#6_Psychic Death

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's "Beloved" by Barbara A. Shapiro

Slavery can have a huge impact on people, leaving them with an emotional and mental affect. The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's "Beloved" by Barbara A. Shapiro speaks all about the influences slavery has had on the world, especially in Beloved. The slaves were dehumanized and taken advantage of. Instead of being seen as human beings, these slaves were just objects/property to Americans. "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was an other" (95). Even after African Americans were freed, they were still left with the inner thought of not actually being free.

According to Barbara A. Shapiro, “psychic death” is a major characteristic in Beloved. Psychic death occurred when Sethe killed her child in order to prevent her from being taken from Sethe and being killed in the future as an enslaved woman. Sethe’s explanation for cutting her child’s throat was “if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her" (200). It would have been a “similar fate”, says Barbara. She connects this to what Howard Guntrip says, which is; “the love-hunger and anger set up by frustration of this basic need must constitute the two primary problems of personality on the emotional level”. This is exactly what is happening in Beloved. When reading this book, we can see that Beloved resurrected either to get revenge from the rage Sethe left her with or to receive the love that she was never presented with when she was a child. Barbara also mentions a connection between Morrison’s Beloved and one of her other novels, "The first experience taught her there was no other that you could count on; the second that there was no self to count on either." (Sula). Sethe and Beloved both had difficulties relying on people throughout the entire novel. Although Sethe killed one of her children, she did love them. When Beloved came back, she loved Sethe so much that she would do anything to be really close to her mother and observe her every move.

#5_Enslaved by Beloved

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s "Beloved" by Terry Paul Caesar

In Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s "Beloved” by Terry Paul Caesar, Caesar compares mothers to being similar to slaves. Caesar makes a comparison between Cassy, from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Sethe. He states that “Cassy can be comprehended as being enslaved by little Eliza”, which is the same with Sethe being enslaved by Beloved. The author explains how mothers can be slaves to their daughters and how daughters can be slaves to their mothers. But in Beloved, Sethe is more of a slave to Beloved. Caesar mentions the part of the book where Sethe cuts Beloved’s throat in comparison to Cassy killing her daughter. In the book, she did this because she wanted to protect her daughter from being taken into slavery. However, Caesar indicates that Sethe killed her own daughter “to protect her own self-possession”. This could be seen in Beloved, when reading it through the feminist lens. The author uses Sethe’s words, “Freeing yourself was one thing" and "claiming ownership of that freed self was another" in order to make a very valid interpretation of the text (Beloved, 95). Sethe was afraid of being dominated by motherhood. The author questions if Sethe killed her child in order to save herself rather than to save her child from what was yet to come. Sethe needs to examine who she really is in order figure out what it means to be a mother to Beloved.

Furthermore, Caesar describes daughters being as a disruption. We can see this in Beloved when Beloved has a sexual encounter with Paul D and when Denver saves Sethe from being choked by Beloved. Even if it was either Beloved’s own intention or an accident, she is very troublesome to Sethe’s life. She does those things out of rage and jealousy, which could also be seen as revenge. However, Beloved comes back in order to show Sethe how much she really cares for her even though Sethe did kill her when she was younger. Moreover, Sethe can’t define what it means to be a mother and Beloved can’t define what it means to be a daughter, they both differ from each other.

#4_Slaves as Objects

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

“The next evening he did it again and then again. He was accustomed to sex with Sethe just about every day, and to avoid the confusion Beloved's shining caused him he still made it his business to take her back upstairs in the morning, or lie down with her after supper. But he found a way and a reason to spend the longest part of the night in the rocker. He told himself it must be his back-- something supportive it needed for a weakness left over from sleeping in a box in Georgia” (135).

During the 1800’s, slave auctions occurred where men were bought for labor and women were bought for sex. Back then women would be taken advantage of and they didn’t really have a choice, but to be sold to American men. However, now a days, women sell themselves and just give away their bodies to men that are willing to pay for it. Furthermore, during this time in the book, women were seen as sex objects. Over the years, women still get raped, but not nearly as much as slaves did.

In this passage, Paul D mentions that he and Sethe have sex with each other constantly and that he was “accustomed” to it. Since Sethe was an African American, she would be seen as property to a man instead of a human being. “He made it his business” to have sexual encounters with Sethe “just about every day”. They would do it “in the morning” and “after supper”. Sethe was like a sex toy for him because he would have her there whenever he wanted to do it with her. When Sethe does it with Paul D, it is as if she is doing it for fun rather than doing it because she loves him.

Besides just being his sex object, Paul D also had sex with Sethe daily in order to take his mind off of Beloved. He did it to “avoid the confusion Beloved’s shining caused him”. Paul D does not enjoy Beloved’s presence in 124. Being with Sethe makes him feel good because the attention is on him and not on Beloved. Paul D uses Sethe only to have a good time.

Moreover, we can compare Beloved to Fifty Shades of Grey because Paul D is like Christian Grey and Sethe is like Anastasia Steele. In Fifty Shades of Grey, Christian only wants sex with Anastasia, but he does not want her to develop any feelings for him and vise versa. Paul D’s sexual proclivities are the same as Christian Grey’s. Many men don’t treat women the way they should be treated, yet women also don’t put a boundary to how far men can take things. Paul D exploits Sethe in a way that does not benefit anyone.

#5 Beloved, Paul D, and their Relationship

04/29/15

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Lens: Feminist
Blog: Responding and Reflecting #2

One thing I want to make sure I touch on is the relationship between Paul D and Beloved. As well as Beloved as an individual. Although Beloved is a grown woman when she reincarnates, she acts as an infant. She can't talk right, she isn't sturdy when she walks, and she is clingy with her mother. Beloved is almost obsessed with Sethe. She follows her around constantly and creates a competition with Denver. Going on to the relationship with Paul D, it gets interesting. Before we get to Part 2 in the book, we notice that Paul D is paying attention to the sex appeal beaming from Beloved. When I read this, I knew it was going to go downhill. Beloved says, "I want you to touch me on the inside part. . . . And you have to call me my name.” Paul D tries hard to resist the urge that he has to have sex with Beloved but her attraction is too difficult to resist. Paul D ends up having sex with her. Paul D goes on to say that Beloved opened up his "tobacco tin heart". After they finish having sex Paul D repeats "Red Heart" over and over again. This, to me, seemed like Paul D was alive now. He had been missing something all his life. This is somewhat a paradox in two ways. One way is because Beloved is supposed to be thought of as the spirit of an infant yet has a womanly sex appeal. The other is because she is technically dead but makes someone else feel alive. Both of these concepts make it very hard to understand what Beloved's motives are. She seems to want to do good and please people especially her mother but makes choices like sleeping with Paul D. The way the scene was written made it feel like Beloved is a manipulator. Paul D was distant and then almost trapped by her. I feel as though Paul D left the home of 124 due to his guilt he faced after this encounter with Beloved. It is really unfortunate that no one sees through Beloved because not once have I gotten an innocent vibe from her, only evil!

#3_ More of a Mother Rather than a Sister

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

Prior to reading Beloved, I knew the history about how African Americans were treated and the amount of labor they had to do. The way slaves were treated made me feel pity towards them. However, I never thought that African American women were treated ten times worse than African American men. The experiences that Sethe, an African American women, had faced in the 1800’s are a way of proving that slaves lived very difficult lives. Beloved has taught me that Sethe would get raped repeatedly and there was nothing she could do about it. We can tell that women were seen as objects rather than human beings. From previous knowledge, I have been convinced that women have always been treated differently than men.

Furthermore, when reading this book through the feminist lens, I am reminded of how many people have thought for the longest time that women are meant to be stay-at-home women. In this book, we can see that Denver acts like a sister/nurse to Beloved when she “tended her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her labored breathing and out of love and a breakneck possessiveness that charged her” (64). Denver wants to make sure that Beloved is alive and she does not want anything to happen to Beloved. Similarly, when Sethe tries to help Denver take care of Beloved, Denver says “Leave us alone, Ma’am. I’m taking care of her” (65). Denver wants to be the only one to care for Beloved because she does not allow anyone else to care for Beloved, not even her own mother.

We can also make a connection to how Denver feels with Beloved with the way Beloved has an obsessive and possessive act towards Sethe. After Beloved felt better from her fever, “Beloved could not take her eyes off Sethe”(68). Beloved would be in the kitchen in the mornings watching Sethe cook before going to work. When Sethe came home from work, Beloved would be there waiting for her or she would meet Sethe halfway to walk her to 124. “Sethe was licked, tasted, eaten by Beloved’s eyes”(68). We can conclude that Beloved admires Sethe so much that she doesn’t want to take her eye off her.

Blog Post #3 _Abby

Paul D is a very important character in the book and on chapter 17, it mainly describes his job. Keeping in mind that he is a colored man and at this time he is free. Paul D lives in Cincinnati working as in a slaughterhouse for pigs. During the 1800’s There was not a lot of high technology therefore, people working in them had to do it by hand, and it was often not sanitary. Paul D had a very hard job, “For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work, if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours, skills in which Paul D was admirably trained.” Most of the people working in slaughterhouses at this time were colored men, because they were desperate for jobs, even if it meant getting paid minimum wage. Black men were not “fit” for high end jobs because of their skin color and lack of education. Therefore, most of them had to do the “dirty” work like working in slaughterhouses and keeping up with the high demand for pork. “The craving for pork was growing into a mania in every city in the country.”

This piece of evidence helps us understand the difference of social and economic classes during the 19th Century between slaves and white individuals. Many runaway slaves had difficulties of finding a job and had no other option than working in unsanitary slaughterhouses for very long hours. Which Paul D was highly prepared to work in those conditions and for very long hours. Individuals in the lower class had not chance or what so ever to get to a higher level of an economic class. They will never be able to be on a higher level, at least not now, because they are slaves therefore, do not have rights of any kind. They are property, and slaves were treated like that until the late 20th Century where they started to gain certain rights. Today in the 21st Century people can argue that we are still going through some social and economic similarities were people with no education and low income take jobs that educated people would not take; and I honestly believe that this will always exist. There will always be some sort of separation of social class due to education and income.

#4 Pakistan and Feminism

 

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.