Individual Survival In Toni Morrison's Beloved

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In Maria Del Mar Gallego Duran’s article, “COMMUNITY AND LOVE: UNDERSTANDING THE PAST IN TONI MORRISON'S BELOVED”, she discusses Morrison’s attempt to portray the African American community in the aftermath of slavery. She discusses the fact that characters in the Beloved constantly seek to remove any connection they have with their past enslavement. However, they are unable to escape without confronting their past and understanding their relation to their community and the world around them. She continues on by discussing the obvious front of the novel. She says that in relation to family, a sense of individual survival takes up more of the novel. Although this is seen more in other characters that in the main character Sethe, who has a strong attachment to her living daughter Denver. The idea of individual survival is seen in Paul D. She analyzes that his need for individual survival exceeds his want for a family and a community to belong to. Both Sethe and Paul D seek to affirm themselves as survivors both in their own way. Sether by keeping her last family alive and protected, and Paul D by moving from place to place and having no connections that can be broken. …show more content…

Each character in the novel at some point struggle with giving up or not giving up. In Duran’s view, this is where the difficulty lies. The characters push to destroy any connection between them and the dead. However, by doing this, the characters reveal the influence death has on them. This is something both Sethe and Paul D have in common, both of them wish to escape from the memories related to their enslaved past. Duran argues that Sethe understands that despite all her efforts, the past always returns, always defeats her. This effect of the past is why the characters are trapped in a deadly routine where they reject their past and forcibly try to focus on the

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