Ghost Baby, Guilty Mother

Ruth Van Den Akker’s writing, “Hush, Little Baby-Ghost: The Postcolonial Gothic and Haunting History in Toni Morrison’s Beloved”, looked through the book with a postcolonial lens and a gothic lens as well. The lens that she uses allows her to see the cause and effect of suppression that happened in the past that dictate how the future moves forward. Den Akker mentions how the past has an emotional toll on a person especially from those who were slaves and not just explaining facts about what happened.

Den Akker claims that Morrison wrote “a narrative” that “the unspeakable is spoken or signified”. The unspeakable is the harm and terror that the main character, Sethe, and other slaves undertook while being forced to do labor. Those slaves took an unimaginable amount of harm to their well being and that harm “still haunts” Sethe with “traumatic memories” of the past. The stress that she was under only made sense that after being set free the past can’t be forgotten. Even though she tries to push those memories somewhere she can’t remember, she still lives in the past and can’t move forward from it.

Den Akker makes it clear that the terrible choices Sethe had to make caused damage that her guilt won’t let go of her. The novel, as she claims, includes “history of slavery, genocide, racism, [and] infanticide” while also having a “gothic” theme coincide with the story. The character Beloved, as described by Den Akker, is introduced to “taunt her guilt-ridden mother” as a “young woman”. This becomes apparent when Morrison describes Sethe as “the flesh between [Sethe]’s forefinger and thumb fade. Saw Sethe’s eyes bright but dead, alert but vacant, paying attention to everything about Beloved… (285)”. As she was slowly fading away, Beloved was becoming more prominent when she describes her that of “a pregnant woman, naked and smiling in the heat of the afternoon sun (308)”. The roles and stature of the two characters seem to be switched with one another showing that the guilt she sustained over killing her own child as devoiding her of living her life and making sure that she tries to cleanse that sin by pampering Beloved. Beloved seems to be sucking the life out of Sethe and making it into her own. That supernatural ability seems similar to a succubus in that they drain the life of somebody to turn it into their own. Now that Beloved has been draining the life out of Sethe, Sethe has been going back to the slave times and treating somebody as though they were better than they were; something that she didn’t want her children to have to deal with that she had to.

Beloved Vs. Narrative: Two Perspectives of Slavery

In the essay, “Truth in Timbre: Morrison’s Extension of Slave Narrative Song in ‘Beloved’” by Peter J. Capuano, compares two pieces of literature that talk about slavery in America, but the way that each one is developed and told is in two different formats. Mr. Capuano sees that Douglass's 1845 book, “Narrative”, was more developed in the sight of factual events and what actually happened, while Morrison’s 1987 book, “Beloved”, was focused on the emotions, slave songs, and integration into “personhood”.

Capuano’s description of Morrison’s “Beloved” as “it chronicles her characters’ endurance and ability to survive during and after these periods of physical brutality and psychological abuse”. The characters that were around during the slave period, Sethe and Paul D, were dealt a lot of turmoil that they fought through to survive and have to now engage into society with all of the past haunting them.

Capuano mentions that Morrison relies on “slave songs” to “[acknowledge] of slavery’s brutality”. “Beloved’s” purpose is to enlighten not just what happened during that time period, but what it felt like to those who were the subject to it all. We get lost with what just happened and why things ended up the way they are, but we forget how emotions affect how people perceive things and Capuano was spot on that “Beloved” gave another light to slavery.

The slave songs that Morrison created were to show the former slaves’ emotions while they were under slavery. The slaves were considered, and what Schoolteacher called them, “animals” and that they were there to do tasks and chores. The slave songs showed the emotional toll that was under them while being oppressed by those who thought they were of a better race. The songs allowed the slaves to actually show their human side of themselves and have that strength to believe that they were still human. It also allowed themselves to be rebellious against that of the oppressors. The oppressors wanted their slaves to do work without any obstacles that could come about, but the emotions that came out of the songs would prevent complete dominance over the oppressed.

Revisions, rememories, and exorcisms by Cynthia S. Hamilton

Revisions, rememories, and exorcisms by Cynthia S. Hamilton

For my second look at a critical lens expert’s writing, I chose Revisions, rememories, and exorcisms by Cynthia S. Hamilton. This particular essay focuses on the literary style of “Beloved” and how it is an embodiment of how to tell the American slave story. Hamilton discusses how specific word choices were made in writing on the subject in the past, that were solely made so as not to anger the white readership. In “Beloved” more freedoms could be taken to show the institution of slavery as brutal including allusions to rape, descriptions of murder and brutality, all true elements of life in slavery that had to be overlooked in the past. The importance of the setting in which the novels on slavery are written in effects the novels almost as much as the writers own ideas on the subject. This is due to the fact that for a writer in the age of slavery to use any kind of negatively charged language to describe slavery they would be putting themselves at risk, not only because their work would most likely not be published. If their work was to be published, to be publicly outspoken against slavery in that time could be physically dangerous, in 1851 an anti-slavery Senator was brutally beaten on the floor of the senate for opposing slavery. Toni Morrison is able to take many liberties that allow her to more fully, and more accurately tell the story of Americans who had their freedoms taken from them and were in turn treated as tools on a farm.

Ms. Hamilton also chose to focus on the historical accuracy of “Beloved” as part of her review on the novel. The level of detail that comes into play about the underground railroad, the treatment of ex-slaves, and even into the mindset of racists at the time. Toni Morrison obviously spent a large amount of time researching in order to provide details like schoolteacher’s disappointment in not being able to “reform” Sixo, instead of coming out and just killing Sixo for running. While writers in the time period would have had a more accurate representation of these parts of the times, Morison provides an astonishing accurate account of an escaped slaves life. For me the level of detail that is present in this novel is what captivates me and draws me in, for something that happened over one hundred years ago, Toni Morrison is able to make the experiences feel close and real.

Nothing in Life is Ever Easy

There has been a saying that you must go through the dark times before you can reach the light at the end of the tunnel. This is the exact notion that most of the characters went through during the book.

All the characters have some kind of “darkness” that holds them back from truly being happy. Each one has different kinds of obstacles, but they all want to be happy in the end. As I keep reading through Beloved, the issues keep on piling on, but the characters keep trekking on. For Sethe, one time that was apparent was when she ran away from “Sweet Home” to become free and was laying to her death in the middle of a field. She had conceded to the idea that she was dead and that would be a blessing from where she was then. She was lucky that a girl stumbled upon her and helped her health to a point to where she could get through that period of time and caused her to have the motivation to survive. That girl, Miss Amy Denver, and her baby, Denver, were the two things that were the light at the end of her tunnel.

The other character that I noticed with the same issue was Beloved. Beloved was executed as a baby and never felt the love from her mother like Denver had felt. For more than a decade, she was in a different dimension feeling all sorts of pain, but after she crossed “a bridge” she was able to come back to where she initially came from and seek that happiness and love she had been loathing for so long. Her darkness was loneliness for years and after enduring that for so long her light is being with the person she has been loathing for, her mother, Sethe.

Morrison made it apparent that her message that things will get better as time goes on. This is, in fact, true for almost any circumstance that has arose in my life and other people’s lives. Times will get rough and become desperate, but facing the challenge face on will help the situation at hand. Just like the saying, hard work and perseverance will reward you in the end.

The Return of Beloved

“Suddenly Denver, who was sitting cross-legged, lurched forward and grabbed Beloved’s wrist. ‘Don’t tell her. Don’t let Ma’am know who you are. Please, you hear?’

‘Don’t tell me what to do. Don’t you never never tell me what to do.’

‘But I’m on your side, Beloved.’

‘She is the one. She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have.’ Her eyes stretched to the limit, black as the all-night sky.

‘I didn’t do anything to you. I never hurt you. I never hurt anybody,’ said Denver.

‘Me either. Me either.’

‘What you gonna do?’

‘Stay here. I belong here.’

‘I belong here too.’

‘Then stay, but don’t never tell me what to do. Don’t never do that.’” (Morrison 89)

In the quote above, Denver is talking to Beloved about her past and who she was and Denver just realized that Beloved was the child that Sethe had lost in the years past when her other daughter was executed. Beloved had come back from the afterlife and Denver wants to help Beloved conceal her identity from their mother.

The way that Beloved turned so coldly and had such rage that Morrison was trying to show us that those who have been suppressed for so long no longer want to take orders from others and aim for what they want. Through the line “Don’t tell me what to do. (Beloved) (89)“ and “Her eyes stretched to the limit, black as the all-night sky. (89)”, their purpose was the create a deeper feeling of rage towards commands. There seems to create tension between the characters and makes it difficult for the same relationship to be in order. It seems as though Beloved’s only purpose there is to be with Sethe when she said, “She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have (89)”. Denver’s thoughtfulness and forcefulness caused a stir that could jeopardize their relationship.

Beloved never felt that affection that Denver had for all those years that Denver has been alive. Beloved was lost for so many years and since she’s back in the picture, she now wants that feeling of love. A couple of years before Sethe and the rest of the black community were all slaves and had to take orders without hesitation. They didn’t receive the same kind of love that Beloved had missed out on. Now that they both are in situations that they could benefit from, they will strive for what they want terribly and won’t let anything interfere with what they want.

Trauma is Universal

Beloved is, in essence, a representation of how messy real life can be, especially for people who have faced brutally traumatic treatment. For the former slaves, their past life will never fully leave them, which is shown throughout the novel with its unannounced flashbacks that leave the reader feeling as though the entirety of the story is not told entirely by a narrator, instead it gives the feeling that the reader is in the head of each character. For Sethe, the smallest thing can shock her into a deep memory that should would rather pack away like Paul D. Paul D. manages his terrible memories by packing them away into a “tobacco tin” which he chose to ignore instead of dealing with his painful truths. These differing methods of coping with their brutal treatment allow Sethe and Paul D. to live their lives relatively painlessly, these methods also highlight the psychological damages faced by people in stressful environments. There are relatively few modern Americans who face this same level of trauma and stress, with those who do generally being soldiers who have experienced violence in some way. For these Americans their traumatic experiences left them with PTSD, causing them to undergo many of the same symptoms as Sethe and Paul D.

Although the two seem strikingly different war and slavery are not two entirely different things that the world faces. Both bring unnecessary violence, trauma, and hatred into fruition. Both leave the survivors with deep psychological and emotional wounds that can never be fully healed. The difference comes in the treatment they receive, while American veterans do not receive the proper treatment for their services, they receive far more assistance than Sethe and Paul D. could ever hope of being provided. In the late 1800s, the science behind PTSD had not been discovered, it was still a time where cocaine or opium would be sold as headache or cold medicines. In modern times, we can help reduce, but cannot end the suffering from those who are facing the same trauma. The other enormous difference for these two groups is that while a soldier serves a few tours of duty lasting roughly a year or so, slavery was for life, and there was no way to be excused from it. The real lesson here is the importance of making sure that we support anyone who undergoes a traumatic experience, otherwise they may be forced to emotionally distance themselves from those around them, similar to Paul D. Or they may have to face their experiences over and over again similar to Sethe.

The Great Institution

“This one will never be suitable.” … The fire keeps feeling and the white men put out with themselves at not being prepared for this emergency. They came to capture, not kill… He [Sixo] laughs… Sixo interrupts his laughter to call out, “Seven-O! Seven-O!” (266)

This passage takes place right after Paul D’s attempted escape from Sweet home, which led to his capture and Sixo’s death. For the escapees, this was a once in a lifetime chance for them to be able to get away from their owners and be able to make it into free territory. When Paul D. and the others made it to the dry creek where they had stored all of their resources for the journey, School teacher and his “pupils” were waiting for them. Sixo’s lover and another slave Paul A. ran one direction, while Sixo and Paul D. ran the opposite. It is unknown what happened to Paul A. or the Thirty-Mile Woman, but  when Sixo and Paul D. are captured they are tied up and beaten brutally. Sixo quickly grabs one pupil’s gun and begins to sing until he is knocked down by another pupil. The schoolteacher then decides that Sixo is too wild and  must be put down.

This an unsurprising punishment for a slave who is caught trying to escape, but in this case, it wasn't the running that caused Sixo to be put to death. In this case, it was Sixo’s rebellious move of rejecting his situation and actually singing. In the schoolteacher’s mind, Sixo and Paul D. are farm property, equal in value to a few cows. Therefore, much like a lame horse who cannot be fixed, Sixo, who cannot become “suitable”, must be put down for the sake of the farm. This fits in with the Southern mindset in this time period, where the institution of slavery was in place to allow for whites to their holy and unspoken duty to help save the slaves from themselves. In history it was viewed as “the White Man's Burden” to take in those who did not have the same “culture” or who they viewed would not be competent to lead themselves, and to enslave them. Their logic being that the more time that they spent in the presence of people who were more cultured the more they would learn what it means to be a “real person”. The other aspect of their mindset was that if the slaves were not out free in the world, it meant that they could not perpetuate their “savage cultures”, instead they would have the opportunity to learn to live properly.

This passage provides a window into the mindset of the great institution as a whole, and into the mind of a typical slave owner. Whose duty it was not to see his slaves as people, but a natural resource that needed to be exploited for the survival of the entire “Southern way of life”.