Beloved

2 Pages 421 Words

April 19th, 1996 A critical analysis of the main characters and plot from the novel "Beloved" (BY TONI MORRISON). Beloved is a novel set in Ohio during 1873, several years after the Civil War. The book centers on characters who struggle fruitlessly to keep their painful recollections of the past at bay. The whole story revolves around issues of race, gender, family relationships and the supernatural, covering two generations and three decades up to the 19th century. Concentrating on events arising from the Fugitive Slave Act of 1856, it describes the horrendous consequences of an escape from slavery for the, her children and Paul D. The novel is divided into three parts. Each part opens with statements as to indicate the progress of the haunting--from the poltergeist to the materialized spirit to the final freeing of both the spirit and Sethe; Part I: "124 WAS SPITEFUL" Part II: " 124 WAS LOUD" Part III: "124 WAS QUIET". These parts reflect the progressive reconciliation of a betrayed child and her desperate mother. Overall symbolizing the gradual acceptance of freedom and the enormous work and continuous struggle that would persist for the next 100 years. The dynamics of the story attempt to distance the reader from an immediate and direct exposure to the extremes of the real horror contained in the narrative. Reading the story resembles "listening" to a story. This peculiar "oral" style surfaces; it feels as if the novel is speaking the emotions of each character out loudly, allowing the reader to identify with each one. Events that occurred prior and during the 18 years of Sethe's freedom are slowly revealed and pieced together throughout the novel. Ever so painfully, Sethe is in need of rebuilding her identity and remembering the past and her origins: "Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. Some things you forget. Other things you never do. But it's not. Places, places, are still there. If a house burns down i...