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.