04/27/15
Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Lens: Feminist
http://www.idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr16%2810%2913/17.pdf
Written by Hira Ali, a student who attends the University of Sargodha in Pakistan, Gender Analysis in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Sula is an amazing depcition of Feminism in these literature masterpieces. Ali spends a lot of time talking about the difference between sex and gender which was very informative and reflected my own views on the differences between the two. One thing that really stuck out to me in Ali's writing was her portrayal of what the purpose of the book is. She says talks about the past and present being linked in Sethe's life instead of being separated. This got me thinking a lo about my own life. Both Sethe and Myself had some bad upbringings and experiences that made it hard to treat the present as something different than the past. Sethe has zero trust in men based on how she was treated at Sweet Home. From the sexual assaults, to the beatings, to her own husband leaving, men have not proven to be a sense of safety for her. Ali also talks about how Sethe and Baby Suggs were robbed of their femininity while Paul D was robbed of his masculinity. This is a very interesting observation and one that I didn't catch on to before reading this scholarly essay. Paul D cannot even have sexual experiences like most men would. And Sethe has a hard time being a mother because of how she was treated. It's really quite sad how these characters have been stripped of their gender roles but force. I also got another perspective from this article about black people being impure and corrupted by whites. This made it seem as if white people robbed all innocence and identity from these poor people. It is such a brutal and deep thought and being able to read someone else's opinion on it really deepened my understanding. After reading this and continuing to read Beloved, I have developed a relationship with the characters. Things such as being stuck in the past and not conforming to typical feminine roles drew me towards Sethe and her life. I hope to read more and find even more ways I can relate to Sethe.
Similar to your interpretations of the Hira Ali, i agree on how both Sethe and Paul D were stripped of their gender roles and how as human as they both are when it comes down to standing for themselves or being a father and mother it becomes difficult.I enjoyed how you were also able to relate to her interpretation of Beloved great job overall nice blog post.
ReplyDeleteLike Jose said, you do an excellent job demonstrating the suffering that Sethe and Paul D experienced during slavery is what caused them to lose their identity and gender role. I also did enjoy that you were able to connect the text back to your own life which is the purpose of literature to begin with.
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