Beloved as a whole flows pretty smoothly from past to present and from narrator to narrator throughout its entirety. However, towards the end of the book there's a sudden break in the neat structure of the plot. The three chapters representing Sethe, Denver, and Beloved's streams of conscioussness are introduced to reveal certain facets of the character's feelings that the normal dialogue could not fulfill. I'm going to focus on the most important one, Beloved's.
Beloved's stream of consciousness is obviously a narration of a trip on a slave ship. Why did Morrison put this in? In this chaper Beloved is firmly established as more than just a representation of Sethe's past, she becomes the entire history of slavery. She carries with her a burden of the painful history endured by several generations of blacks before her. I think this idea ties in very nicely with how she disappears at the end of the novel. It requires the efforts of the entire community united as one to vanquish the painful past that controls their lives. Sethe cannot do it alone, and is almost destroyed by the spectre of her dead child. I think this passage reveals one of the central themes of the novel: blacks must overcome the pain of their past to develop a sense of pride and individuality for themselves for the future.
I think this is ultimately what Beloved comes to represent after this passage. Anyone agree or disagree with this idea?
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, numerous events are part of her climatic ending. One of these events is when they refer to the events with the character Beloved and say, “It was not a story to pass on.” This simple statement has profound implications in how the reader interprets the novel. At first it is striking because it seems that if the story should not be passed on, then reading the novel was pointless. However, Morrison appears to be making a much larger statement. Morrison uses this simple statement at the end of the novel to bring a close to her argument that people who live in the past are imprisoned by their past, which ultimately destroys their present and their future.
As a character, Beloved is a corporeal representation of this idea. Sethe, Denver, and Paul D are getting along fine before she arrives. On the night back from the Carnival, Beloved arrives, which immediately begins to have drastic consequences. At first Beloved is seen as a stranger, but as her true identity becomes more apparent, the situation worsens. Paul D is eventually driven from the house, Sethe is pushed into servility, and Denver is forced to seek work outside the house to support her starving mother and gorged sister. At the climax of the novel, Beloved goes ‘poof’ while Sethe holds an ice pick ready to kill a white man that she is convinced is after her babies. Because Sethe lives in the past, she is constantly mindful of past atrocities and mistakes. She is eventually driven to near madness, and when her past, Beloved, is destroyed, she is finally able to begin to lead a normal life. Paul D explains that now that the past is gone, it is time to worry about their future. The statement, “It is not a story to pass on” is Morrison’s capstone phrase to signal a closure to her forceful argument.
During our class discussions today, one important thematic statement we made was about the characters Denver and Beloved representing different times in the novel. Beloved seems to associated with the past, or more specifically Sethe's past. She is the reason for Sethe feeling guilty and brings out all of her painful memories. She also is what causes Sethe to revert to the past after Sethe discovers that Beloved is her daughter. Denver is also a similar case. The fact that Denver survived out of all of Sethe's children makes her associated with the future. She is the one who goes out and attempts to free Sethe from Beloved hypnotic grasp, and does everything to try and make sure that Sethe can live a normal healty life, as Sethe's future should be.
BUT, I realized that I forgot to mention Paul D. This has come to me recently, but I think that Paul D represents the present. After some analysis, I see that Paul D seems to attempt to get closer to Sethe than did Beloved and Denver. However, the reason he leaves is because he is one of the fe w characters who attempts to give Sethe a realistic sense of life. Because he has been through the tortures of slavery as well, he knows, probably better than anyone, what Sethe is going through, and tells her the ways that he has adapted to the free slave life.Paul D gives Sethe advice about both her past and future, unlike Denver or Beloved, who are just concerned about the future and past, respectively. In the end, it is Paul D who attempts to coax Sethe out of her misery. He tells her not to worry about the past, and to look forward to the future, Themes that relate to the "now".
If you are in Mr. Heidkamp's AP College English class, especially if you are in his 7th period class, the chances are you have seen his video with the interview of Toni Morrision on her novel Beloved. In this interview she discusses the various key topics of the book and its themes and characters and how they came about. The main explanation she gives is of how the character of Sethe was conceived and the story of her actions that come to haunt her so as the novel evolves right before our eyes. Sethe is actually a character whos story is primarily based off of a former female African American slave by the last name of Garner, which I wouldn't doubt if that same name was given to Sethes slave master at sweet home from reference. Morrison comes to describe her view of Garner's murder of her children and depicts it in a fascinating, cunning, and beautiful act of the light ahead of the women of her posistion at that time. I, however disagree with this viewpoint, and see the mother's act as morally wrong, and beneath the covers, I see through it as merely a product of severe stress disorder and panic attack. Slavery is horrible, but murder is also horrible, and she perpetuated such violent acts of slaveholders by committing it against her own children. There is always a chance and mabey those children could have grown up to escape slavery, run away from the south, and more so, have the chance to a life on earth.
Ever question your manhood? Ever subconsciously submit to meet the demands of manhood? Do you consider yourself a man? Whether or not you believe yourself to submit to these things, the chances are you have. First we have to see what is defined as manhood, or what roles, traits, and characteristics fall in to the category of checks one must complete in order to be considered a man, or reutable person for the physical appearance they display. The traits that apply to ones sucess in being acknowledged as a man seem to be ones such as these: courage, pride, bravery, stuborness, independence, riskiness, strength, agression, and in many cases, violence, unfortunately. Even such traits play a big role in a slave's life, which makes sense especially if you are a person fighting for just your moral rights as a human.
Despite the protagonists posisition as a female character in Beloved, Toni Morrison's Beloved has a major underlying theme of manhood and how it plays a role in the life of a male slave. Paul D is the prime suspect of the complulsions effects on such a kind of human being. On page 149 we can see such emotional acknowledgement of the male gender's burdern and an exmaple of it in a slaves life in the following passage: "Because he was man and a man could do what he would: be still for six hours in a dry well while night dropped; fight racoon with his hands and win; watch another man whom he loved better than his brothers roast without a tear just so the roasters would know what a man was like. And it was he, that man, who had wlaked from Georgia to Delaware, who could not go or stay put where he wanted to in 124-shame." The character Beloved, even more so provokes the feeling of guilt through her seduction that deducts the power of his self control which is usually attributed to manhood. I think Beloved has come to tell and remind alot of people about things pertaining to their personal inner struggles and conflicts and one of these people who recieves the bulk of it happens to be Paul D. This may very well be the prime reason for Paul D's dislike of Beloved.
I find much of Beloved to be quite cinematic. Saying that, I should probably clarify that I know nothing about cinema or anything of that sort, but it seems like a movie with all the transitions and they way the book is organized.
Specifically, the chapters in which Sethe, Denver, and Beloved all have their own stream of consciousness chapter. Then as they all come together in the chapter after Beloved's stream of consciousness chapter, the cinematic element is quite prevalent. The way that I see it is this: Sethe's face fills the "screen" and speaks her "monologue" of sorts, then halfway through her monologue Sethe is joined by Denver's face as the screen splits in half. Halfway through Denver's "monologue," Beloved's face appears on the lower half of the screen. As Beloved begins to speak, Denver and Sethe slowly drop out and look down at Beloved's face, Denver in captivated awe, Sethe, in a still slightly confused yet reassured and confident manner, with tenderness. As Beloved says her last few words ("now we can join a hot thing."), Denver and Sethe slowly begin to grow louder and they speak at the same time, not looking at either woman but asking their questions seemingly to the reader/viewer. At the conclusion of their collective stream of consciousness, they all come to an abrupt halt, not slowing or quietly, just stopping.
Even though the three are interacting in this chapter and Beloved literally begs Sethe never to leave her again and Denver heeds Beloved's attachment to Sethe, the way in which I read this chapter made it seem more like a question to the reader and like none of the women where looking for answers from one another.
Is every haunted by Beloved? That is the question I have come to ask from reading the beginning of Beloved up until now. Beloved seems to impose her haunt on all three of the household members. She curses Sethe with her mysterious strangling powers, Paul D with her seduction, and Denver with her disloyalty and exclusion. I find it a quincidence that both Paul D and Sethe have a feeling that Beloved has casted a spell on them and are trying to break it through interaction with one another (Paul D asking Sethe to have a child with him, Sethe asking Paul D to resume sleeping with her at night). Originally I felt as if Beloved was either a quincidential reminder of the mother's sin or a direct ghost linked to the child she murdered in the shed early on. Because both Paul D and Sethe seem to be under some trance by Beloved it makes me wonder whether or not Paul D contributed to do with Sethe's murder of her child.
First, I would like to say how much I enjoy Beloved. While I always find something good in books that I read in English class, I have not always truly enjoyed reading them. This is not the case for beloved. The writing is beautiful and the plot is captivating and interesting. There are so many meaningful pieces within the storyline that it is difficult to pick out one central theme of the story. However, I have found myself incredibly interested at the concept of ghosts and spirits, or Beloved.
Prior to beginning the novel, we did the "Opinionaire" in which one of the questions was, "Do you believe in ghosts?" There was discussion as to whether this meant an actual ghost or simply something that haunts a person. As I read Beloved I understand why the concept of being haunted is so important, however, I believe that it is much more complex than simply being haunted by an event. Although Beloved is the ghost of 124, I think she represents more than simply Sethe's murder, I believe she represents her entire past.
Before Paul D arrived at 124 Sethe worked to push away everything about her previous life. She tried to forget about Halle, and the fact that she had killed her child, and even that color should exist within someone's life. However, when he arrived at her house, every memory of her past arrived; even her dead child in human form came to her house. She had been working so hard to forget every piece of her past but she could not do that when he arrived because he represented an important piece of her old life. At that point she began to remember Sweet Home, and Denver's birth, and when she murdered her child. The ghosts throughout the house began to disappear because she was forced to remember what had been haunting her.
Baby Suggs preachers in the clearing to her community about dignity, pride, and independence. To Baby Suggs, the community is like part of her family. Being a freed slave, she finds purpose in life by delivering sermon-like speeches. By encouraging her community to respect themselves she gives her life a sense of accomplishment.
The community enjoys assembling in the clearing at first. Once they begin to feel jealous and a feeling of mistrust, the community harms Baby Suggs. Their feelings prevent Baby Suggs to see the "dark and coming thing" which will be the schoolteacher. The communities lack of concern prompts them to not inform Baby Suggs about the arrival of schoolteacher. The schoolteacher's emergence provokes Sethe to protect her child from becoming dehumanized the only way she knows how, by killing her.
So far we've read up to the end of Part 1, and for me to say that I was surprised by everything that has happened is an understatement. I cannot completely figure out what kind of character Sethe is. After reading the chapter which reveals how her baby really died at Sethe's own hand, I was shocked. It was tragic that Sethe was so afraid of her children being forced into slavery that she would kill them herself. However, as much as a sympathized with Sethe, I was disturbed at the same time.
"But the worst ones were those of the nigger woman who looked like she didn't have any. Since the whites in them had disappeared and since they were as black as her skin, she looked blind." pg 177
There is a sense of a savage animal-like side to Sethe that is so different from her normal state. It makes me wonder if the horrors of slavery is what caused her to lose her sense of humanity.
Sethe is the central character in Beloved. All of the characters are connected through their relationship with her, whether it be daughter, lover, or mother-in-law. But in my perception of her, she is the most elusive. All she seems to do is go through the motions of her life. Whenever the narrative shifts to her point of view, we understand she is afraid of and haunted by her past, but we know almost nothing about her present. I think it is because of that, and because she has had no impressive external outburst of emotion, that she is the most unknowable character, even more so than Paul D with his tobacco tin heart. How are we supposed to focus the novel on a character who we can only see from the outside?
As I have been reading this book, I have noticed more and more the prodigious theme of jealousy. Beloved is jealous of Paul D, Paul D is jealous of Beloved, Denver is jealous of Paul D. It seems like the only one who is not jealous is Sethe.
It could be said that Denver and Beloved are more likely to act off their jealousy because they are younger, and Sethe has more experience and is above the hateful feelings such as jealousy. However Paul D has seemingly been through more than Sethe and has just as much jealousy as Beloved.
The jealousy seems to spur from different emotions in all three characters. Perhaps Morrison is just trying to convey how people who are closely connected and have no one else in the world, are overly protective of what little they do have.
When I first read this book last year for my Junior Theme, I did not understand why it was such an acclaimed and respected novel. I thought it was too abstract and depressing. Now that I am reading it for the second time, I realize that I did not like the novel because it was not what I expected. I had prepared myself for the classic slave story about life on the plantation, slave rebellions, and the Underground Railroad. However, when I began reading Beloved, these events were only mentioned in memories that interrupted a former slaves present life struggle in Ohio. I further did not anticipate the supernatural quality of the novel, which I thought made the story less believable.
However, as I am reading Beloved now, I am realizing that these aspects of the novel are what make it such a unique and effective book. It is a story about repression and denial of traumatic events and the ghosts of the past that haunt the present. Morrison illustrates the fact that slavery had lasting negative effects on former slaves even in their freedom. She shows how the institution of slavery destroyed an individual's self confidence and sense of identity. For instance, Paul D is insecure about his manhood after his experience of being "owned" by another human being. Furthermore, both Paul D and Sethe repeatedly struggles to suppress the traumatic memories from slavery, Paul D stating that his heart is a closed "tobacco tin" and Sethe envying her husband's insanity because it meant he did not have to think about the past. Throughout the novel so far, the characters try to come to terms with their past, actually implying optimism because hopefully they will be able to move on in the future.
When Beloved first shows up in the novel, I really didn't get her role. But as she began to talk more and open up, I saw something in her that was striking. Beloved is searching for love, approval, affection, and a sense of belonging. Beloved doesn't search for this in everyone, but she seeks for all of these things in Sethe. Beloved doesn't just simply like Sethe, but it's like she's infactuated with her. Every waking moment of her life seems to revolve around Sethe. When Sethe is not telling her stories about her life, she's begging Denver to tell her stories about her.
Beloved even seems to be lost and hurt when Sethe is not near her. On p.118 Beloved even descibes it as, "And it was so much better than the anger that ruled when Sethe did or thought anything that excluded herself." Beloved wants more than just a friendship with Sethe. She keeps digging for more and more of Sethe.
Obviously Paul D enjoys giving his sex, as exemplified by his daily romp in the sack with both Sethe and Beloved, but even more important is the phrase he yells during a moment of passion with Beloved. The "Red heart" chant gives the reader even more insight into Paul D. It is interesting that after all that he has been through--- Slave camp in Georgia, living with Cherokee Indians, walking from Georgia to Delaware while avoiding capture, and surviving Schoolteacher's tyranny----- it seems as though this little girl, although not all that little in spirit, has the ability to break through his tin can heart. Paul D giving his sex to Beloved actually heals him. Realizing that he could have a real family, that he could have people to count on, no; only sex with a spirit-girl is the cure for years of abuse. The same thing is true of Denver.
Beloved is just like the strawberry plant described in the novel, her roots grow deep and strangle out those around her. She takes control of 124 by taking control of Denver and Paul D. Paul D can't even walk in some parts of the house anymore. Denver lives to please Beloved. She changes her whole outlook on life to have Beloved's attention. Denver must tell stories of the past (something usually beat back) and does her chores with zeal to avoid Beloved starting her ritual of looking for Sethe. What is really interesting to me however, is how Sethe doesn't see any of it. She rationalizes her presence with stories from other slaves she's met and sees her just as another person to help like Baby Suggs would have. My question is, when Sethe finally wakes up and sees that in a short time everything that she has fought to love has been corrupted by the spirit Beloved, will she end up with butter on her face?
I don't think that Beloved was an important child to Sethe.
My reasoning is thus: Denver, the youngest child, had a name right away. Amy Denver, the while girl who helps deliver the baby Denver, left such an impression upon Sethe, as did the entire experience, that she named her child Denver from the onset.
All that is said about the baby girl that will later be called Beloved is that she wasn't named.
Maybe its because we are only one-third of the way into the book. But it seems odd to me that Sethe wouldn't have named the child. Wasn't there ANY experience surrounding her short life that would have lent itself to a name?
I'm not sure how old the baby was when oily baby blood poured from her throat, but the 'crawling already?' girl was old enough to deserve an identity. How is it that in her time at Sweet Home, before being sent ahead with her brothers, she wasn't named?
Morrison places such an emphasis on the choice and origin of names within Beloved that it is a glaring and meaningful omission. I'm interested to see how this ties in with Sethe's feelings for the baby girl, and especially with the manner in which she dies.
I just wanted to remark on the writing style of Beloved. We've read so many books this year that have styles so different from other things we've read in school. Faulkner used long almost run-on strings of adjectives and made up words. Conrad used long winded but effectively detailed descriptions of the jungle. Camus was French. Not that that matters.
But one of the first things that struck me about Morrison's style was the subtle switches between the point of view of the narrator. Although the narrator is always in the third person, he/she/it describes each character's point of view. In just the first few pages, we read Sethe's perspective on forgetting and remembering her kids and Sweet Home, Paul D's perspective on seeing Sethe again, and Denver's perspective on having a friendly visitor from Sweet Home in the house. It took me a second to make sure I was following the viewpoints, but once I figured it out I really liked the style of writing that gives all the viewpoints.
I really like the book Beloved. Unlike the other stories that I have read about this time period, Beloved actually brings the reader into the time period and makes historical references that are relevant to the story. I love Morrison's style of writing because it is simple yet very complex. Like Faulkner, Morrison creates many layers to the story. It is also cool that she is writing from an african american's perspective instead of the stereotypical white perspective. The story really gets to the deep struggles that formed slaves faced after they were set free. in the case of Sethe Morrison shows that while slavery may be over in many aspects it still exists due to te scars, both physical and emotional, that haunt her everyday. I also really like that this book is not directly about slavery or the historical aspect of the time and that there is a more personal story going on. I think the way Morrison mashes the personal and historical into one really grabs the readers attention and develops the story more than if the two were separated.
In order for a book on the particularly heavy topic of post-slavery conditions to be successful, it is absolutely necessary for it to have unique, dynamic, and complicated characters. No new understanding can be acquired by flat, predictable, and stereotyped individuals. So why did Beloved gain such critical aclaim and go as far as to win Toni Morrison the Nobel Prize? Because it succeeds in this requirement almost to perfection.
The common way to create an account of this time period is to stereotype the whites as being evil, immoral slavers inequovically corrupt to the core. Blacks are portrayed as enduring and determined heroes who must always succeed in breaking the chains of oppression. As this book reveals, not all characters follow these stigmata, which adds new meaning to the themes that are presented.
The Garners, particularly Mrs. Garner, break their stereotype by having clearly oppressive and clearly compassionate attitudes about separate issues. Mrs. Garner will not let Sethe have a wedding ceremony, but insists on giving her earrings. Paul D arrives as the hero, but his character becomes more complicated as Denver resents him and as he conflicts with Beloved. And Sethe, who should be the most pure and righteous character of them all, certaintly has perceivable faults as well.
The list goes on and on. This is why I believe this novel stands above the rest. Each character adds a unique element to the novel that shapes it to be more effective in conveying an understanding of this time period than any other novel of the same genre.
I am absolutely positively confused at this point in the novel. It's possible that I'm simply missing the metaphors and allusions in Beloved, which is why it doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not really sure. Let me try to get this straight...
Beloved and Denver are Sethe's daughters, Denver being the younger of the two. And she knows that Beloved is her sister, but she doesn't want her mother to know. Beloved feels an enormous amount of love for her mother and is unable to keep her eyes off of her, but at one point it is possible that Beloved attempts to strangle her. And Beloved is actually a newborn, without memories or maturity, "new" skin, and emerging from the water (the womb). But she's approximately nineteen years of age.
I suppose what confuses me is that the rest of the book seems realistic to me in its characters and setting. The slavery stories and interactions between the characters are quite believable, so I expect that the rest of the book is logical as well. But maybe the part about Beloved isn't meant to be realistic, and instead fantasy-like. Maybe it's all a metaphor. I really hope this gets cleared up because I don't understand how Beloved came to be.
In the beginning of chapter 5, a "woman walked out of water". When the woman finds a stump to lay upon, Sethe has a dramatic urge to use the restroom right as she lays eyes on her. When I first read this, I was extremely confused. The scene only lasted half a page, so it was bizarre, but I knew there had to be some significance to it. I later made the connection between the woman walking out of water and Sethe's need to pee. Sethe doesn't even make it to the outhouse she needed to go so bad, and said the waste "went on and on". She then resurfaces the memory of the time water left her as quickly, which was when she was giving birth to Denver. When we later learned the name of the woman is Beloved, I then thought that Sethe's rush to the outhouse was her literally re-birthing Beloved. Her water was breaking again, after Beloved left that water and was "resurrected" or reborn.
I think Toni Morrison's writing style is highly unique. Her book, Beloved, takes place in the middle of the action and never stops running. The foundation of her story is clear, yet there are many undertones, relationships, and past events which constantly shape the story. Her style of writing truly struck me in chapter 6. The chapter begins when Beloved comes out of the water, seen by both Denver and Sethe. The conversation concerning Sethe's diamond earrings, though, was the conversation that stood out to me as striking.
Morrison managed to use the tangible object of mere diamond earrings to explain the relationship between Sethe and Beloved. More of Sethe's, and even Beloved's past, is revealed. Denver, too saw the distinct relationship between Sethe and her Beloved. Denver also sees more of Beloved and can come to grips with her past, and her "life" now.
Yes, from just one simple discussion about diamond earrings, a whole internal story unfolds. A story which shows the vivid personalities of the various characters in the novel, and one which quickly progresses the storyline of the novel. Morrison's writing is eloquent, yet concise. Descriptive and narrative, and overall wonderful. She makes the book interesting to read.
Theres one thing I like about the film Deadman. No. There are many things I like about Deadman. The one signifigant thing that draws my mind when I think about the magnificence of the film is it's ability to tell a story thats already been told so well that it does not seem like it is a story thats already been told. That may not make sense to you but it will in a little bit when I explain my reasoning.
Deadman tells athe story about a journeyn of pain, confusion, doubt, hope, despair, honor, and finally death; death in an honorable way. I say this because if you follow carefully, William Blake begins in a state of confusion pertaining to his placement were he cannot find the employment he was assigned, then experiences physical pain and confusion along the way, meets the mysterious noble man of wisdom (in this case a native american man named nobody), shoots and kills his oprressors (the bounty hunters) and a racist, and in the end he is laid to rest respectively by people outside his race who don't even know him. If that isn't death in an honorable way, what is? This story has been told before if you look closely at other pieces of film and literature such as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Passion of the Christ etc. I like to describe these heroes as living while they are dying because they follow an ever so deadly-path filled with pain, anguish and triumph that is so dramatic you know they will end up dying sooner or later. Deadman continues to be another one of these great films that does the job so well it stands as its own which is why I like and respect the film so much.
I have a lurking suspicion this is going to be some kind of fictional drama with supernatural elements to it or at least within it. I think Beloved may be a ghost that plagues Sethe's own imagination and beliefs. We'll find out.
Sethe has had an extremely difficult life. Being a slave for 18 years, having her family dying and being dysfunctional, and, the small aspect of her being haunted by her dead infant. The labors of her life are shown on her body through scars, these are the only memories that she cannot suppress from Denver, for whom she protects from everything else. It was really interesting when Paul D, who lusted after Sethe, kissed the scars on her breasts, and the whole house shook because of the temper of Beloved. This really showed how Sethe cannot, under any circumstances think about her own comfort and happiness,even after she is free of slave, she is still bound by her children and her protection and shelter she provides for them. And if her own emotions do not understand that enough, all that has to happen is for Beloved to make a scene and Sethe will resume her normal unrested activities.
Trees are a recurring motif throughout the novel. The represent healing, comfort and life. The trees of sweet home are densely described at the beginning of the book, but they act as a facade of the horror in Sethe's memories there. Sethe gains her freedom by escaping through the forest while, Paul D. finds his by following them. The "chokecherry" tree on Sethe's back attempts to turn a terrible thing into something beautiful. Denver also has her "emerald closet" where she goes to relax and be alone. I feel like at the end of the novel, something significant will be revealed about the trees.
In Chapter 7 of Beloved Paul D. reveals a small part of his past with Sethe. It's the part where he says he say Halle and that the reason he left Sethe was because he was at his breaking point. And that he might have seen "the boys take Sethe's milk in the barn". Does anybody know the reason why Halle left Sethe?? Slash if Halle is dead??
Also in Chapter 7 we find out that Paul D. keeps his past and his emotions locked in the tin can that is his heart. There is definetly a parallel here between him and Sethe. The past seems to be a barrier between them as well as a big part of the novel. Both characters try to avoid the past but they both have different methods of doing so. Sethe seems to forget her entire past while Paul D. keeps his locked away in his "tin". The tin is described as "rusty" and I think that gives is memories a sense of corrosiveness and inaccessibility.
I was a bit skeptical beginning Beloved, hearing that it is probably the most captivating book we'll be reading all year. After all, Mr. Heidkamp said that I'd be blown away by a few provocative and risky passages in Light In August, which I didn't find terribly inappropriate. But so far, Toni Morrison has grasped my attention. I found myself reading past the assigned page, further into the book despite my need to do other homework. Realizing how entranced I was by this novel, I attempted to understand exactly what Morrison did that caught me.
I like how Morrison begins the book in a confusing manner that the reader must analyze in order to understand. This pulls the reader right into the action of the novel, rather than just listening to a narrator tell a story. The topic she writes about is unfamiliar to me as well, which is a bit interesting because generally people relate more to books that are similar to their own lives. I also noticed that Morrison reveals details from the past while her characters are still in the present. And most importantly, her flowing words set a visible scene in my mind, where I can see the characters smiling, running, and crying.
I suppose I just like her style of writing. And apparently thousands of others do too. I can see why she is one of the most prominent authors alive.
Meursault is the opposite of my ideal person. His thoughts are merely plain observations, such as people's physical appearances, clothing, and the weather. When, on the rare occasion that his though process extends to more than obvious observations, he is extremely negative and rude and gets hung up on small details. "Almost all the women were wearing apron, and the strings, which were tied tight around their waists, made their bulging stomachs stick out even more. I'd never noticed what huge stomachs old women have." (Camus 10). His inner thoughts are awful, but the worst aspect of his personality, is his extreme lack of emotion. In the first three parts so far, he does not seem to be connected to be anything of anyone, he shows no enthusiasm towards anything,making him lead an almost pointless existence. Something as pivotal and extreme, as your mother's death, should make someone experience several different emotions. But Meursault "goes through the motions" literally, and dispassionately states " It occured to me anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that really, nothing had change" ( Camus 24.) Although, I have never been acquainted with a character I have disliked so much, Camus' motives are intriguing and develop my perpetual amazement for such a character.
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