Critical Lens Close Reading Weber 2

Hello everyone. Thanks for reading a second critical lens close reading blog of mine for Beloved.

Another passage in Beloved that shows something about the Feminist Lens that I have chosen is when Sethe tried to kill her children when Sweet Home men went to Cincinnati and found Sethe and her children. When they were about to be brought back Sethe tried to kill her kids so that they didn’t have to live through slavery. And this happened chapter 16.

I find this passage and chapter to be related to the feminist lens because stereotypically mothers are “supposed” to be nurturing, kind, loving, and motherly. But then when Sethe goes to try and kill her children to save them from slavery she went against what the motherly and “womanly” thing to do was. She managed to kill her daughter Beloved who later comes back to haunt her. She wounded her two sons. And she was threatening to kill Denver while swinging her baby by her ankles. Beloved was buried and the boys were taken from Sethe at first but she brought Denver to jail with her. Later on the boys leave home and it is my suspicion that they left because they her scared of their mother more than they were scared of the ghost of baby Beloved.

I find this whole act of Sethe’s to be extremely disturbing but in some ways I see it is somehow motherly and caring for their mother to try to kill them in order to save them from the experiences of slavery. I see how she tried to save her boys from the experiences of being treated like cattle and from being lashed. And she tried to save her daughters from the experiences of being raped and sullied by the white masters and being impregnated by them.

In a way Sethe is trying to save her children from something that is worse than death by killing them herself. In that way I can see how Sethe is acting on her motherly instincts but this example of motherly instincts is rather far fetched and shows how slavery dehumanizes the slaves to the point that mothers can’t really even seem like mothers!

Critical lens

Text: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical lens: Feminist

Impressively enough “Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’” by Terry Paul Caesar is being seen in the Feminist lens. This Lens is able to give a more meaning to what women rather than their skin color. These authors were able to conclude that the reason why She acted the way she did towards her kids was due to fear. They beloved Morrisons view was going more towards human dignity and freedom.

Terry mentions that the only reason why She killed Beloved was because she didn't want her children to like a slave life. He starts “a mother can conceivably kill a child in order to protect her own self-possession because she feels enslave…. and not only because she would save the child from slavery.” From reading beloved Sethe didn't mean to kill Beloved purposely but because of the fact that she saw the white men coming she got frightened and did was she believed was right. Terry also expands on how there is a big difference between “being a women” and “being a mother”. A women is just a female who follows what they are told to do. However a mother has more responsibility they have to deal with guilt, fear, and weak. Terry put a great example. He said that when Paul D asked Sethe to have a baby with him, She freaked and just thought about how of a mother she was. In fact I do not agree with her being a bad mother. I feel like she did was she felt was right and that was protecting her kids. She also had 2 kids that ran away, and did not want her 2 other kids to be taken away. What Terry came to conclude was that being a Slave mother, makes a mother react a different way due to the fact they want to protect them. He disagrees with what Morrison and how much she dramatize what a mother is.

In beloved  we can not really see how Morrison made Sethe look like a bad mother. Yet if we pay really close attention to how much repetition she put on Sethe when killing Beloved. Terry’s image of what a mother is, gives a true understanding that a mother will protect her kids. A mother will try to do their very best to not let anything awful happen to their children. A mother is like a Lion, they will fight and kill their cubs and if it means hurting one then it was for a good cause. Being a mom is not easy especially if you have a ugly history behind you.

Responding and Reflecting Weber

Hello readers of this blog. In this blog I will talk about the things that I have learned from Beloved. Or in this case what was reconfirmed for me.

The thing that Beloved reconfirmed for me is that stereotypes are not absolute. Sure many people may go along with the stereotypes but a lot of that seems to be caused by things such as their upbringing, personal experiences, and society. I bet that there are multiple things that contribute to whether people follow gender stereotypes or not, like sexuality and multiple other things, but upbringings, experiences, and society are the things that have stood out to me the most in Beloved.

In Beloved you see the history of the US during the 1850s and 1860s. Throughout history of many cultures and to the present stereotypes have labeled people to be and act a certain way and follow certain norms just because they are of a certain gender.

Men have been stereotyped to always be masculine, be the "man of the house", hold control in relationships, be the one working, to not cry, to like sports and beers, the decision makers of all important matters, and to be savage sexual beasts and predators.

Whereas women have been stereotyped as weak, unintelligent, reserved, modest, lesser than men, mothers, cooks, not fit to be working outside of the house and raising children, feminine, gentle, insecure, and caring. There is also the stereotype that society has put on women by the men. These are that women are objects of desire and lust to be coveted, women are belongings, and they are all submissive. Then there is the thought that it is women who lead and seduce men into corruption. There have been times where men have cheated on their wives and the wives blamed the other women as if it was all their fault for seducing their husbands.

These are all stereotypes put on the genders by our society all over the world. It is my presumption that these stereotypes were formed because there are men and women that are very much like those descriptions and I have personally met a handful that do fit those descriptions. Then that leads to society as a whole accepting those stereotypes as the norm of what men and women should be. When that happens you find others who are expected, manipulated, and coerced into fitting those norms out of fear of ridicule. That fear came from the people who "fit" the norm to be scared of something that is different than their own "perfect" little world, and fear from those who are different that they will be ridiculed, hated, and in olden days or, in less developed countries, beaten for being who they are.

Now I have gone on about this for a while now, but you can clearly see how Sethe does not fit the typical stereotype for women. She is strong and independent. Then there’s Paul D who was beaten into submission while he was imprisoned with the chain gang. Sethe fit the more masculine type while Paul D was broken into being submissive while he desperately tried to hold on to his masculinity that society expects men to have. When Beloved went to request Paul D to have sex with her he gave in without much resistance. It wasn’t that he wanted to have sex with her but more that he was too scared to disobey her. These are just two examples but you can see how they don’t fit the “norm”, their entire personalities disrupt it.

But it goes to show that no one is born with these traits that match the stereotypes completely. Everyone is born equally different and equal as a human being, but it is society that forms us to fit the stereotypes chosen for us based on what gender we are. In the 1850s and the 3 centuries of slavery before then the whites subjected themselves to the stereotypes but then held the slaves to even worse standards. Female slaves were subjected to the position of sex slaves and breeders, and male slaves were made into cattle for manual labor, and as Paul D experienced, sometimes male slaves were also made to be sex slaves.

The history of the world shows these stereotypes and subjects the people to it but everyone knows people who are different and luckily, having men and women who don’t fit the stereotypes have come to be more commonly accepted by society. And Beloved shows that through its characters.

Blog Post #7- Denver

After Sethe discovers that Beloved is her daughter, the relationship between Sethe, Beloved, and Denver becomes incredibly unhealthy. Sethe and Beloved become addicted to each other, and ignore Denver completely. Sethe and Beloved walk together, switch beds, exchange clothes, and even garden together. Then the relationship takes a turn and Beloved becomes emotionally abusive towards her mother. Beloved makes Sethe feel guilty for killing her, depriving Sethe of food and ordering Sethe to do things for her. The whole time Denver is watching her mother get tortured by Beloved. Finally Denver decides that she need to leave to get help. Based off what I have read in Beloved, it is the role of the child to leave unhealthy child and parent situations.

For instance, after describing how her mother is getting increasingly skinner because she is deprived of food, she describes how the job went from protect Beloved from her mother, to protecting Sethe from Beloved. Denver describes how she knew “She would have to leave the yard; step of the edge of the world, leave the two behind and go ask someone for help”(pg. 286). Denver showed incredible strength in leaving that relationship and getting help. By saying “She would have to leave the yard” Denver shows incredible strength. Furthermore, Denver shows incredibly amounts of responsibility in knowing that the situation that she is living in is not healthy and going to get help.

Denver has taught me, that when their is an unhealthy relationship between a parent and child, it is the job of the child to leave the situation. It was incredibly difficult for Denver to leave that situation and get help, but she did it. Denver is an incredibly strong and responsible person, who, I feel is very modern for the time. Denver does not fit the role of a woman during that time period. The strength and responsibility that Denver shows by leaving the relationship makes her more of a 21st century woman. She is able to identify when something is wrong, and knows that it is okay to ask for help.

Blog Post 6- Sethe as a Woman

In Sandra Mayfields, “Motherhood in Toni  Morrison’s Beloved: A Psychological Reading” She discusses how Sethe grew up without a mother, and the influence that not having a mother had on Sethe through the psychoanalytical lens. As I was reading, I read it through the feminist lens on how that can influence how a mother sees herself and the influence of a powerful women can have. Furthermore, she discusses how the father has a major role in separating the mother from the child. Furthermore, he argues that the father is the one that teaches the child how to grow up.  Mayfield analyzes what influenced Sethe as a mother and a person. On the other hand, I disagree with her argument that the father plays a major role in teaching the child language and separating the child from the mother.

Mayfield analyzes what influenced Sethe as a mother and a person. For instance, when describing the life that Sethe had at Sweet home, he describes how influential Baby Suggs, Sethe’s mother-in-law, had on her. Mayfield describes how Sethe lived with Baby Suggs before Baby Suggs got her freedom. She describes how even before Sethe was even thinking about marriage, “Baby Suggs had made sure that Sethe had a noble impression of motherhood.” By having Baby Suggs around Sethe was able to have a mother like figure around to teach and influence her. Baby Suggs taught Sethe what a woman and mother should be. By saying that Baby Suggs taught Sethe a “noble impression of motherhood” it allows the reader to better understand the relationship between Baby Suggs and Sethe. Based off this quote it can be inferred that Baby Suggs was like a mother figure to Sethe when she was growing up on Sweet Home. Baby Suggs was the main person who was like a mother to Sethe. She taught Sethe so much about how to be a strong independent women. This article bring in the view of how Sethe was raised on the effect that the way she was raised had on her as she was growing up.

On the other hand, I disagree with the argument that a father is needed in order to teach the child language and to separate the child from its mother. For instance, Mayfield is describing the relationship between a mother and child. She describes that the role of the father is to teach language to the child and how the world works. She argues that the fathers teaching the child about the world “allows the child to perform the necessary task of separation from the mother, and the construction of a uniquely individualized self.” I completely disagree with this statement. Sethe and Denver both grew up without a father when they were growing up, and both where able to develop an “uniquely individualized self.” Furthermore, there are plenty of children today who grow up without a father in their life, and are able to separate from their mothers. Furthermore, these children are able to be completely different from their mother and still be an unique individual. There are also children who grow up without a mother in their life and the father is the only parent in their life. Mayfield fails to mention how in some cases, the father has to play both roles. The children that are raised by one parent are able to thrive in society and be unique, even though they were not raised in a traditional household.

Mayfield examines what influenced Sethe as a person, but I disagree with the argument that a father is need to teach a child about the world and help the child separate from the mother. This article brings up point of views that I have not analyzed before, which makes it even more interesting. Furthermore, it brings into question what influences a child more: the presents of both parents or just one? This article has made me think about which has influenced me more, and how my parents have influence who we become. I believe whether it is one or both parents are present, the child is influenced by their parents.

Final Reflection

Beloved’s underworld emergence into the physical world heavily impacted and influenced Sethe’s behaviors and interactions with others, or the lack of it. Gone mad with elation due to Beloved’s return to Sethe “of her own free will”, Sethe is drained of her vitality to continue living(236). Beloved’s transition from the underworld is possibly henuous because of its negative attachment to Sethe and her experiences. Because her daughter, Beloved’s spirit was killed in a horrific way, the spirits agony to be with her mother is agitated by the physical separation of eachother’s flesh. Her daughter consumes her sorrows and distress by “whipping” her mother for her behaviors and diminishes her livelihood(305). After the turmoil of Beloved’s tantrums and arguments, Denver leaves 124 in search of work to sustain her mother. After meeting a friend of Baby Sugg’s,in Cincinnati, Denver is hired to work for Mr. Bowdoin. As Denver waits for her employer to arrive, she waits patiently for her ride and detects a crowd shuffles down the street. To bless and cast away the ghost of 124, anger and anguish of the past are brought to the present and subsided as the compassion for one another emitted through the “all thirty” women of Elle’s Cincinnati's African American friends(304). As ”music entered the window”, Sethe’s juncture with Beloved is petitioned by the themes of Baby Sugg’s messages of humanity and tenderness(307). Although family, Beloved’s obsession is that of a “devil-child” and her “twisted hair” depicts the distorted mania of Beloved attention seeking(308). “Leaving Beloved behind”, Sethe attacks the incoming Mr. Bowdin in a hysteria of terror(309). Threatening Mr. Bowdin and expressing her extreme fury and exasperation induced the realization in Beloved of her domination over her mother. Her pressure on her mother caused her refusal to comply with understanding the safety needed to evade sexual assault and rape and comprehend the her pellucid decision to avoid the children experiencing the miseries at all costs. Beloved “disappeared” but her presence of remembrance was still present in 124 (310).

Sethe’s daughter, Beloved, represents the limited and dead futures of slaves. Agitated and whimpering at the hardships of slavery, Beloved’s childlike behaviors reflect the ignorance for human rights from whiter pigmented people toward African Americans and ignorance from each race to acknowledge their “personhood”. The “newborn tied to” Sethe’s chest (Denver) as she “jumped off the wagon” symbolizes the opportunities freedom brings with education and universities(102). Although tragic, “crawling-already’s” or “Beloved’s” death contrives the illustration of the whiter skinned’s actions impacts on slaves and African Americans and exposes the gruesome power masters had over slaves(188). Diverging away from slavery, Denver became able to bring up the new generation of freedoms.

Responding and Reflecting - Blog Post #7

Responding and Reflecting

When I read Beloved by Toni Morrison, I decided to interpret it through the Psychoanalytical Lens because I felt that this lens will allow me to look through multiple perspectives and analyze why events took place or how main characters handled certain situations. I was successfully able to analyze important turning points in the book Beloved such as when Beloved went out into the community, Stamp Paid revealed the Sethe's deepest secret, and who Beloved was. 

The experiences of each person in the novel reflect some of my own experiences. While I don't face the challenges and suffering as they experienced being a slave in the late 1800's, I am able to get a better perspective on how others face hard issues or challenges that they encounter on a daily basis. Morrison allows for the book to be open to interpretation, which makes it easy for anyone, especially myself, to understand how I can better tackle the challenges I experience as well as talking about how they challenges aren't as bad if you experience them versus someone else. Morrison allowed be to have a better perspective on how African Americans in the 1800's interpreted what they thought about whites and how they would try to "act nice" around them to break the stereotype that they are "savages". Lastly, she also allowed me to see how easy it was for slavemasters to break the morals of African Americans and start believing in what the white people said. My own experience has taught me to not fully believe in what others say unless you experience it yourself. If you do believe what others say, you are restricting yourself from trying new things or facing your fears head on, which might end up not being too scary. You'll just never know if you stay locked up in your house and believing what others tell you about their life. 

- Chris Herndon

Responding and Reflecting #2

We have always heard that women never have had the same rights as men. How women have can't do what men are able to. When reading Beloved i had the image that women were treated awful especially when you were a slave. We have always be taught that slaves were never given any rights even if they  did become “Free Men/Women”. What i have read so far in Beloved is that women were seen nothing more than a desire, men would want to have the pleasure to have sex with them but that would be it. Women were nothing more but toys. As i'm reading this book in the Feminists Lens, I am able to see more of how women were actually treated. The reason why is because if we get context from a book we are not familiar with what is really going on in everyone's lives. We only see what goes around when they are out and about but not when they are home or what happen with lights are off.

Sethe the main character of this book is living a a place names 124 far away from where she once lived. Even though she was a free woman she was still not free in spirit nor mentally. As Sethe was living in Sweet Home black men desired her and since they were not able to get with her they would have sex with cows. Another big scene was when she got raped and 2 boys milked her breast milk. Feminist lens is a big role in this book. The reason why is because even though we only know what goes on from reading the history book, Beloved gives us a bigger image of what slave men actually thought and what they actually felt. Instead of us just looking at a image and having our own thoughts. Beloved brings a bigger image on what slavery actually is and what really goes on.

In this generation women have more rights, more freedom. Women are not just known for females that stay home cook clean and take care of the kids. Instead women are able to work do things men thought they were never capable of. My beliefs when it comes to women having power is it should always be equal no matter what. Yes Slavery happened in the 1800’s and even at this very moment there is still a little racism when it comes to color skinned. For example at the store there 2 barbies that look somewhat identical except that one of them is white and the other is black. The reason why is bring up this example is because the barbie that is black has a lower price that the barbie that it white. Should both of this barbies be the same price if they are toys.

Blog Post #6 - Critical Lens Expert

Critical Lens -"Psychoanalytic Strategies in Beloved" by Iyunolu Osagie

In this research article called "Psychoanalytic Strategies in Beloved" by Iyunolu Osagie, Oasgie talks about how there is the common perception that Beloved in the novel is obviously a ghost of the baby that Sethe murdered. Oasgie uses the Psychoanalytical lens to bring in another perspective on who Beloved could actually be. She thinks that Beloved could be another girl who was a slave and was abused by whites. This interpretation is a lot broader interpretation than the specific one that seems obvious to people who read the novel. She believes that Beloved shows characteristics of a slave girl who was abused by explaining that it represents the emotional and physical pain she experienced. In the end of the article, Oasgie concludes that Toni Morrison designed Beloved to be open to interpretation to anyone who reads it. 

Ship layout used to transport slaves

Oasgie's points are valid points that could be how she interpreted the novel, but they are quite specific for a novel whose focus is more around how people cannot hide their pasts. I think Beloved encases the character of a baby who is needy and doesn't represent a girl who was abused on a ship. Also, why would Beloved end up having a girl who was abused at her ship? Wouldn't this slave girl end up at the white's house that abused her? While it doesn't make sense, I would expect Morrison to not make us easily assume that Beloved is the baby who died. and Oasgie brings up a good point on how this slave girl could just represent the way Sethe was treated on the Plantation. Oasgie's point of Beloved not actually being the baby that was killed by Sethe represents the struggle of slaves during these times, but the actions of Beloved lean towards her being the dead baby because she plays the part of a baby. The neediness and the effort she is putting towards exhausting Sethe can be brought back on how taking care of a baby is exhausting work for both the mother as well as other family members.

- Chris Herndon

Responding and reflecting #1

A mother would do anything for their daughter right? Even if its wrong you learn to accept and forgive. I mean it is the women who brought you to life and would do anything to protect you. Coming to the end of Beloved  we find out that Sethe kills her baby as who we recall as Beloved (175). Ever since Beloved came from the water where she was found, she has always given this feeling to the reader as if she came from the dead (87). Going into part 2 things start getting from weird to suspenseful. We find out that Denver feels a change between Sethe and Beloved. What Denver does to try and help her mom is that she goes to Lady Jones to ask for help (291). My Critical Lens is Feminist lens. Even though in this summary of what happened to beloved give more of a different view you could still tell how Beloved treated Sethe,

Beloved was a spirit that came back to be with her mother, however She did not know who she was or why Beloved came. Over time beloved started getting weaker and when she was getting weaker, she also made Sethe become weak with her. The reason why this is feminist is because women are known as being weak. So when Beloved starts acting like “Sethe” by putting on her clothes and acting like the mother. She makes Sethe look as if she was her daughter. In the beginning of the book we know Sethe is trying to be strong and move on with her life which makes her outstanding. However beloved makes her look weak by treating Sethe like if she was a child, who could not  speak or do anything without permission.

Critical Lens Expert #1

Text:  Beloved by Toni Morrison

Critical lens: A psychoanalytic and feminist

Interestingly enough “Figuration of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved” by Pamela E. Barnett, is actually written by viewing two critical Lens.  This two lens give a different meaning to what the story really is and what is the main context of the story. Pamela introduces the book by saying “Beloved is haunted by the history and memory of rape..” when saying this she give the reader a powerful image that this book does not only define slavery but it also involve a history of the past and fear.

Pamela describes Beloved as “a female demon” “succubus” and “nightmare figure… ”. This may seem a little to extreme, but by the way that Beloved seduces Paul D and “as she also feeds off her victims”, it comes to a conclusion that Beloved is what she seems to be.  In Pamela's section “The serious work of Beating Back the Past” she mentions on how 4 women were used for sex. The first one was Sethe who was held down and two “Mossy-toothed” boys sucked her breast milk.( 83) Ella who was “looked up and repeatedly raped by a father and son”(256)  Stamp Paids wife, Vashti, gave her wife to his salver to get freedom. (184) Lastly Baby Suggs was promised if she has sex with her boss, he would not sell her children. However her boss later breaks his promise. Pamela states that “Morrison challenges the idea that Sexually subjected bodies fall within clear gender and heterosexual parameters” (pg 425).

In Beloved  we are able to see how women were basically treated as sex toys in order for them to get “freedom” or because they were raped. Pamela comes to a conclusion that  Beloved is a “succubus and rapist figure”. The reason why is because is when Beloved goes into the room with Paul D he resist from him “fucking her”. I do agree with Pamela when she says that Morrison give the idea that only rape falls in one gender. However when seeing on Beloved “rapes” Paul D, it is clear that men are not the only one that rape but women do as well. When reading the book i was not able to see a clear image of what Beloved intentions were or if she really came to be back with Sethe. When in reality beloved came due to make Sethe past. She came to feed upon the memories that haunt Sethe. Pamela gives a big image that I never really saw.

Close reading #2

Being away from a family member that you lost contact with for many years may hurt. But knowing that for some reason you reconnected with them again it gives you joy and you feel alive once more. When a family that has not seen each other in so long want to do is give each other all the attention, reconnect with them, know why it was that you lost contact. However giving them that attention is coming from the heart right? Its not mandatory for you to give them all your attention. Right? In Beloved we find out that since day one beloved  has always had this attraction to Sethe. It makes beloved seem as a child for her to be so old but act like a 3 year old. Sethe feels bad for her, so she gives her all the attention that she could give her. However there is a time where Sethe can not give beloved that attention anymore.

“But it was Beloved who made demands. Anything she wanted she got, and when Sethe ran out of things to giver her, Beloved invented desire” (283) Even though Sethe was not being controlled by a male or was being abused by one. Beloved was that “male” in control. Men have the mentality that women are always going to be under their arms. If they tell us what to do we will do it. Reason why is because we do it out of fear. In this case Beloved had Sethe under her arms. If she wanted something Sethe would do it. The way that this connects to my lens is because during that time women were known as not being able to be independent. That they had to have a male role model “protecting” them and provide shelter. However in this case Beloved feels abandoned and has so much anger that Sethe left her, that she wants all her attention to be on her.

Close Reading #1

“Why was there nothing it reused? No misery, no regret, no hateful picture too rotten to accept? Like a greedy child it snatched up everything. Just once, could it say, No thank you? I just ate and can't hold another bite? I am full God damn it of two boys with mossy teeth, one sucking on my breast the other holding me down, their book-reading teacher watching and writing it up. I am still full of that, God damn it, I can't go back and add more. Add my husband to it, watching, above me in the loft--hiding close by--the one place he thought no one would look for him, looking down on what I couldn't look at at all. And not stopping them--looking and letting it happen. But my greedy brain says, Oh thanks, I'd love more--so I add more.”(83)

Rape has been around for many years and many women are scared to say who raped them or even say if they have been raped. In Beloved we find out the Sethe was raped by 2 white boys, and nothing was done to stop it. Her husband watching where he believed no one saw  him. A teacher who was watching everything happen in front of his nose just sat there and let it happen. Yes this did happen in the 1800’s and it did happen to a black women. Slaves where look as nothing but property. However when this happened they did not have no right to rape her and not just that but also take her breast milk. We do find out that early in the book black males would “fuck cows” since they were not able to get with Sethe (24). The  way this connects to my lens is that i am doing the Feminist Lens. And when looking on how there was 2 people doing the rape and 2 others watching and not doing anything. It makes us females look like men are able to do a lot. When in reality without females men would be nothing. They need us for them to feel like “men”. However when rape happens that is when they make women look fragile because we are shocked on what is happening that our scream are not loud enough to be heard. Since we are women people will not pay as much of attention especially during that time.

Blog Post #5 - Slavery and its Psychological Effect

Critical Lens Close Reading - Psychoanalytical Lens

"In addition to having to use their heads to get ahead, they had the weight of the whole race sitting there. 'Whitepeople' believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle... swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. In a way, he thought, they were right. The more colored people spent their strength trying to convince them how gentle they were...but it wasn't the 'jungled' blacks who brought themselves here [United States]; it was the jungled white folks who changed and altered them."

- Stamp Paid  (Page 235)

While reading Beloved, I came across this passage that really brings into perspective of both enslaved and free African Americans are treated as in the United States. In this passage, Stamp Paid is talking about how slavery in the United States has been corrupting and dehumanizing people. He states that African Americans are trying to get ahead in our society but are constantly bogged down by the history of their race sitting on their shoulders. One wrong move or action, and it reflects the entire race as a whole. This reflection has been imbedded into white people's minds that "under every dark skin is a jungle" which consists of "baboons and snakes" who are ready to hunt whites. 

Through the perspective of Stamp Paid and other African Americans, Toni Morrison does a good job at portraying some of the struggles they go through on a everyday basis. On my other blog post, I reaffirmed this perspective through analyzing how Sethe battles the challenge of just going into the town, but in the end how the community ends up supporting her. This "fear" of other races was set at a young age by either whites or older African Americans who experience pain and suffering in their life and then share the stories with their children. This disillusionment of whites has caused African Americans to live in fear everyday, but they lack the actual experience of facing their fears head on. Sethe was able to face her fears by running into Amy Denver, who contradicts all her previous experiences. 

Self-denial, doubt and lack of pride in who you are is prevalent in African Americans during this time period, and Stamp Paid gives a perfect example of this when he thought "every dark skin was a jungle of baboons and snakes" was right. Sounds like he is one of them who was changed by "the jungled white folk".

- Chris Herndon

Blog Entry 5- Beloved and Sethe's Relationship

Them the mood changed and the arguments began. Slowly at first. A complaint from Beloved, an apology from Sethe. A reduction of pleasure at some special effort the older women made. Wasn’t it too cold to stay outside? Beloved gave a look that said, So what? Was it past bedtime, the light no good for sewing? Beloved didn’t move; said “Do it,” and Sethe complied. She took the best of everything-first. The best chair, the biggest piece, the prettiest place, the biggest ribbon for her hair, and the more she took, the more Sethe began to talk, explain, describe how much she suffered, been through, for her children, waving away flies in grape arbors, crawling on her knees to a lean-to. None of which made the impression it was supposed to. Beloved accused her of leaving her behind. Of not being nice to her, not smiling at her. She said they were the same, had the same face, how could she have left her? And Sethe cried saying she never did, or meant to-that she to get them out, away, that she had the milk all the time and the money oo for the stone but not enough. That her plan was always that they would all be together on the other side, forever. Beloved wasn’t interested.

pg. 283-284

It is said that the bond between a mother and her child is unbreakable. Sethe contains extreme  motherhood characteristics, and takes the concept of protecting her children to the extreme, which is killing her children in order to protecting them from being enslaved. The relationship between Sethe and Beloved is different than a normal, healthy relationship between a mother and daughter. Beloved tortures her mother and makes her feel horrible for what she did, even though Sethe apologizes and tries to make up for killing Beloved. Through Denver point of view, it becomes clear that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is unhealthy because Beloved the relationship is controlling  and emotionally abusive.

This passage reveals that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is unhealthy because their relationship is abusive. For instance, when Denver is describing the sudden change between Beloved and her mother she talks about how Beloved controlled her mother. She describes how Sethe would try to be a mother to Beloved, or Sethe would ask for Beloved to move and, “Beloved didn’t move; said “Do it,’ and Sethe complied.” In this passage Beloved has all the power in the relationship between her mother and her. Beloved has so much control over Sethe, that it makes the relationship unhealthy. This quote breaks all the stereotypes about the relationship between a mother and daughter. A mother is supposed to be the one who is tells the daughter what to do, not the other way around.  By saying “Beloved didn’t move” even when her mother ask her shows how controlling the relationship is. If the relationship was healthy, the daughter would not command her mother to do things. This assists in proving the point that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is unhealthy because it is controlling because Beloved is telling Sethe what to do, and not letting Sethe help Beloved or protect her.

This passage reveals the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is unhealthy because the relationship is emotionally abusive. For instance, Beloved constantly makes her mother feel guilty for killing her. Denver describes how Sethe would say how sorry and how much she worked to make sure nothing bad happened to her children. Denver describes how every time Beloved was unmoved by what her mother was saying to her. Denver describes how, “Beloved accused her of leaving her behind. Of not being nice to her, not smiling at her.” Beloved is making her mother feel horrible for what she did to her. For Sethe, the only way to protect her children from being slave. By Beloved accusing her mother “Of not being nice to her” and “not smiling at her” that makes her mother feel worse because it is not true. Sethe loved all of her children so much, and that is why she tried to kill them. This makes the relationship emotionally abusive because she is intentionally making the other person in the relationship feel horrible about themself. In addition, Beloved is not even willing to hear what her mother has to say and makes Sethe feel horrible for what she did. This supports the claim that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is unhealthy because it is emotionally abusive because Beloved is making Sethe feel worse about killing Beloved. By not forgiving Sethe, Beloved emotionally torturing Sethe.

The relationship between Beloved and Sethe is harmful because the relationship is controlling and emotionally abusive. Beloved is Sethe's daughter, which is why it is shocking at how Beloved treat her mother. Even though Sethe apologize for killing her, she is being rude and hurtful to her mother which is not what a daughter should do to a mother.

Slave Narrative Song

During the 1845 Narrative of Frederick Douglass, he attacks the institution of slavery, not only on “white America”, but of the idealism behind superiority and oppression.During the time of publishing, Douglass used the writing as to “inform rather than offend” the general public of literate readers. Due to ability from status and wealth, mostly whiter pigmented people were able to obtain an education so his depiction of the miseries of slavery were very emotional. Rather than descriptive, Douglass illustrates the “souls boiling over with bitterest anguish”. Through the declaration of white supremacy, the blacker inferiorities felt their freedoms of individuality and humanity expunged through ignorance and prejudice.

Deriving from Asian culture, the idealism of whiter pigmentation reflecting higher status spread into Europe through colonisation and adaptations from social interactions. The business workers of the economic status pyramid desired less sunlight due to indoor work space, therefore reducing the pigmentation of the skin. The workers believed that the more time spent inside reflected status and skin colorization as well. Because agricultural farmers spend more time in the sun, their pigment darkened and caused whiter pigmented people to believe that they are of higher status. The whiter pigment transferred into Europe and developed into the America’s as an exaggerated separation of classes. The asian culture treated lighter and darker pigmented people as equals in human importance but created class systems between socio-economic variables.

The American perspective of skin pigmentation was distorted to adapt the conjecture that darker pigmented people were inhuman and did not have any rights of their own. The translation of status within skin color was lost to ignorance and prejudice to exploit the lives and labor of others. In order to “uncover the truth of slavery’s brutality”, Douglas embodies the miseries through emotional turmoils and struggles while Morrison portrays the arduous nature of slavery and the burdensome decisions that haunt the characters. Douglas acknowledges the “vital relationship between the ‘personhood’ of African Americans’ to establish the recognition of human rights. The “handling of music and song” through Douglas’s Narrative becomes a reference of an “indicator of human status” deprivation. The song affirms “‘personhood” in a world where a slave is constantly challenged and denied”, as seen through Baby Sugg’s preach of individual and family compassion. In order to “defend status as human beings”, the African Americans had to stand up and share their stories of despair and grief and recognize that every person, no matter the skin color, is a human being and must not be perceived as malignant or as an animal.                              

Expert Firgurations of Rape

The ideal of institutionalized rape during slavery and post-emancipation haunted slaves and freed African Americans alike. The whiter pigmented used they slaved in any, disgusting measure they pleased. Throughout Beloved, characters memorialize their traumatic sexual assaults in an attempt to escape and evade the situation and avoid the memories themselves/ However, according to the “Beyond the Pleasure Principle: those who are “suffering from traumatic neurosis” occupy themselves with memories and are “more concerned of not thinking about the traumatic event”. For Sethe, rape became the worst occurrence and feeling in the world and hid herself and family as much a possible. Shielding Denver and Beloved from the possibility became Sethe’s top priority as a mother. The haunting of rape not only held power over women but slave men as well. Sweet Home men’s desire and “dreams of rape” (10,11) scarred Paul D into enclosing himself in a “tobacco tin’ heart” (113). Repressing and preventing the spread of rape through memories and action became the task of Sethe after her traumatic sexual assault from the Schoolteacher’s nephews. Sethe felt as though it was her ultimate responsibility to protect her daughters from “undreamable dreams” of becoming “dirty” by the whites because of their horrific fascination with invading others “private parts”(Barnett).  Sethe believed that “dirty” persons who experiences rape felt as though they could not love themselves. Her dark past caused her to panic in fear for her childrens lives if they were to be sexual assaulted, in or out of slavery. This dread threatened Sethe and her family when she had first arrived at 124, when she was still being searched for. Her repulsion of rape scared her into believing that “dying at the hand of one’s mother is subordinate to rape”(Barnett). In the panic of being found and shipped back into slavery, Sethe refused to let her daughters experience the miseries as well. When Sethe saw Schoolteacher, her instinct to protect her family from slavery and rape sprung into action, causing her to take them to “over there, where no one could hurt them” and raised a “handsaw” to her older daughter for her “safety” (193). Killing her children became the solution to avoiding slavery but tormented the residence of 124 because of the deceased child's haunting. The residence and Baby Suggs were frightened and timorous at the event and spirit, so Sethe remained alone in the house to care and stay close to her daughters. Sethe’s decision to murder her child oscillates between a “crisis of life” and “death”(Barnett). When such a deep opposition to letting her kin be susceptible to rape, she found that sending them to the underworld was safer than the possibility of slavery or sexual assault. Her phobia was carried away into avoidance of any possibility, running deep into her heart. For a women who wanted to love her children so much, she chose to have their lives end rather than allowing them to be sent away into slavery. Former slaves used repression of their memories to “diffuse the power of the past” as Sethe must have felt after Schoolteacher left. Although it possibly stopped Schoolteacher from capturing the family, Sethe must dwell with the haunting of her murdered child. Sethe’s love for her family provokes her refusal to leave her daughters. For Sethe’s “thick love” keeps her family always together (193).

Blog Post #4 - Responding and Reflecting

Responding & Reflecting - Psychoanalytical Lens 

In my reading of Beloved by Toni Morrison, I have noticed all the different experiences and struggles the characters have gone through everyday in our lives. One thing that stood out to me in the book Beloved was the way they handled their fears. The way they tackled their fears head on is inspiring for people who are also experiencing pain and suffering in their life. Even though I will never experience the pain, suffering and loss from someone who has gone through hell and back, it is inspirational that I know I can get through any roadblock that comes my way.

Seth's hardship she has gone through during her time at Sweet Home and while at her own home have allowed her to grow and be more well prepared for challenges she could possibly face later on. The hardship she felt with was rewarding to her and her daughter, Denver. She was able to become brave enough to escape the plantation, trust another white person to guide her to safety, have a child and live safely in a house that is her's outside of town.

This experience allowed her to prepare for the consequences for when Paul D finds out from Stamp Paid that she killed her own child, Beloved. When Paul D left the family, Sethe went through some hardships of trying to support her family, especially all of Beloved's demands. Her previous experiences allowed her to take on the challenge of going into the town to get food and water, which paid off when the community was open to helping her out.

Toni Morrison's takeaway from this book is to make you a braver person, who is ready to tackle what life throws at you. This book describes the experience of someone who did have to go through suffering that is most likely more painful than yours, but proves to you that you can take risks and it will pay off.

- Chris Herndon