Beloved 2

A detailed Summary of Beloved 2

In regards to the novel Beloved Toni Morrison says, "[The novel] can't be driven by slavery. It has to be the interior life of some people, a small group of people, and everything that they do is impacted on by the horror of slavery, but they are also people." Critics argue that the novel is driven by slavery and that the interior life of the protagonists is secondary. This is true because most of the major events in the story relate to some type of slavery. The slavery that drives the novel does not have to be strictly physical

slavery. Morrison's characters are slaves physically and mentally. Although they are former slaves, they are forever trapped by horrible memories.

The type of slavery the novel initially depicts does not correspond to what really happened to slaves in the 1800s. At Sweet Home, Mr. and Mrs. Garner treated their slaves like real people. Mr. Garner is proud of his slaves and treats them like men, not animals.

. . . they were Sweet Home men -- the ones Mr. Garner bragged about while other farmers shook their heads in warning at the phrase. [He said,] ". . . my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one."1

The things that occurred at Sweet Home wh

As a member of the chain gang he suffers another type of slavery because he is both a prisoner and a sexual servant. Even after he escapes and is a free man, Paul D is still a slave. He is a slave to his memory. Having been through so many horrible events, he has trouble finding happiness again.

In her novel, Morrison uses the phrase, "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another."

Then there's Paul D, who replaces his "red heart" with a tin tobacco box. He refuses to love anything strongly and establish long term relationships because he is still hurting from losing his brothers and friends to schoolteacher. Schoolteacher also takes his pride and manhood away by forcing him to wear a bit. Paul D compares himself to a chicken.

This one incident does not only affect Sethe, but it changes things for Beloved and Denver as well. Beloved loses her life to slavery. Her own mother sacrifices her existence in order to keep her out of slavery. As for Denver, she is indirectly affected by the horrors of slavery. She has to put up with living in a haunted house because her mother refuses to run away again.

On page 15 Sethe says, "I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms. No more running -- from nothing. I will never run from another thing on this earth."

Under the management of schoolteacher, things change dramatically. He turns Sweet Home into a real slave plantation. He treats and refers to the sla

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1026
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels