). With Beloved we get the fascinating and eerie phenomenon of a "baby ghost," whose emotions are unregulated and whose intentions are not clear at all.
I also think the Morrison's description of Beloved coming to "haunt" the characters of 124 illustrates a necessity to processing the past. When Paul D comes and introduces the idea of a future, taking Denver out of the house for the first time and encouraging a new start, Beloved (a physical representation of the past) appears in the backyard. Morrison intended meaning in this timing, showing an importance of moving on, but only once you have accepted, or at least acknowledged, the past. The trauma will never fully resolve, but overcoming the trauma is essential and you owe it to yourself and the people from the past. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting to make Beloved an adult. It has this sort of contradiction with rememory; it gives us the impression that memories and the past also age. In rememory, we're shown that no matter now much time passes, the memory of that place stays intact, trapped in a moment in time just as it was years ago. But Beloved is different. She was killed as an infant, and yet she comes back as an adult--she has quite literally aged. Beloved demonstrates that memories and the past change over time; they're not set in stone.
ReplyDeletenice post!
DeleteI like how you note that Beloved is a physical manifestation of Sethe's trauma. Beloved helps Sethe recover from her trauma from slavery and from Schoolteacher, and she helps Sethe open up to those around her. I think an interesting question would be why Beloved showed up when she did, not earlier or later -- just as Paul D appeared at 124. Very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw that the book would have some fantasy elements, I was initially confused as to how that could intertwine with a book based in a real part of history. Toni Morrison's approach to incorporating Beloved into the storyline really surpassed my expectations, and rather than some haunting spirit as I assumed she would be, she represented so much more that I could've imagined. I found it interesting that, while I'd assume a ghost to be something scary, it ended up helping Sethe in healing her past trauma.
ReplyDeleteBeloved is such a powerful representation of Sethe's trauma, forcing her to re-confront her past, but also allowing her to heal... but while Beloved represent the past and allows healing, I also think a part of her is to show an alternative future -- the sweet ice skating scenes and late night honey-milk -- allowing Sethe to live some of those stolen experiences.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that beloved is just an extension of the concept of rememory: Sethe's tormented past coming back physically to haunt her and everyone around her. After all, Beloved (we assume) starts out as the vengeful ghost in the home, constantly reminding Sethe of her choice before she manifests and forces her to see it face to face.
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