Blog Post 13 : Book Report on “ Beloved ’’ Toni Morrison

Hey Queens

So for the past month I’ve been reading the book “ Beloved ’’ and here’s my take on it . The short novel entails about a former slave named Sethe who escapes from slavery . But although Sethe is free her mind is trapped , Sethe’s mind under goes a relapse re living the trauma she endured during slavery. Struggling to embrace freedom and to create a new better life the trauma of her past follows her wherever she goes and believes the house she lives in is being hunted by the ghost of her dead child . Sethe is mighty convinced that memories wont ever go away or will they ?

The story takes place in Cincinnati Ohio in 1870’s towards the end of Civil War .She lives with her daughter Denver , her two sons who eventually run away from the hunting house by the ghost of her dead daughter whom she killed back when Sethe was escaping from sweet home farm .. When Sethe encounters with Paul D again ( former slave who also worked in the same plantation as Sethe ) He is the spark of Sethe’s mind resurrection of memories back in slavery . Sethe meets a woman that goes by the name of Beloved who is a spirit that is a reincarnated of Sethe’s dead daughter due to the things that she knows only Sethe will know but Sethe believes she is a a woman who was locked up by a white man but not for long . Although in my option whatever her complex identify is I believe Morrison uses the character Beloved a a sort of catalyst to being emphasis on the emotional distress Sethe and Paul D undergo . Beloved represents the past returned to haunt the present. The characters’ confrontations with Beloved and, consequently, their pasts, are complex. The interaction between the two become toxic in a sense because whenever she’s with Beloved she’s paralyzed in the past. Beloved’s presence consumes Sethe’s life to the point where she becomes depleted. She hardly eats, while Beloved grows bigger and bigger, eventually taking the form of a pregnant woman. Towards the end of the novel Denver reaches out to the black community for help. Some of the village women come to the house to exorcise Beloved.  Mr. Bodwin ( Do gooders of the neighborhood) approaches the house and Sethe mistakes him for Schoolteacher ( replacement for the original owner of Sweet home the plantation where Sethe ) School teacher was a mean man who consistently abused the slave owners . Crazed, she tries to attack him but is restrained by Denver and other women. Beloved disappears.

Although I don’t think “ Playing in the dark ’’ have much in common other than Tori Morrison passion on displaying the struggles we go through as black individuals whether she uses examples of slavery or present struggles in literature our Identity plays a big role . In “ Beloved ’’ the destruction of identify under slavery is presented and in “ Playing In the Dark ’’ There is a misleading representation of black people which is why Toni Morrison felt the need to point it out so people can see it from a black persons point of view hence why roots truly are important to our identity be cause it shapes and molds us and one things for sure what our ancestors endured it surely does have a big impact on why we act the way we do .

Well that’s all for today Queens , thanks for tuning in !!

1 Reply to “Blog Post 13 : Book Report on “ Beloved ’’ Toni Morrison”

  1. Seth is very similar to Jadine in “Tar Baby”. Both of the characters feel trapped and living in a world they don’t feel that they fit in. Both characters by the end of the books change themselves for the better and improve their quality of life.

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