Overview: Toni Morrison on the writing process and inception of
Beloved, stated, ''I was amazed by this story I came across about a woman called Margaret Garner who had escaped from Kentucky, I think, into Cincinnati with four children; and she was a kind of cause celebre among abolitionists in 1855 or '56…I found an article about her in a magazine of the period, and there was this young woman in her 20's, being interviewed - oh, a lot of people interviewed her, mostly preachers and journalists, and she was very calm, she was very serene. They kept remarking on the fact that she was not frothing at the mouth, she was not a madwoman, and she kept saying, 'No, they're not going to live like that. They will not live the way I have lived.’ A desire to invent. Now I didn't do any more research at all about that story. I did a lot of research about everything else in the book - Cincinnati, and abolitionists, and the underground railroad - but I refused to find out anything else about Margaret Garner. I really wanted to invent her life."
Directions: Read
Beloved, pages 1-33. Next, compose a blog response using the names or symbolic moments below as the catalyst for your analysis on the reading. Please use direct evidence from the text and respond to each other. Get a conversation going. I look forward to your responses.
Characters
- Sethe
- Paul D
- Baby Suggs
- Howard and Buglar
- Denver
- Beloved
- Halle
- Sixo
- Paul A and Paul F
- Amy Denver
- Mr. Garner
- Mrs. Garner
- Schoolteacher
- Sethe’s mother
Symbolic Moments
- 124
- Ten minutes for seven letters.
- Chokecherry tree.
- “They took my milk.”
- Tobaco tin.
- Brother. According to Paul D, why is it better than Sethe’s?
- Cornfield. How loose the silk….. How jailed down the juice….
What really stood out to me in the first 33 pages is the symbolic moment "They took milk." In this context, milk is a symbol of nourishment for Sethe's daughter. Being a runaway slave, there is not much Sethe can do for her daughter, but one of the few things she can do is give her daughter her milk. When Sethe says "Anybody could smell me long before he saw me. And when he saw me he'd see the drops of it on the front of my dress. Nothing I could do about that. All I knew was I had to get my milk to my baby girl," it shows her devotion to providing her daughter with all that she could provide, even at great embarrassment to herself. Yet, even with this determination, she is unable to provide her daughter with the nourishment she needs, for soon after she sends her daughter off, with the promise that she and her milk would join her in a few days, some boys came and took her milk. Sethe is not even concerned about them beating her with cowhide while she is pregnant, or beating her back so hard it opened up and left a scar. She is only concerned that they stripped her of her ability to provide nourishment for her baby. I thought this was symbolic of slaveowners' stripping away of slaves' ability to do anything for their children. In the first 33 pages, Morrison describes how parents usually aren't even able to have a say in where they live, as they are often sold away without any concern for the parents' desire to raise them themselves and protect them as much as they could. In slavery, "men and women were moved around like checkers...nobody stopped playing checkers just because the pieces included her children."
ReplyDeleteI like how you spoke about the dedication Sethe had for providing her daughter with everything she could. Even under such terrible conditions Sethe's priority was still her daughter and caring for her, which I thought you demonstrated very well. I also thought the connection to the idea of slave owners' stripping away slave' ability to do anything for their children was an important one to note as it will most likely reoccur throughout the book.
DeleteOne thing I thought interesting when reading the first 33 pages of Beloved was the chokecherry tree moment. Sethe tells Paul D, “I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms.” Paul D then asks, “is there something growing on your back? I don't see nothing growing on your back,” to which Sethe responds with, “it’s there all the same.” Although there is not something physically growing on her back, one understands that the “tree” represents something of importance. The chokecherry tree is actually a bunch of scars on her back from when some boys had beaten her and took her milk while she was pregnant. I found it interesting that these scars, made from a traumatic and horrible encounter, were compared to a tree. A tree is often a symbol of growth and strength, which corresponds with Sethe’s journey. Eighteen years ago she endured torture and lost her milk, but continued on to provide everything she could for her daughter. She was able to create a home for herself and Denver, despite the trauma of that day, which represents the strength and growth that the tree symbolizes.
ReplyDeleteSusan Matteucci
DeleteI like how you connected a tree's symbolism of life and growth to her scars. I thought it could also represent being rooted to one spot. At Sweet Home, Paul D and the other guys sat under this tree. This is one of the major spots at Sweet Home. Maybe the chokecherry tree roots her to that place, like the tree Paul D sat under. It keeps her connected to Sweet Home.
I also enjoyed that you connected this reference to her own development. When I first read this part in the novel, I was confused by what the "tree" meant— it wasn't until I read about her traumatic experience until it made sense. I think that the tree, a physical scar, has also created a mental scar for her.
DeleteI really liked how you connected the tree to growth-it was a perspective I hadn't even considered. I think that scene overall was so negative, with her being beaten when she was pregnant, and having a scar left over, that I hadn't even been able to consider any positive symbolism. I liked how you were able to look past the initial shock of her traumatic experience and find a hidden meaning to the tree on her back.
DeleteSusan Matteucci
ReplyDeleteEvery generation in that is shown in these two chapters faces hardships that wear them down. Each generation has it better than the one before them. Baby Suggs was the oldest character in the first two chapters. She lived a life where “men and women were moved around like checkers. Anyone Baby Suggs had ever knew, let alone anyone she loved, who hadn’t run off or been hanged, got rented out, loaned out, bought up, brought back, stored up, mortgaged, won, stolen or seized” (27-28). This checker game continued with her children, and Baby Suggs had to live through “hearing that her two girls, neither of whom had adult teeth, were sold and gone and she had not been able to say goodbye… to find herself pregnant by the man who promised not to and did. That child she could not love and the rest she would not” (28). She finally had halle, the last of eight children, “who gave her freedom when it didn’t mean a thing” (28).
In many ways, Sethe’s life was better than Baby Suggs. Sethe had “the amazing luck of six whole years of marriage to that ‘somebody’ son who fathered every one of her children” (28). She also escaped slavery when she was young and still had a life in front of her. Sethe’s life, however, had a life that was full of challenges and hardships. She lost a two year old child and the child's memory and the sadness she feels still haunts her. She also had a her fair share of time as a slave, once having her milk stolen, and with it her title as a mother, and then whipped while she was pregnant. The whipping created a scar on her back that she calls a chokecherry tree. She acknowledges the hardship of her life, saying, “I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms” (18). Her two sons left her house because of the phantom of sadness she carries with her, Baby Suggs died, her daughter Denver is all that remains with her.
Denver does not have a good life either. She admires her mother as the “woman who never looked away, when a man got stomped to death by a mare in front of Sawyer’s restaurant did not look away...” (16). Denver cries when her mother has an old vister from Sweet Home, where she used to be a slave. Denver has a phantom too, but it is one of loneliness. She cannot understand her mother’s life because she was never a slave. None of the people she talks to, the children her own age, have this phantom in their house. They do not understand what slavery did to her mother, and Denver cries out “I can’t live here no more, I can’t live here no more,” (17). Her mother tells her that it’s just the house, but Denver insists it’s not. “It’s us! It’s you!” (17). Denver is trapped between two worlds. The world her mother lives in, where she is tormented the unknown spirit of racism, and the world without her mother, where no one understands her.
Each of these women have a life slightly better than the last, but does that make the hardships they face any less worthy? Just because Denver will never know what slavery is like, does that make the alienation she feels any less important and real? Sethe had all her children with the same man, and none of them were sold away, but she still lost all but one, just like Baby Suggs. One died, and two ran from the Phantom that haunts her. Denver was never a slave, but she is still less than those around her. Paul D acknowledges that “it’s hard for a young girl living in a haunted house. That can’t be easy” (17), Sethe replies, “It’s easier than some other things” (17). There is no remorse for Denver. Just like Baby Suggs had no pity for Sethe and her phantom. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have pain that deserves recognition.
I liked the connection you made between Baby Suggs' dismissal of Sethe's pain, and Sethe's dismissal of Denver's pain and thought it was interesting how this strikes a kind of inverse from the other things we have discussed in class. So far, we've been talking about racism, and the denial of it, in which whites, who've had easier lives than blacks, are dismissive of the hardships that blacks faced because whites have never had to face them. In this scenario, however, the older generations, who have had harder lives than younger generations, are dismissive of the hardships that younger generations face, because compared to the hardships they've faced, the hardships of younger generations seem like nothing. They both have the same effect, but they stem from completely opposite reasons.
DeleteToni Morrison uses the scars on Sethe’s back to illustrate the dehumanizing years she endured as a slave. The scars work as a metaphor for the way that past tragedies can be “haunting” or “scarring” us for life. The tree shape the scars form symbolize Sethe’s incomplete family tree. This interpretation of Sethe’s ugly scars on her back resemble a “chokecherry tree” which is said when Sethe tells Paul D, “I got a tree on my back." There is a transformation of pain and oppression into one of survival by Paul D. It restores the power to Sethe and eliminates the painful memory. Sethe’s marks become a beautiful symbol. It is when Paul D kisses them, he reinforces this more positive interpretation.
ReplyDeleteExcellent job connecting the "chokecherry tree" as a metaphor for her incomplete family tree— that was very intriguing to me. I enjoy that one can have many interpretations of this. There is an obvious change to the dynamic in the novel once this part is mentioned, and it definitely appears parallel to Sethe's sensitivity on this topic. It allows the audience to infer the importance of this contextual symbol.
DeleteI really like how you discussed what Sethe's scars mean in your blog response because I thought it was a really important part of the story too. Scars are known to tell a story about you and to show what you have been through or where you have come from. They can range from all different types of stories but in Sethe's case, they show her troubled past. Sethe's scars, along with showing her past, are a metaphor for the pain that she has been through. Your connection to this fact and the Chokecherry tree show how Sethe's only family was destroyed, revealing a continuing theme throughout the novel.
DeleteIn the first 33 pages of Morrison’s Beloved, I was introduced to main characters; those related to Sethe and some from past memories at Sweet Home. Upon reading through the chapters, however, I realized that I had learned more about home 124 than any of the other figures. Morrison centers the story around this home, constantly drawing every piece of new information back to it. The varying perspectives of this home is strongly revealed through these references, and we as the audience learn how each character symbolizes the house based on both their unique experiences and difficulties.
ReplyDeleteSethe, mother of Denver, prizes 124 and associates it as part of her identity— it is through all of the moments 124 has endured that she desires to hold onto. While reading through the narrative, we learn that Sethe has lost all of her children except one, “ … but she was down to one herself— one alive, that is,” (6) and that the house is haunted by her daughter who had passed away. Though loved ones urge her to move out and leave the haunting spirit, she persists and remains living in 124 as if the spirit is comforting and alleviates her lonesomeness. After losing almost her entire lineage, she holds onto the last bit of connections she has with family; it is these emotions that are strong enough to overrule even the greatest of fear.
Denver, Sethe’s daughter, perceives 124 rather differently. She is afraid that the house has influenced more than just her personal life but her social life, “Nobody speaks to us. Nobody comes by. Boys don’t like me. Girls don’t either” (17). Denver “can’t live here,” because it has affected parts of her life out of her control. Denver is unable to empathize with her mother as her sibling’s death is too difficult for her to imagine— unable to have been there for her loss has created difficulties for Denver to connect with her mother the same way. It is interesting to see the difference in dynamic that 124 sets between these two main characters, though close by a mother-daughter relationship.
I believe that the home reveals to us a variety of major characteristic background, information we would have missed by just reading plain descriptions. 124 is very telling of each characters priorities, emotional connections, and stories. I am eager to see how Beloved will unfold by chapter, and if 124 reveals more about each figure’s identity as we continue reading.
I completely agree with your ananlysis, and it got me thinking that maybe 124 is a metaphor for Sethe's grief over the death of her daughter. Everyone around her believes that Sethe should move on from the death of her daughter, but Sethe's love for her daughter is so strong ("'For a baby she throws a powerful spell,' said Denver. 'No more powerful than the way I loved her,' Sethe answered.") that she is unable to move on. In fact, even the word move used here could have a double meaning-people tell Sethe to move from the house but move is also used as in to move on from an event. this symbolism would also match your analysis of Denver's reaction to the house. Denver doesn't have much connection to the baby, as she died before Denver could know her, but she does know that the dead baby has affected her life for the worse. She wants her mother to be rid of the grief she has for her daughter, and when she says "I can't no more. I can't no more... I can't live here. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I can't live here," she is saying that she can no longer partake in this sorrow for a girl she has never met, and has only known as the reason for her mother's sadness.
DeleteChokecherry Trees: ubiquitous to north America with their little purplish fruit with high concentrations of poisonous cyanide. It’s no wonder the scars of Sweet Home haunt Sethe, slowly poisoning her for the past which she can't escape. Sethe is a tree, standing strong with her “iron eyes and backbone to match.” Thus far, we know bits and pieces about how Sethe has come to live at 124 in Ohio, save the loss of her child, Beloved, and her many other family members and children. However, it’s the baby that haunts her, losing Beloved as a result of Sethe’s freedom causing her to never be free. There's the whole dynamic of the nights leading to her leaving-- having her “milk” taken and then being beaten for tattling. To me this was a clear nod to rape, yet in this case it wasn’t the rape that hurt her but the taking of something away from her child. Sethe seems not to care for her self, only for those who surround her. Yet, though her children and her husband have left her it’s not her fault if they are to live or die, while in Beloved’s case, Sethe still feels responsible for her dead baby’s woe. It’s interesting to the way Sethe has changed from her youth, Paul D says she’s softened and that she’s “not a tree, as she said. Maybe shaped like one, but nothing like any tree he knew because trees were inviting.” If you were to look up the Chokecherry Tree you learn that they are commonly plagued with a fungus that causes them to become disfigured and grow black knots. When reading about Sethe’s “tree” I got this same imagery-- disfigured and grotesque, the result of an illness not of the tree itself. I feel the sense that Sethe is unwell, that she is slowly losing her steel and growing her own black knots from the scars on her back. It is the remnants of slavery, sex and sacrifice that have left Sethe stuck free but imprisoned in the roots of her past.
ReplyDeleteWow! Great insight on your double metaphor— that was a very interesting perspective you had. I am also impressed that you went further into research to discover what exactly a Chokecherry Tree was and connected that with your thinking.
DeleteI found it effective how you first defined what a Chokecherry tree actually is. Your research truly adds another dimension to our understanding and insight of the novel. Not only does the actual Chokecherry tree have relevant parallels to real-life, but, by its definition, we can clearly see the connection to the life of Sethe and the dramatic hardship she encounters.
DeleteThe value a number has, outside of the mathematical sense, can be defined by what is lies behind it and what links it to another (i.e., a person, a place, etc.). In the case of Beloved, the beginning is no exception. Beginning with the words, "124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children." (pg. 1), the words instil a sense that something is vile esteemed about an individual who is at this point, a stranger to most. The fact that [we] do not even know whether or not if this 124 individual is even male or female, where or what they are and what do they look like, confirms the idea that a number can be a part of someone's identity. In another point, "124 was so full of strong feeling perhaps she was oblivious to the loss of anything at all." (pg. 19) prompts the idea that along with this identification, this character cannot feel loss although they are of strong feelings. He/She (whatever they may be), is someone who has the heart to care but is somehow ironically unable to recognise them. Adding to the already confusing identity, "So, kneeling in the keeping room the morning after Paul D came, she was distracted by the two orange squares that signaled how barren 124 really was. He was responsible for that. Emotions sped to the surface in his company. Things became what they were: drabness looked drab; heat was hot. Windows suddenly had view. And wouldn’t you know he’d be a singing man." (pg. 19) phrases 124 as not being feminine, but instead being more masculine depending on how the language can be interpreted. Either way, whatever 124 is, they are mysterious, seems to take on humanistic traits as well as emotions, but is ultimately shows (slight) signs of Alexithymia (the inability to recognise emotions and feelings in one's self), further adding confusion to an already disorienting fire.
ReplyDeleteI like how you think about the idea that in the beginning we weren't sure if 124 was a person or an object. I didn't even think about it like that but once I reread the first line, I began to see that was a very true point until you read further on and figured out it was a house.
DeleteThe moment in the novel that really stood out to me within the first 33 pages was the moment when Sethe gave, "Ten minutes for seven letters". This moment saddened me deeply.I think it is also over looked if you only read it once. This moment is a flash back and happens for a split second, when Sethe and Denver talked about the baby's "spell" that she casts on the house to which Sethe response with, " No more powerful than the way I loved her," (5). The whole moment shifts;showing just how deep her love for her dead child is. In order to show how deep her love for her child. She gave her body to the Engraver. Just ten minutes of sex for seven letters. Sethe then wonders "With another ten could she have gotten "Dearly" too?" She only wished to honor her child. Even contemplating "...it might have been possible-- that for twenty minutes, a half hour,say, she could have had the whole ting, every word she heard the preacher say...engraved on her baby's headstone"(5). The things mothers do for their children.
ReplyDeleteIt's also very sad to me that "Dearly Beloved" is all the preacher had to say at the child's funeral. That's about as brief a eulogy as one could possibly deliver. It's sad that there was nothing to be said for the lost child.
DeleteI felt that way too. But I also feel like because everyone knows what happened to her child due to the story the "..powerful spell.." it would be hard to say anything at all about the death of her child. Also what words can you say to a grieving mother who lost her child. There is a word for a child who loses their parent and a word for a wife who loses her husband, even a word for a husband who loses a wife. But there are no words for a mother(or father, family etc) who loses their child.
DeleteTrees are woven into the lives of both Sethe and Paul D. For Sethe, the remembrance of trees at Sweet Home linger, their beauty masking the hanging and horrors behind them. As the first chapter continues, Sethe’s connection to trees extend beyond her memory. She has a tree of her own, a Chokecherry tree branching out on her back, “a revolting clump of scars”(25). Sethe’s tree appalls Paul D. Like Sethe, Paul D found a similar beauty in the sycamore trees at Sweet Home. Not only was the beauty of those trees memorable to Paul D, but the sense of stability the trees, in particular Brother, provided. He believes that “Trees were inviting; things you could trust and be near; talk to if you wanted to as he frequently did since way back when he took the midday meal in the fields of Sweet Home”(25). Brother brings Paul D and the other boys to each other. Without Sethe there, they spend most of their time in the shade of Brother, “laughing, spitting, and giving [each other] advice”(25). Its where Paul D, Halle, and the other boys grew close to each other, sharing Sixo’s adventures and undercooked potatoes. Brother is trustworthy and inviting because its roots are based on the friendship between the Pauls, Sixo, and Halle. Sethe’s Chokecherry is rooted in the abuse she faced. There is no sense of comradery in the Chokecherry, only pain. As a result, while Paul D is beside Sethe, “the “tree” lying next to him didn’t compare”(26).
ReplyDeleteI like how you focus your blog response on the theme of trees. I knew that it was an important theme but I did not think about it to this extent until reading your blog. I also like how you touch on Sethe's scars, as they are an important part of the novel. Paul D. is shocked when looking at Sethe's scars because he associates them with stability and strength. However, her scars represent the pain that she has been through, showing a metaphor for the haunting she continues to experience.
DeleteI liked how you talked about the trees at Sweet Home and what they represented for the people there. When I was reading I focused in on the Chokecherry tree and understanding the symbolism there, but I had not realized the major role of the trees for the other characters involved as well. I like how you explained the duality of trees in the book, as for the boys at Sweet Home the trees were a sense of stability while for Sethe, her Chokecherry tree was a reminder of pain.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEveryone deals with trauma in a different way. Everyone wears their trauma in a different way. For Sethe in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” her physical scars are a manifestation of the wounds she has acquired physically and emotionally. Sethe has been through an immense amount of pain: the loss of her children, the loss of her husband, the loss of her milk, the loss of her sense of self-care and purpose. She is constantly thinking of those who have left, becoming more immersed in the horrors of her past and allowing them to continuing growing in the present.
ReplyDeleteAt Sweet Home, schoolteacher whipped her across her back. Sethe recalls the event saying, “[s]choolteacher made one open up my back, and when it closed it made a tree. It still grows there” (20). The “tree” Sethe refers to are the branches of scars across her back planted by the plantation leader. This tree, referred to as the chokecherry tree, grows as Sethe continues to let evils from her past live in her current life. This tree chokes the happiness and freeness in her world, just as whites both literally and physically choked her people throughout America’s history. Sethe recognizes that her scars have not faded but in fact have grown, saying, “that was eighteen years ago. Could have cherries too now for all I know” (18). With the tree being on her back, Sethe cannot see them, only feel them and listen to what others have to say about them, not having an exact sense of what’s really going on. They are like a weight she cannot lift, an itch she cannot scratch, a blind spot without an accompanying mirror. Sethe isn’t trying to prevent the “cherries” from growing, instead accepting that they could be a part of her anatomy. She would rather deal with the cherries than run from 124 and all the troubles that come with it saying she’ll, “never run from another thing on this earth” (18). With all that has happened to Sethe, she feels that withstanding the pain she currently experiences is more worthwhile than running into the unknown. She seems to only care about the people from her past, not herself. When she tells Paul D about how she got her tree, he is astonished saying, “[t]hey beat you and you was pregnant?” (21) while Sethe is more upset about her breast milk being taken, repeatedly replying, “[a]nd they took my milk” (21). Sethe’s milk was something she could provide provide her baby with, and that natural right was taken from her.
Sethe is trapped: she’s trapped by the confinements of her thoughts, her physical scars, her home and her society. Most of all, she’s hung up on the idea of what her life could’ve been, of the sharp contrast between the “amazing luck of six whole years of marriage to that ‘somebody’ son” (28) and the current struggles with the “haint in [her] house” and “tree on [her] back” (18).
I like how you described Sethe's physical scars as a manifestation of the wounds she has acquired physically and emotionally. When I first read this section of the book, I didn't see it that way. I only interpreted the "tree" on her back in a literal sense, yet I agree with your analysis. You effectively connected the name Chokecherry tree with racism, stating that "whites both literally and physically CHOKED her people throughout America’s history."
DeleteIn my blog post, I also talked about the hardships Sethe was faced, yet I made a greater emphasis on the environment she experienced while at "Sweet Home."
The novel begins with the statement “124 was spiteful. Full of baby’s venom” (3). With the immediate introduction of this theme, it is easy to tell that this will be a recurring idea throughout the story. 124 represents the hateful spirit of Sethe’s baby. The blunt way in which 124 was described tells the readers that this baby will continuous provoke conflict for the duration of the novel. The number will remain significant as Sethe grapples with the truth of her child’s gruesome death. The haunting of the baby continues for the first two chapters, already causing problems for Sethe and Paul. In attempts of grieving her child’s lost, Sethe has the words “Beloved” carved onto her baby’s grace. She at first wanted a longer sentence but there was an unfortunate cost for having just that single word carved. Although it was just one word, “She thought it would be enough...who would have thought that a little old baby could harbor so much rage” (5). Still experiencing the wrath of her child all these years, Sethe cannot move on from the past. Instead, she represses the memories of Sweet Home and her child. She is unable to go about in her present life because the past is constantly holding her back. This is shown when Paul D. comes and forces Sethe to confront her past, revealing the intricate occurrences of their dark past. The scars on Sethe’s back also seem to be a metaphor for her years as a slave. She is scarred and haunted from her past and the things that she has done. Paul D. looks at her scars when they are together and notices that they are not beautiful. He refers to them as “a revolting clump of scars. Not like a tree, as she said” (25). The way in which Paul describes the scars of Sethe further reveals to the reader that her scars are a metaphorical symbol to the pain of her past.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it seems that a main conflict in "Beloved" will be Sethe's battle with her past. She has physical and emotional memories of her past that she has trouble overcoming. The title of the book, "Beloved," is the same name that was engraved on her baby daughter's gravestone, symbolizing the importance of the baby. I believe we will learn much more about Sethe's and the other characters' pasts, especially in Sweet Home, and their struggles to overcome and move on, which is a very difficult thing to do.
DeleteI like your interpretation of the baby ghost! Is it possible that the rage of the baby is a spiritual representation of the current emotions Sethe and and Denver about their past and present that they have to face throughout the novel? Perhaps the baby's rage can correlate with metaphorical scars you referenced representing pain in Sethe's past or is the reason that she can't move on from it.
DeleteSethe is surrounded by men: Paul D Garner, Paul F Garner, Paul A Garner, Halle Suggs and Sixo. Through the evident gender dynamics at “Sweet Home,” masculinity and Sethe’s gruesome past is explored, providing context to the situation at 124. Since Sethe was the only woman present on the plantation, she was allowed to choose her spouse, leaving the other four men without a woman. These men were left barbarically “fucking cows, dreaming of rape, thrashing on pallets, rubbing their thighs and waiting for the new girl” (13). Sethe choses Halle and soon becomes pregnant, in a slave environment built around men and unfit for a baby. As a result, Sethe hopes to escape the plantation, but ultimately fails in avoiding a worse horror: the school teacher and his sons. As a woman and slave, Sethe only has full control of her body, yet those boys “came in there and took [her] milk…Held [her] down and took it” (20). Because of those men, she was unable to take care of her baby. They stole the little control of Sethe’s life that she had remaining, whipping her with a cowhide on her back.
ReplyDeleteThe whip marks left imprinted, scarred on her back were referred to as a “tree.” Once Paul D arrives at 124 and has sex with Sethe, he begins to compare the “tree” on her back with an actual tree from “Sweet Home.” This is unusual, comparing a woman’s back to a tree named “Brother.” Paul D recalls a memory of Sixo “sprawled near Brother, [with] his flame-red tongue hidden from them, his indigo face closed, [sleeping] through dinner like a corpse. Now there was a man, and that was a tree. Himself lying in the bed and the ‘tree’ lying next to him didn't compare” (26). I believe that Paul D finds that tree to be more appealing than that of Sethe because the “tree” on her back is reminiscent of the times of slavery. Her back isn’t like an actual tree, for trees are good, ever-growing, and alive.
Ultimately, Sethe experienced horror throughout her life. The ghost of Beloved and her dark past continue to haunt her, and, as we read, I’m interested in what else we will discover about “Sweet Home.”
I really like how you were able to incorporate so many components of the story in your blog post. I never really though about the happiness that Halle and Sethe had as in a way taking something away from the other men. I guess the weight of everyone's action is greater than they realize. I agree that the tree on Sethe's back has a very negative connotation unlike real trees which usually are thought of as a beautiful part of nature. I wonder if as the story goes on Sethe's tree will grow or shrink.
DeleteDuring those opening two chapters, I felt bombarded with a bad time. The bluntness in the mention of the children’s death comes with painful imagery, a 2 year old having its neck slit is not a pleasant visual. This emotion brought out by Morrison is something which brings the reader and the characters together. Trying to forget what was just read, or at least move it to a different mental area, mirrors the way Baby Suggs and Sethe try and put the deaths of their children behind them. I did not think that this book would include a theme of houses haunted by babies. To have a constant reminder of the past living spiritually within the walls of the house, causes great distress for Sethe as she tries to forget her past in “sweet home”, a fond memory fading from her thoughts. These opening chapters have definitely peaked my interest in a way I was not expecting, this strange direction is something I can only hope gets strung together throughout the course of the whole novel.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the feelings of the readers to the feelings of the characters. As readers, we were very disturbed by the descriptions of what happened in Sethe's life. Imagine being in Sethe. I do not I could handle what she has faced in her life.
DeleteI completely agree with the idea of a morbid opening. This haunting memory is really what drives her children away from the house and her house. It is saddening how that memory is ultimately what makes Seth lonely once again. Everything that she had endured previously still leaves her with hardly anyone in her life except for the memory of her dead child.
DeleteOne of the most striking and interesting pieces of the first 33 pages for me is the character Denver. Isolated and helpless in a house that’s haunted by the past, Denver has had a difficult time in life. She seems trapped in 124 in a way that none of the others are or were. She spends all her time on the back burner, always a passenger in life and never an actor. People around her live and die, come and go, Denver bears witness. She is only able to live through her mother. As the adults are chatting, Denver finds herself so isolated she is wishing for the company of the chaotic spirit they believe to inhabit the house. “She wished for the baby ghost - its anger thrilling her now where it used to wear her out” (15). Denver seems to be forced to process a great deal of loneliness at her young age. As she is introduced to Paul D. it is clear that she carries herself very carefully and maturely. She is well-mannered and composed. The moment in which Denver breaks down over the stove is very telling. Through tears she offers a glimpse into the weight she struggles to hold. “I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I can’t live here. Nobody speaks to us. Nobody comes by. Boys don’t like me. Girls don’t either” (17). She is made to carry the stigma attached to her mother and has been kept from any hope of a normal childhood or a social life. Denver has been dealt a difficult hand in life as a young girl and from what I have read so far, she seems to be doing a respectable job managing it.
ReplyDeleteYou summarize Denver's character really well. It's interesting how despite being virtually the only child, Denver is placed in the background. As Sethe says, the house and Denver is all she has left, yet Denver is not given the same value as the home. You also make a great point about how she carries a stigma not meant for her. She is isolated because of her mother, so I'm curious if resentment will build up in the future.
DeleteIn the first 33 pages of Beloved, we were introduced to many different characters. The character that stood out to me thus far was Sethe. From the very beginning I could tell she had a lot going on and that there was more depth to her character that we had yet to find out. "For a baby she throws a powerful spell," said Denver."No more powerful than the way I loved her," Sethe answered and there it was again. The welcoming cool of unchiseled headstones; the one she selected to lean against on tiptoe, her knees wide open as any grave.” After killing her own baby, you would expect that to be a tragic moment for someone and to also lose most of your children.
ReplyDeleteWhen Paul D is looking at Sethe, he sees that she is not the same girl that she used to be and that while she still looks young and beautiful except for her eyes.“ Even in that tiny shack, leaning so close to the fire you could smell the heat in her dress, her eyes did not pick up a flicker of light. They were like two wells in which he had trouble gazing”(10) She has experienced a lot of trauma due to her all her life experiences that have impacted her in different ways.
Paul D also hears Sethe say “They took my milk” which is when the schoolteacher's nephews raped her and by saying this she is revealing a horrifying part of her past to Paul D letting him in slightly.
I agree that Sethe reacts to the death and loss of those around her rather oddly, and I really liked the quotes you chose. However, I do believe she finds tragedy in loosing her daughter, she just shows it in different ways. The losses have caused her to be drained of life as well, leading to the eyes that Paul D saw. There is slight hope that she can start to recover since she has let Paul D in and hear her thoughts, a moment that you importantly brought up.
DeleteThe transition from Baldwin to “Beloved" carries the similar complexity, and influence on how “home” affects the individual.
ReplyDeleteIn the first thirty three pages, Denver, Sethe’s only living daughter, not only feels trapped by haunted 124, but desires the presence of her dead sister. Denver never lived at Sweet Home, or experienced slavery, and the disconnectedness between herself and the figures there drives her wild with jealousy.
Usually, 124 would “wear [Denver], wear her out” (15), and exclaimed very clearly that “[She] can’t live here” (17), but an unexpected visit from Paul D, her mother's old friend from Sweet Home, makes wish for the baby ghost, "...its anger thrilling her now" (15) The baby ghost is a vehicle for Denver to express her real emotions, not just a figure that haunts and cries and damages. Denver's description of the ghost "Rebuked. Lonely and rebuked" (16) allows the audience to perceive the harshness of living a life with death as the main course and being abandoned as the side dish. Denver can't escape the isolation from the death of her sister and her deteriorating grandmother, her brothers running away in spite of the spirit, the lack of friends at school. Her mother is stubborn, there is "No moving" and therefore Denver continues to feel displaced in a place that can't seem to love her back.
The phrases, "'Your daddy' and 'Sweet Home" (15) set off a waved of exclusion wiping out Denver's mental possession of a past unknown, determining that they "...belonged to them and not to her" (15). It must be pretty difficult for Denver, you lose nearly everyone you love or could have loved, but when you try to cling to all you have left, you feel utterly rejected. Denver acknowledges that, "Her (Sethe) back [was] to them (Denver and ghost) [again]" (16). I feel that a new character will be introduced, someone reliable for Denver to depend on and relate to in an abyss of solitude.
It seems that Beloved will have a recurring theme of history and the characters’ pasts throughout the book. For Sethe, the main memory she has of her past is the time the boys beat her and took her milk. In her telling to Paul D. these events, she sounds extremely distraught. As if the memory is not enough, she has the scars on her back, ones that represent a tree. She described how “schoolteacher made one open up my back, and when it closed it made a tree” (20). This tree scar is a physical remembrance of the terrible times of her past. I found this symbol very interesting. For memories, sometimes it is important to carry them with you in order to grow and learn from them, and become stronger. However, in this case, Sethe has a physical scar to remember this, so even if she wanted to, she can never escape her past.
ReplyDeleteThe “ten minutes for seven letters” story, I also found very intriguing. Sethe was willing to give up ten minutes for those letters to be engraved on her daughter’s gravestone. However, it was much more than ten minutes. As evident in the first 33 pages, Sethe goes back to that moment and remembers the pain. This memory comes back to her multiple times throughout her life, adding up to much more than ten minutes. Why I find this interesting is because she may have thought that ten minutes was a good deal, but is the lifelong memory worth it?
I really like how you focused on the idea of the past being a part of the present. This is something I also talked about in my blog post, but I didn't use the "ten minutes for seven letters" example. Sethe is in a lot of pain from just that one event alone. Although she had good intent, the outcome seems to have many pitfalls. This also seems to occur throughout the story: good intent followed by devastating outcomes.
DeleteI also got the sense that history and the characters' past will be a recurring theme throughout the novel. Morrison provides readers with small bits of information from the Sethe's past and from "Sweet Home," leaving the readers wanting more.
DeleteI like how you chose to focus on the memory the boys taking Sethe's milk and beating her with a cowhide. The beating left scars on her back in the shape of a tree, and I find it is important to mention that the physical scars make her ALWAYS remember that moment, making it so she can never escape her past.
For her, ten minutes is evidently worth it. She wanted to honor Beloved, so she was willing to give up "ten minutes for seven letters." Thinking back, it sounds that she would have done even more, if her Beloved could have gotten more letters.
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ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning, I could tell that 124 was not simply just a home, but more of a haunting reminder for Sethe about her dark past. Describing it as “spiteful. Full of a baby's venom,” 124 appears to be haunted by the ghost of Sethe’s baby. Something that confused me throughout was whether or not this was a haunting on Sethe’s spirit or if Toni Morrison was trying to convey that the house is truly haunted by a ghost. As the story progressed, I realized that Morrison wanted the house to be a symbol not only for the loss of her child, but to show how Sethe’s past has scarred her as well.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of home appears to be twisted in this novel, as the place where Sethe was enslaved is called “Sweet Home.” She even describes it as having beauty and thinks “it never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too.” Even through all the torture and brutality Sethe faced at her time at “Sweet Home,” she is able to see the beauty as seen by the outside world. As much as she would like to escape it, it appears that there is no way for her to. Almost every aspect of her life is controlled by her time as a slave, but she has seemed to overcome her trauma and make a home for her and her daughter, even if it may be haunted.