Memory and Rememory in Beloved
The novel Beloved by Toni Morrison is told in a flashback manner, in line with the workings of the human mind. Throughout the novel, the characters work to avoid the past because it is filled with pain and horror for them. The characters must come to grips with these experiences, accept and recognize them in their consciousness. The memories of the past are recollected through rememories that have been repressed in order to avoid the pain of reality. The rememory of certain events can be aroused unexpectedly through many different devices. The sight, sound, or touches of a place or event are all triggers that can enable rememory to occur. These images brought back serve to heal the suffering brought on through past experiences. Morrison's thematic concept of memory and rememory is defined through her transitions between past and present, the triggers that set off the two, and the effect on the novel. The transitions from past to present and back again are shown through the suppression of memory. Prior to Paul D's visit, Sethe had suppressed her "rememories" and chose to block the experiences she knew she could not keep hidden. The characters cannot directly address the issue of their pas
it seems that certain episodes of her past continue to haunt her in the present. She tries hard to "remember as close to nothing as was safe" (Pg.5). For the characters of Beloved, it seems that although the memories are living entities in their own right, they are all capable of doing harm. Memory and rememory serve to deal with the painful pasts of the characters in order for them to heal. For the characters, "the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay" (Pg. 40). Speaking the unspeakable forces one to realize that such experiences occur and continue to do so and that these experiences have a profound affect on those who have endured this suffering. "Can't nothing heal without pain" (Pg. 73) and to relive the sufferings of the past hurts. Yet, despite the pain of the memories, their presence is needed in order for one to know oneself and make sense of the terrible reality of the past. The memories also serve to pass along the experience to others in its purest possible form so that they can witness the reality of the past. The ghost of the baby Beloved represents the terror of the past and the characters must confront the events which took place upon their escape from slavery and come to terms with them in all their violence and reality. Rememory all! t. They avoid the past because "if you go there and stand in the place where it was, it will happen aga
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Approximate Word count = 932
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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