zaaaAP Lit SuperBlog

Creepy Movie

Alright so I'm sure everyone had a lot to say about the movie. Although I was highly amused, I was not as shocked as many people seemed to be. Oprah peeing like a horse left me pretty flabbergasted though I must say. I think this is because I was one of the few people that imagined Beloved somewhat how the director did. I am actually sursprised no one was creeped out from the reading. I mean she is a ghost that mutilated the family dog! Of course she is gunna be a creep! Did anyone else imagine Beloved to be really creepy too?

One Issue with Beloved

I didn't mind reading Beloved and enjoyed Morrison's creative writing. There was one part, however, that I didn't buy. This was the part about the party. I don't get how everyone got so jealous when many people seemed to be involved with the setup. I can understand why there might be a little jealousy but not to the point where they would let slavecatcher's take them. Considering many characters said slavery was worse than death, I just find this ridiculous. I think it's also a weak on Morrison's part for using that in the plot. Did anyone else not like that part?

Don't Tell Me What to DO!!

When we first starting reading Beloved, we read Bloodchild and we discussed in class parts of the story in which we felt uncomfortable. Although the descriptions in beloved aren't quite as graphically disturbing, I also have felt this way while reading Beloved. This segment of the novel occured early on, but I haven't been able to get it off my mind.

On page 89 we read about how Denver doesn't want Beloved to tell Sethe who she really is. Beloved had a eerily sinister reaction and her mood has creeped me out ever since. It has made this book much more intimidating than it really is.

Inconsistencies

I really didn't mind Beloved. I enjoyed the paranormal twist to a historical background. The link to the past was interesting. The one thing that ruined it for me was the inconsistencies of Morrison's writing style.

She changed the narration. There were different POVs before, but they were all third person. Then, she starts narrating in first person. I did not understand this. She would switch in the middle of the chapter or dedicate whole chapters to this new technique. To me, this only gave me confusion. The third person already gave a look into the characters' thoughts. Why change it all of a sudden?

Also, Morrison alters the kind of writing she uses. The whole book is just straight-out narration, just like any other novel. In one chapter, though, Morrison uses prose to get her point across. I did not approve of this decision. It did not give me any special insight and it was completely different from the rest of the novel. What was the purpose to this? How did it help to show what the characters were saying. Honestly, I was so distracted by the prose that I did not comprehend the words at all. Doesn't this defeat the purpose?

Unfortunately, this has made my opinion of the book plummet. I felt that she was experimenting and trying these different things out just for the sake of changing things. Experimentation is good, but not for something that is to be published. I felt like she should have kept her exploration of literary strategies to her personal writing exercises. But what are your sentiments? Am I just hyper critical?

Three In Harmony

I found chapter five of part two in Beloved to be a significant shift in Morrison's style of writing. It was written in paragraphs that were more lyrical or in a style of a poem. I, however, found the diction not so much poetical but more repetitive. I interpreted this chapter as a repetitive stream of conscious between Denver, Beloved and Sethe. These three women seem to be restating thier possesive sentiments towards each other, and they all seem to be as desperate. We have heard each character say "She's mine" and in Chapter five it takes this from all three at the same time, as if all their thoughts were being shared in unison. I especially got this from the last few lines of the chapter, 

"You are mine

You are mine

You are mine."

A perfect three, one from each women. Did anyone get some other idea from this chapter? Was it just Beloved saying that Sethe is hers or Denver saying Beloved is hers or Sethe saying Beloved is hers? Or does it represent all three? I think this also forshadows some complications in the future.

Interview With Toni Morrison

I felt that the interview with Toni Morrison was extremely interesting, and added to what previously little amount of liking I had for the book.  Although the book would have been given away, I would have loved to have watched the interview before we read the book.  Seeing that the novel derives from a real life story makes the story less gruesome.  Knowing that a woman actually tried to kill her children to "save" them from slavery, shows the extremes that one might go because of the situation at hand.  I believe in knowing that this story was true it wouldn't feel so far fetched from the beginning.  This may just be me that thinks the story is too far-fetched to be real if I hadn't seen the movie, and that turned me off about the book.  Now knowing that the book is loosely based on real events triggers my curiosity.  Every part of the book I analyze to see where Sethe's thoughts may have given away what was to come.  Was it just me, that felt this book repulsing until learning of it being a true story?  

Strong Like Iron

Throughout the novel so far I have noticed Morrison's use of iron.  When she uses figurative language it always connects back to iron somehow.  For our motif project, my group and I are doing the iron as our project.  As we started our interpretation, we first thought that iron could represent suffering.  However, as we thought more about it and looked at more examples, iron really represents strength in this novel.  In every occurance throughout the novel, iron is what keeps the hardships of slavery alive.  The overall theme representing iron, is that iron is what humans draw their strength from.  This is what oppresses them, and now they can pull their own weight.  Does anyone else have any opinion on what iron might represent? 

Beloved the Movie

    Although we only watched the first 10 mintues or so, I really like the movie version of Beloved. I thought that the red light was shown very well, and I also really liked the setting, particularly 124. Normally I am not a fan of books being made into movies but so far I think that this one is quite good. What are everyone else's first impressions of the movie?

Beloved? Is That You?

I had a question about the chapter that had no periods. You know the one if you read it. First of all, what was the point of having no periods? Did it emulate a stream of consciousness? Also, why did she keep repeating "A hot thing"? Also, was this even Beloved? She said it was in the beginning of the chapter, but it didn't seem like her. I'm really confused about this. 

Awaiting a Depressing Ending

Beloved is definitely not going to end on the positive note that the story has at the end of the second section. There is no way that Sethe, Beloved and Denver are going to live happily ever after. Who is going to drive Beloved out of the story for good? I think Denver is going to get jealous of Beloved's attention for Sethe and is going to drive Beloved out with the help of Paul D. I think it is clear in Paul D's chapter in section 2 that he is going to reappear at 124 with the help of Stamp Paid. I am very anxious to see how the inevitable depressing end is going to occur.

Why did Paul D leave 124?

Do you think Paul D left 124 because of Sethe being crazy or because of Beloved getting all the attention. Or do you think it's a combination of both or neither?

Sethe and Color

I really like the section in Beloved about color.  Well there where 2, but I especially like Sethe's discription.  I don't have color as a theme, but even I have noticed it is a huge part of the novel.  I think it represents to luxuries that former slaves have after they have been freed, or ran away.  In both these two parts, Sethe and Baby Suggs sees colors not only being there, but examining each one, one by one, because they could not have seen their beauty when they were in slavery.  I really like this motif and wish I was doing it. 

Sweet home

In probably one of the best ironic twists in the novel, the former plantation where both Setha and Paul D worked was called Sweet home. Though both disqgree he extemeness and the blight within their old home, they both still call it sweet. The novel makes many references to sweet throughout the story. It seesm to me interesting then the number place where both of these people were opressed is regarded with the lyrucs sweet so many times. Perhaps the sweet motif is just a paradox or something larger. My question is short but I think valuable why does Toni Morrision call the slave home, "sweet home."

Liking Beloved

Even though I am not a huge sci-fi fan I am actually enjoying Beloved. Some parts are tedious and really long but for the most part I think it is well written novel. I like that this book does not have to be re-read over and over to understand the meaning. I hope that the rest of the book stays interesting.

Class Shirt?

This appeared to me

I was reminded of the

2nd period blog

http://www.snorgtees.com/haikutshirt-p-667.html?osCsid=c0a83edf965c6f9fb816f67e903d2f7f

Why not What

So I noticed that a lot of people were talking about the "red heart" and what it could possibly mean and it seems like we might be getting close to a decent answer. The red heart is Paul D's, which is surprising because he describes his heart as a rusted tin that does not let anything out. With a "tin" as a heart, he is able to repress and seal all the horrible things in his life. The consequence, however, is that he is incapable of loving someone with "thick", or passionate, love.

What I really want to know is why does his red heart manifest itself for Beloved. The scene in which his heart comes out is definitely not one where it should. Why is it not Sethe that brings out his heart? My guess is that Beloved makes him realize he needs his heart for his new family. He definitely does not need his heart for her...

My Beloved Poem

My poem from Sethe's point of view:

Dearly Beloved we are gathered here

Then I zone out; that is all I hear

I killed my baby, had to shed a tear

Denver's scare of me, but its the whities she should fear

Good thing Amy helped me, not bad for a white girl

She was heade to Boston to get some leather

Spiderwebs were her medicine, she was such a bright girl

She got me out of that dreadfully hot weather

Paul D left me, now he lives in a celler

Either he had to leave, or my Beloved daughter

I know who she is, I think I'll tell her

Like her better as a child than the house's haunter

The name of my dog is weird, it's Here Boy

I wish my sons would come home, there's nothing to fear, boy

I wish Stamp Paid never told Paul D

About my shady history

I was late for work, and now I'm lonely

Would've told him anyway, eventually

I'm done with this poem, at least for a while

Finish it next week; two part poems are my style

More Than Slavery

Toni Morrison's Beloved is unique in its approach to addressing slavery. Many of the books I have read in the past on the same topic have focused on the brutal and inhumane relationships between white masters and black slaves. The plot of these books is usually about a slave's struggle for freedom or something along those lines, but it is never without the perspective of "the white man." Morrison portrays the characters in her novel to a much deeper level. There are anecdotes within the novel about slaves struggling for their freedom, but it takes a back seat to interpersonal relationships and feelings between the characters. In Beloved "the white man" is not absent, but is wholly unimportant. I have enjoyed this book because it is different in the way it illustrates that slaves (or ex-slaves), although oppressed beyond extremity, still had a culture and powerful connections to others within their culture. 

No Recognition

I am posting so late tonight because I am just now getting home from a wrestling meet. So, I decided to post about our school's wrestling team tonight. We are ranked number 1 in the state and number 31 in the country and we get absolutely no recognition from anyone. Does our school even care about us? I'm not complaining. I could care less. But tonight made me angry. We usually have our home meets in the field house but tonight we were forced to move our meet to the west gym because the basketball team had practice. Why couldn't they practice in the west gym. We had a competition for Christ Sake! We are only the best team in our school's history! And no disrespect to our basketball team but they surely are not going to compete for a state championship. I just think that our school doesn't give our team enough recognition.

Interviews Are Not that Boring

When we watched the interview with Toni Morrison a couple of days ago, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the film.  Usually I think of interviews as a little boring and only slightly interesting, however, Toni Morrison's articulate speaking captured me as much as her writing does in Beloved. I liked how she would speak about a certain aspect or part in the novel and then the readers would read a related passage - I thought that helped to illustrate what she was saying.  I was also suprised to learn that the story of Sethe is based on the true story of a slave named Margaret.  I find it hard to put myself in Sethe's shoes because everything sounds so painful, and it amazes me that someone actually did some of the things Sethe does.

    Another part of the film that got to me was the part about the bit.  When Toni Morrison described what it looked like and how it fuctioned, and then to see real pictures of it was disturbing.  Being denied the ability to speak because of that horrible contraption seems almost unreal.  Anyone else as suprised by this interview?

The Tobacco Tin

So I was kinda weirded out that we never really talked about Paul D's Tobacco tin... or maybe we did and I didn't hear it.  Anyways, Paul D. mentions it a couple of times in the novel as something stuffed with people, memories, and thoughts: obviously it is a metaphorical tobacco tin as I don't know many people who could successfully fit somebody inside one. It's supposed to represent his heart, and because I think this book is a pretty feminist novel, as a typical male character, he keeps his feelings and love forced inside of it.  When Paul D. has sex with beloved, he keeps repeating "Red Heart", which I think means he has figuratively opened his tobacco tin and let Beloved into his heart.  I don't really think the "Red Heart" utterance is as sexual as everybody wants to believe, but rather it is a moment of Paul D's expression of his inner thoughts.

Stereotypes in Books About Slavery

When I first started reading Beloved, I viewed it optimistically.  I remember my brother reading it and other seniors reading it, and it almost seemed like a rite of passage.  It wasn't until I started flashing my book around that I started hearing other people's views about the book.  At my math table a few of my friends were upset because they felt as if school was always forcing socially correct views on students.  I honestly don't view Beloved that way at all.  I think books that deal with slavery receive harsh stereotypes. While I don't think Beloved is the greatest book, I don't think it fits in with the stereotypical slave novel.  While we are told of the horrific ordeals the slaves faced, it's not that prevalent in the novel.  I feel its more than that.  Morrison even said in the interview we watched in class that she tried to deviate from the common novels about slavery.

Why now?

Beloved had been dead for about 18 years when the novel Beloved begins. Why does beloved decide to become human. She has been haunting the house relentlessly and never became human before. I want to know why after all those years did she finally decide to become human. I think it could be because she was threatened when Paul D. came into the house, but even then I don't understand why she couldn't continue to haunt the house the way she always had. Sethe was was becoming happy and thought she could finally have a family. Beloved didn't come back to help Sethe so why did she return? What does she intend to do now that she is back?

Red Heart top 5

I have several questions about Beloved that we have not yet discussed. We also talked about these in my small motif group - but we all were stumped. We asked Mr. Heidkamp about what the "red heart, red heart" part on pg 138 meant - and he said $5 to anyone who has a right answer. Here are my top 5.

1.  I thought perhaps the red was from the blood of Beloved and her heart that was killed to protect her from the imprisonment of slavery.

2. Or was it perhaps blood from when she and Paul D had sex because it was when her hymen was broken?

3. Red blood like periods? Sethe before mentioned 28 days with waiting for Halle (1 full lunar cycle) and then she gave up

4. Red heart like the red color of blood b/c Beloved was first killed in the shack in the back b/c of her mother's love?

5. Red because of traditional color of love and heart because she loves Sethe so much, even though she killed her.

Any other ideas?

Paul D's Affection

Paul D plays one of the leading male roles in the novel. There is something about him though that makes me question him. I know he is from Sweet Home, and he knows Sethe from there, but who does he think he is just showing up at Sethe's house? I mean Halle was one of Paul D's good friends, and then he is just going to go after his "wife" like that? Not only does he just show up to Sethe's house out of the blue, but they also have sex that same night! That just does not seem right. Then later on, he starts sleeping with Beloved. I think that just crosses the line. What my question is do you think that is an okay thing for Paul D to do? or do you think it is completely disgusting? What are your thoughts about Paul D and his "love" for certain women?

Period.

Through out the chapter, beginning on page 253 and ending on 256, there are no periods and is told by Beloved's point of view.  From the start I did not grasp the meaning of this chapter, besides that we are meant to hear Beloved's thoughts.  Why are there no periods?  At first I thought it was, perhaps, to show how Beloved can never really focus on one thing; that everything in her life is just continuous.  I disregarded this idea because it does not make sense and, also, doesn't provide any information to further the meaning of the book.  So, my question is, what do you think the purpose of this chapter was? and why were no periods used?

Love Little or Lots?

Early in the novel we heard to "only love a little".  Although a bit strange it makes sense in unstable conditions. But i got to thinking. Sethe didn't kill some random slave she felt sorry for, i don't think she would have, she killed out own daughter. The thing that separates the two is love. We always hear about crazy acts of love, and really just how dangerous love is. And here we see Sethe kill her child out of love, (must have been a lot of love). But what about only loving a little. Is it just impossible to follow when it comes to your child. Whats the deal, does she love her a lot or a little?

Lover or Killer?

Something isn't right with Beloved. I mean, besides her whole ordeal with being a supernatural being and all. Her attachment to Sethe seems more to be an obsession than love. It seems that Beloved's need to be noticed by Sethe, to be with her at every moment possible, and even to keep her for herself, is more for the purpose of keeping "friends close and enemies closer." The incident in the Clearing for instance- if it was really Beloved that was choking Sethe- compliments that idea.

Do you think Beloved just misses her mother dearly, or has something else in mind?

Red heart. Red heart.

Sometimes after reading specific parts of Beloved, I have been so shocked and confused by what is happening. One of these parts, is the section where Paul D. is sleeping outside in the shed, and Beloved comes to him at night. At first, I was like, what the heck is going on here? I don't know what is happening. Once I figured it out, I was like, what the heck? First of all, is Beloved controlling Paul D.? Because it doesn't seem like he would have sex with her on his own free will... And why would Beloved want that? She seems so in love with Sethe.

Also, I really did not get the whole red heart thing. What does that mean? First I thought, maybe red for blood, and that's where Beloved was killed (the shed), but I honestly have no idea. Does anybody know what red heart could mean?

Beloved's Point of View

In the interview with Toni Morrison we watched, she said that she believed that it was the enormous power of her love that drove Sethe (or really Margaret Garner) to attempt to murder all four of her children rather than let them return to the horrors of slavery.  In the novel, we can see that Sethe clearly believed she was doing it out of love, but all of the characters surrounding her could not understand, including her daughter and sons who feared her for the rest of their lives.  Even Paul D, a man who had poured out his secrets and been well received by Sethe could not understand, for he had never allowed himself to love anything as much as Sethe loved her children, nor did Baby Suggs.

But what about Beloved?  Does she share her siblings' fear?  Is she angry, as they believed she was when she was still the spirit?  Or does she forgive her mother, which Sethe believes is evidenced by her so far peaceful return to the house in bodily form.  How can we reconcile the idea that Beloved understood her mother's actions however, when we know that she was torturing her family for 18 years before Paul D arrived?  It seems that her actions have been contradictory so far, although I suppose her true intentions in coming to the house will be revealed soon.  I just don't know whether she's really there out of love, or to seek revenge.