In many postcolonial narratives that reconstruct histories of slavery, authors will often use the theme of haunting as a way to portray the past as a painful burden that weighs upon those who suffered the indecencies of slavery. In Toni Morrison’s best selling work Beloved, which earned her a Pulitzer Prize for the novel, she elaborates on this theme of haunting as she recounts the story of a Black female slave named Sethe who made the unfortunate choice to murder her third child in order to save her from the suffering and loss that accompanied a life of enslavement. It is a choice that will continue to haunt her and eventually become a reality as her painful past materializes into a corporeal figure much more present than the memories themselves.
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One of the most important scenes in the book that illustrates this process is when Sethe tells Denver that “if a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place–the picture of it–stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world.” Through this anecdote, Morrison evokes a metaphor that compares the lingering damage of a house fire to the irreparable damage that slavery caused her. Sethe attempts to quiet Denver’s curiosity in her past by warning Denver that “even though [slavery is]…over and done with–it’s going to always be there waiting for” her so that she should not “go there and stand in the place where” she can relive the memories of the past that Sethe experienced. Sethe tries to protect Denver from the horrific memories of her past as a slave just as she tried to protect her children from having to live the life she did prior to slavery being abolished. What Sethe fails to acknowledge is that Denver’s life is already shaped by her mother’s memories of the past and that she is harming her daughter more than helping her by keeping secrets and telling …show more content…
While Sethe works to erase her past by disremembering her memories of Sweethome, Paul D chooses to lock away his emotions and memories in a rusted shut “tobacco tin.” Opening up to Sethe could “push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from.” This place that both Paul D and Sethe refer to throughout the book does not actually refer to a physical location but rather the embodiment of their past memories and suffering that they experienced. It is not until Morrison introduces the ghost’s corporeal form as Beloved into the novel that characters are forced to confront their past. Beloved’s presence forces Morrison’s characters to come to terms with the fact that their past is intrinsic to who they are and that suppressing it will only alienate themselves from their identities further. By using Beloved as the embodiment of their past sins and sufferings, Morrison shows how the past, the horrific histories that take place will always come back to haunt those who try to suppress it. Slavery is not just something we can push out of the American consciousness. It has always been apart of America’s history and early industries like agriculture, which is why we cannot just ignore the damage that it has caused the people of this country. Beloved is Morrison’s way of reminding us that a history of domination, which has stripped
One of the most important scenes in the book that illustrates this process is when Sethe tells Denver that “if a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place–the picture of it–stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world.” Through this anecdote, Morrison evokes a metaphor that compares the lingering damage of a house fire to the irreparable damage that slavery caused her. Sethe attempts to quiet Denver’s curiosity in her past by warning Denver that “even though [slavery is]…over and done with–it’s going to always be there waiting for” her so that she should not “go there and stand in the place where” she can relive the memories of the past that Sethe experienced. Sethe tries to protect Denver from the horrific memories of her past as a slave just as she tried to protect her children from having to live the life she did prior to slavery being abolished. What Sethe fails to acknowledge is that Denver’s life is already shaped by her mother’s memories of the past and that she is harming her daughter more than helping her by keeping secrets and telling …show more content…
While Sethe works to erase her past by disremembering her memories of Sweethome, Paul D chooses to lock away his emotions and memories in a rusted shut “tobacco tin.” Opening up to Sethe could “push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from.” This place that both Paul D and Sethe refer to throughout the book does not actually refer to a physical location but rather the embodiment of their past memories and suffering that they experienced. It is not until Morrison introduces the ghost’s corporeal form as Beloved into the novel that characters are forced to confront their past. Beloved’s presence forces Morrison’s characters to come to terms with the fact that their past is intrinsic to who they are and that suppressing it will only alienate themselves from their identities further. By using Beloved as the embodiment of their past sins and sufferings, Morrison shows how the past, the horrific histories that take place will always come back to haunt those who try to suppress it. Slavery is not just something we can push out of the American consciousness. It has always been apart of America’s history and early industries like agriculture, which is why we cannot just ignore the damage that it has caused the people of this country. Beloved is Morrison’s way of reminding us that a history of domination, which has stripped