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 |
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.
Grammar. In terms of conventions, there are a couple of errors, such as "unable disprove of the actions" (lack of "to"); awkward phrasing in the "healthy family unit" (what do you mean by this?); "doing measurements" (do people "do" measurement?); "Specifically, The" (improper capitalisation); "and it's analytical essay" (you need to use the possessive form: its); ambiguous pronoun in "they practiced" (who are you referring to?); awkward phrasing in "wanted to point out to us all" (try re-phrasing); ambiguous pronoun in "because of the abuse she experienced" (who do you mean? sethe or Baby Suggs?); and lack of citation with the quotation "rusted tobacco tin".
ReplyDeleteOrganisation. The first two paragraphs flow nicely; however, the second paragraph has a disagreeable style. The topic sentence indicates the "loss of family", but the rest of the paragraph dives into the "destruction of family". You then move onto Baby Suggs being "sold around" and "never staying with any family for very long". I am having a hard time seeing how this corrupts her "family unit", as she seems at home at House 124. The contrast to this behaviour with "being prideful and caring" is a bit paradoxical, too. Aren't these aspects what constitute a family? Or do you mean a literal family, like a mother, father, daughter, that sort of thing (in that case, a traditional family perhaps)? You then jump back to Sethe's immoral infanticide, which seems a bit arbitrary, as the logical progression following the topic sentence would be to analyse the life of Paul D. Here, your analysis comprises his inability to form a family due to his inability to "love anyone", but this analysis is a bit incongruous to the analysis of the other characters: is a family now defined as someone's ability to love? If you were to define a family as an individual's ability to love, I could see how this connects to other characters.
Integration of Evidence. Integrating evidence is a bit nebulous, in that a bit more context could be very useful; for instance, Paul D. becoming unable to open his "rusted tobacco tin" comes out of the blue. Is this a metaphor for something? Was it a literal tobacco tin? In the first paragraph, with Sethe's feet, what does that stand for? With no context, the reader interprets this as simply "Sethe, you have two feet", and their relationship being destroyed.
This is the second part of my comment that got cut off due to character limit:
ReplyDeleteTheme/Central Idea. How does this make a direct relation to marxism? This is a bit inferred, as I interpreted it as a discussion on classism and the longitudinal psychological influence of slavery. It would be nice to have some clarity on Sethe's violation of maternalistic tendencies in the second paragraph: how does this relate to classism? Also, about the regression of Sethe into a "childlike" state: I am unsure if this is true. Although it is somewhat arguable, you need more textual evidence that proves this distinctly. The reader could object to your argument's logic by appealing to Sethe suffering from more a catatonic state inspired by her vampiric transformation with Beloved. Sethe is being dragged into the liminal space Beloved originated from. How would you argue against this?
Other questions:
How would you prove that Paul D.'s consistent movement is not caused by Beloved's supernatural tendencies, rather than his internal motivation (your argument)?
How does Paul D.'s masculinity become undermined by his inferiority to a rooster? If all slaves were emasculated to such an extent, wouldn't Paul D. still be able to fulfil the traditional role of a man within a family, since all other members are on the same level?
Is Sethe's potential for family not redeemed by Beloved's rebirth? I am uncertain of how Sethe's murder of Beloved completely bars her from this, as Beloved returns, arguably as a clear chance at redemption. If you wanted to truly prove this point, I think you would have to prove how her redemption also fails (does it?).
My best advice would be to hone in on one character and fully flush out the argument. It's important to not consider too many things, as it becomes very difficult to prove each completely.
Casaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!! This is very well-written, I like how you mentioned that Sethe killed her daughter because she didn't want her characteristics to be on the animal side of the paper. And true that, Morrison has a message about family units and slavery.
ReplyDelete