The Novel Beloved by Toni Morrison

In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, memories and past experiences play an important role in the daily lives of most, if not all, of the characters in the novel. Many of the characters in Beloved had to live through slavery and the evils that accompanied it. The traumas that the characters have experienced in their time as slaves and even after have changed who they are forever. In the case of Stamp Paid he gets a whole new identity and name. He takes on the name Stamp Paid because he had to give up his wife to his master's son and therefore believes that he doesn't owe anyone anything anymore. We are told that "freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another." It's one thing to attempt to repress and forget about the horrors that one has gone through, but it is another to overcome those horrors and not let them affect who one is and how one lives. This cannot be a more accurate description of what happens to the protagonist, Sethe. Although Sethe has long left behind the shackles of slavery, she continues to be enslaved by her own experiences and memories from her time as a slave in her childhood and at the Sweet Home plantation. She carries these experiences with her like the chokecherry tree on her back.

The relationship between Sethe and her mother was virtually nonexistent, which has her compensating for it at every turn. She didn't see her mother "but a few times out in the fields and once when she was working indigo" (72). Nan, a one-armed wet nurse, tells Sethe of her and Sethe's mother's voyage across the middle passage and about how her mother "threw all of them away but you" (74). She killed all of her children that were of white fathers, but kept Sethe because she was of...

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...of Sethe's past to resurface. Beloved knew what to say to make Sethe to make her remember the bad experiences. Beloved's mere presence was a constant reminder of the terrible thing Sethe did and what caused her to do it. With Beloved's leaving, Paul D will be able to help Sethe overcome her past. Together, Paul D and Sethe will be able to heal the scars of their past. Paul D begins his attempt to get her to understand that she is not subhuman, not just a mother, but a human being when he tells her that "You your best thing, Sethe. You are." (322). There is hope for Sethe as she doesn't completely deny what Paul D says, she simply asks, "Me? Me?" (322). With his support, Sethe will be able to overcome her fear of being an animal while helping Paul D overcome his fears too.

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. 4th ed. New York: Vintage International, 2004. Print.