Issues of Sexuality in Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved Issues of Sexuality

The story “Beloved” offers many interpretations for analysis however, Toni Morrison particularly makes note of how slavery plays a role in sexuality discrepancies with Sethe and her problem with femininity as well as Paul D’s issue with masculinity.

Both of the character’s situations differ from one another. For example, Slavery has emasculated Paul D, taking away his manhood and disabling him from making his own decisions. On the other hand, Sethe’s traumatic experience with School teacher has taken away her sense of femininity. This has led her to lose maternal awareness ideally causing her to adopt masculine survival instincts.

First, Paul D’s Issues can be analyzed through his life at sweet home. Although former owner Mr. Garner thought of his slaves as men, Paul D became emasculated after his knowledge of the title being a slave. From the start, Paul D thought of himself as a man only if his owner assigned him the title; he could not have the title as a man based on his own actions, especially in a society that views blacks as animals or children. As stated by Deborah Ayer (Sitter), “Morrison dramatizes Paul D’s enslavement to an ideal of manhood that distorts his images of self and others” (191). This means that Paul D is not only trapped by the white slave owners, but he is also trapped by is internal thoughts of his own manhood. Paul D chains himself to the idea of freedom and opportunity to become a man, that he allows the two to own him in a sense. Paul D is shown to possess certain criteria. In his mind, men do not show emotion, a man is the protector and a man has the last word. Although Paul D believes in these three topics, he does not own up to them. Paul D goes as far as showing char...

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...hoolteacher once again coming to take Beloved. She attacks him with an icepick, something a man would typically do. She is essentially going to kill the threat rather than the threatened. This is also a masculine act. For example, men are usually the problem solvers and by Sethe attempting to kill the problem, she takes over the male role.

In conclusion, slavery has broken both characters roles of sexuality. Paul D struggles in terms of finding his manhood after being emasculated by his master. He runs away from his problems and is sensitive to things that a woman would endure. Sethe too struggles with events brought on by her master. She feels the need to handle things that are essentially a man’s job. She takes over the house and becomes the person who carries the weight. Slavery has changed these people and by the symbolic death of beloved toward the end of the