Racism And The Struggle In Beloved

           One of the main topics in Toni Morrison's Beloved is slavery and the power systems left in it's absence. Specifically, The novel discusses both the perpetuation of slavery, the way in which people chose to support it during and after it was supposedly "ended". She also focuses on the way people proved they were better, and how they rationalized staying that way.

           One of the main Topics discussed in both beloved and it's analytical essay, written by Heather Duerre Humann is the scientific racism that occurred as a justification for the inhumanity which they practiced. One of the most important parts of slavery was the way in which it was rationalized that colored people were inferior, and the psychological impact upon the people who were victimized. Schoolteacher practices this most often, doing measurements and questioning them, all to prove that they are inferior. He also teaches his nephews to do the same, asking them to list "her human characteristics on the left, her animal on the right, and... line them up" (108). This results in many of the psychological traumas which Sethe suffers from throughout the novel. She uses this justification in her head when she kills beloved, that "[nobody] would list her daughter's characteristics on the animal side of the paper" (141). She also remembers it when Paul D tells her how many feet she has, breaking their relationship (94). Humann supports this in her essay when she states "she is responding to Schoolteacher...as she attempts to defy his label of her." (Humann, 65)
This rationalization of slavery psychologically wounds all slaves, which is something that Toni Morrison wanted to point out to us all.

This image was used to promote the idea that black people were less than human, one of the ways in which slavery was rationalized

A picture from the movie beloved showing the lack of a father

             One of the themes of the novel is the loss of the healthy family unit for slaves. We see this in most of the characters thought the novel, including Sethe, Paul D, and Baby Suggs. It is most apparent in Sethe, as she tries to murder all of her own kids in order to protect them from schoolteacher, and thus from slavery. In this we can see that slavery has destroyed the healthy family which could have existed, driving a mother to kill her children in order to "protect them", something a mother in a healthy family would never do. We also see Sethe's destruction of family in the way in which she treats beloved, slowly regressing into an almost childlike state, even while she has two children to take care of. This is just exemplifying the destruction of family life which Sethe faces in the aftermath of slavery. She even faces the destruction of her family life when she is just a child, with her "ma'am" being hung and her not having the chance to grieve or even find out why. Another person whose family life is destroyed due to slavery is Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs is sold around, never staying with any family for very long, and always facing the harshness of slavery. Despite this, she is shown as being prideful and caring towards the community. However, in the aftermath of the event, Baby Suggs just wants to die, because "she could not approve or condemn" Sethe's choice (100). Although infanticide is morally unacceptable by all people, because of the abuse which she experienced during slavery she was unable disprove of the actions, but at the same time she knew that a proper family would never have done anything like that. Finally, Paul D has his family life destroyed due to slavery. Paul D suffers from being unable to form bonds or attachments to people or places. Because of the scientific way in which schoolteacher made Paul D inferior to even a rooster, he became unable to see his masculinity and as such his role in the family. Humann supports this in her essay when she asserts that "Schoolteacher, by treating Paul D. like an animal and by his harsh discipline, has
succeeded in transforming a human being into something less than human." (Humann 66) He becomes unable to open his "rusted tobacco tin" and thus love anyone. Because of the lack of love, he begins to feel restless and uncomfortable, moving around the house to sleep in different areas, always unconsciously wanting to move on. This prevents him from occupying a place in the family unit, and destroys any chance that he has of staying long term.