To say the least, Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved is anything but beloved in my mind. I think that the
magical realism Morrison utilizes goes too far, leaving me (particularly as a
male reader) unsettled and uncomfortable. Although Morrison’s description and
style are powerful, there is just too much in this book – it, like the love of
its main character, is “too thick”.
However, despite my personal distaste for the novel, it is
certainly a work of literary merit, and one that fits quite well with my big
question. I think that the novel exists as a study of the past – of the choices
Morrison’s characters have made – and how these characters cope with the harsh
reality of their former lives as slaves. Each character has a different approach
to dealing with the past – some that are healthier than others, and some that
are certainly detrimental.
One character’s past that is particularly painful is that of
Sethe. Forced to choose between life as a slave and death, Sethe attempts to
murder her children in order to save them, killing one of her daughters, and managing
only to maim her other three children. Sethe’s choice to kill her daughter,
known only as ‘Beloved’, haunts her throughout the novel, both in her emotional
and social state, but also in physical form, when Beloved returns in the form
of an adult woman. Although Sethe is consistently advised to “lay down her
sword and shield” and the pain of the past, Sethe clings to it, searching for
forgiveness and peace, yet only finding pain and suffering.
Like Sethe, her daughter – and only remaining child –
Denver, is a victim of her mother’s past. Early in the novel, Denver is totally
dependent on her mother, childlike to a level that distracts from the fact that
she is indeed a young woman. To Denver, Beloved is her only friend; however, as
Beloved grows more and more powerful in the household, Denver begins to come to
terms with herself. She must venture out into the world in order to save
herself and her mother, and she does so, moving forward from the decisions and
fear of the past, and taking control of her future.
It is this same path that Paul D takes. Paul D has a history
almost as painful as Sethe’s – a story of dehumanization, escape, and drifting
that leads him to question not only people, but his own manhood, another
struggle integral to the novel. Paul D arrives at 124 with his story locked up
in “the rusty tobacco tin of his heart”, yet as he spends time with Sethe, Paul
D begins to come to grips with his past. Although he leaves when he learns of
Sethe’s past crimes, Paul D returns to 124, and in the very end of the novel, Paul
D is a changed man, one with friends, family, and a future.
Although I am not a fan of Morrison’s novel, I do agree to
some extent with her characterization of the past. We cannot let the past
control us, and if necessary, we must “beat back the past” in order to earn the
future – as Morrison writes, “The future was sunset; the past something to
leave behind. And if it didn’t stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it
out. Slave life; freed life – every day was a test and a trial.” If we let the past
control our lives, then we become nothing but ghosts in the present. Life in
fear is no life at all, and our challenge is to move past this fear into bigger
and better pursuits.
No comments:
Post a Comment