Toni Morrison Beloved Research Paper

A Lost History Now Found

` In the novel, Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, the scene starts on a former slave, Sethe. Sethe has to make the tragic decision to kill her own child in fear of her being caught by the slave catchers, and becoming a slave. Being a former slave, Sethe had experienced first-hand just how bad this lifestyle was, and would never want that for her daughter. Sethe can give us a glance into the life of a slave when she says, “Men and women were moved around like checkers...What Baby Suggs called the nastiness of life was the shock she received upon learning that nobody stopped playing checkers just because the pieces included her children” (Morrison 28). This comparison helps us to see how slaves were treated like property

and how Sethe wouldn’t want that for her child. Baby Suggs is Sethe’s mother and looking at this quote, is is obvious the excruciating pain she went through when Sethe was a slave. Sethe later in the story finds a girl who is named “Beloved” which just happens to be the name Sethe gave this child and the name put on her tombstone. She was just about the right age and Beloved became infatuated with Sethe. Sethe was also fond of Beloved and eventually quit her job to spend more time with her because she felt guilt that this could be a figure of her daughter considering what she did to her. We can see this infatuation within the novel when Sethe says, “Beloved, she my daughter. She mine. She come back to me of her own free will and I don’t have to explain a thing. I didn’t have time to explain before because if had to be done quick. Quick. She had to be safe and I put her where she would be” (Morrison 211). Within this quote, it can also be noted how hard the decision to kill her own child was and how we can see some regret, and also relief when she comes to believe this girl could in fact be the daughter she supposedly killed. We see racism and discrimination all throughout this novel and the fact that Sethe had to make this horrible decision shows how horrendous the life of a slave was, and how badly Sethe did not want that for her child. With slaves not being able to express their thoughts back in the time when the book was set, history that had been lost can now be reformed through Beloved.
The theme of Beloved is slavery and racism. The fact that Sethe felt that she needed to kill her own child so it wouldn’t have to go through all Sethe had to endure in her life as a slave shows how hard American slavery really was for African Americans. To help emphasise the true hardship of these events, we see an example from the book, “White people believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. In a way... they were right... But it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them to this place...It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them. And it grew. It spread... until it invaded the whites who had made it... Made them bloody, silly, worse than even they wanted to be, so scared were they of the jungle they had made. The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own” (Morrison 197). This is a very vivid quote from the book that describes how blacks see they are perceived and treated by the whites. We can see clearly in this quote how detailed and animated Morrison is as a writer. Talking about people in this way is dehumanizing and it is now easy to see why Sethe wouldn’t even consider having her child go through this.

Numerous examples in this story can show the extensive racism and discrimination. One example of slavery and discrimination throughout Beloved is when Sethe, our main character, walks in on a school teacher. The teacher is giving the students a lesson on animal characteristics, and Sethe gets very self-conscious. She just knows what she has been telling herself her whole life: she is an animal. Another example is when Paul D, a former slave, does not know if the screaming he hears is his own or someone else's. This is because slaves were told that the weren’t people, they were possessions. Paul was out of his mind. Slaves were traded and told their worth in dollars. Paul D is so insecure and we see his insecurities all throughout the novel. Paul’s difficulties are seen in the story when it says, "After Alfred he had shut down a generous portion of his head, operating on the part that helped him walk, eat, sleep, sing...” (Morrison 49). It is obvious that Paul D questions his value as a person throughout his life. It is already known that Sethe is a former slave, and the man who helped her get out of slavery is named Stamp Paid. Stamp worked as an agent for the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is series of routes and safe houses that were used back in the 19th century to help slaves go from slave states to free states and Canada. Stamp had his own opinions about slavery. He notes that, “slavery can cause whites to become changed and altered; made bloody, silly, worse than they ever wanted to be.” Paid’s thoughts are that compassion and humanity leave the identities of Americans who had slaves.
Toni Morrison, author of Beloved, is a nationally renowned writer, famous for her vivid dialogue, rich detail and epic themes.

Morrison was educated at both Howard and Cornell University. At eighty-five years old, Morrison teaches at Princeton University. Her first novel The Bluest Eye did not really catch the attention of the public; however, her second novel Sula was an insight of the African- American life style and was nominated for the National Book Award and also received the Ohioana Book Award. The next novel Morrison wrote was about the rich culture of African Americans called Song of Solomon. This book was a paperback best seller and won two more awards, the National Book Critics Circle Award and also the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Her next book, Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize, New York State Governor’s Art Award, Washington College literary Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1993, Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She became the first African American to win this prize. All of Morrison’s awards and recognition speak for themselves. She truly is an amazing and impactful writer. Ohio, Morrison’s hometown is something that really influenced her writing. Most of her novels are set in Ohio. Morrison explained “I am from the Midwest so I have a special affection for it. My beginnings are always there (Ohio)... No matter what I write, I begin there... Ohio also offers an escape from stereotyped black settings. It is

neither plantation nor ghetto" (Morrison) This quote helps to understand the setting of her work and why that is significant. It is now easier to relate to Morrison through the surroundings within her novels.
Slavery and racism was a tremendous affair that really influenced Morrison throughout her life.

Her parents moved to the North in order to get away from the southern racism. Toni Morrison had a lot to say about racism in a recent interview with Gabby Wood from the Telegraph in April of 2015. Morrison stated that, “Race is the classification of a species. And we are the human race, period. But the other thing – the hostility, the racism – is the money-maker. And it also has some emotional satisfaction for people who need it. Slavery moved this country closer to the economy of an industrialised Europe, far in advance of what it would have been. They don’t stop and frisk on Wall Street, which is where they should really go”. Throughout this interview, Morrison also talks about the significance of family, and bringing up her two sons on her own. This is significant because the theme of “family” plays a big role in the story of Beloved. Morrison’s ex-husband was originally from Jamaica, exposing her to rich African culture. Morrison is not afraid to be vivid and real in her writings when it comes to this idea. Morrison never uses a white person as her main character. “In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate”, Morrison says during an interview in 2009. Morrison tried to live her life like the white people weren’t there. Through Beloved, Morrison can show us what kind of destruction these slaves went through during their lives and what it truly means

to live as a slave.
Going back, in the time of the novel’s setting, this story was based in the 1850s; a time when the nation was polarized by regions and their identities. The south identified themselves to be pro-slavery and believed that if the country wanted to continue to prosper, slavery was vital. In 1860, the slave population came to nearly 4 million in the United States in this time. The processes of slave trade, slave auctions, and slave catching was very traumatic for those slaves and their families. In an interview with former slave Will Ann Rogers about these slave auctions, it was said “When they sold her, her mother fainted or drapped dead, she never knowed which. She wanted to go see her mother lying over there on the ground and the man what bought her wouldn't let her. He just took her on. Drove her off like cattle, I reckon. That the last she ever knowed of any of her folks.” This primary source shows how horrible this process was for both the slaves and their families. A mother would faint and possibly even die when her children were auctioned off. Another example that can be told by a first hand slave was by Delia Garlic in an interview at age 100, “Course they would cry; you think dey not cry when they was sold like cattle? I could tell you ‘bout it all day, but even then you couldn’t guess the awfulness of it.” People these days don’t usually think of the pain that having your family auctioned off causes. These days, families are taken for granted but that would be a scarring experience to have to go through. You can see a slight justification in Sethe, doing what she did in this novel when she killed her own child when she found out the slave catchers were looking for her. Slaves were treated horribly and had very bad living conditions and most were separated from their families. Sethe would never want this for her child.
Overall, Toni Morrison’s epic work in the novel Beloved has an intense theme of slavery, and racism. Morrison’s personal life and personal connections to racism help with her passion for having an equal environment for all people no matter what their color. This helps her create these fantastic novels that she is recognized around the nation for. She has definitely made a statement not only to her readers, but to other authors as well when it comes to the vivid details within stories she tells. Morrison also likes to connect personally to her books like having them set in her hometown. All in all Morrison is an amazing writer whom should be recognized for her work because it sends a great message about racism. The fact that Sethe had to make this horrible decision when it came to her daughter shows how horrendous the life of a slave was, and how badly Sethe did not want that for her child and this proves the racism and discrimination throughout the novel. In Beloved, is is easy to learn about the history and legacy of slavery and how it is deemed very crucial to our nation's history not through the point of view of a white, former slave owner, but the point of view Sethe, Stamp Paid, and Baby Suggs. This novel is written with rich history. We can see within the text, it is told by the voices of a people that were historically denied this great power of language. Beloved can help to reform a history that had been lost.