Identity In Beloved, By Toni Morrison

What Beloved by Toni Morrison really ignited in me is a gratitude for my own name. I was named by my parents, who love and care for me, and I have a birth certificate and legal documents with this name inscribed on them. And when I die, I will have this “beloved” name carved on my headstone. What a luxury this must seem to the millions of slaves who did not even have this simple joy. In fact, they owned nothing – their identities were stolen, their humanity was stolen. The problem with having no identity is that when you’re set free, you no longer know who you are or what you’re meant to do in this world. Despite being a “free” woman, Sethe carries the trauma of Sweet Home with her wherever she goes. This trauma isn’t just in the form of that tree shaped scar on her back, but it is the “rememories” that assault at any moment. The scars of Sweet Home are so deeply embedded in her that they can take over her at any moment. Morrison provides no transitions between Sethe’s …show more content…
It’s dedicated to the over sixty million African American slaves who were the unheard, unsung individuals that, against their will, made America the country it is today. It’s been written and passed on. Why? As Morrison affirms, “there's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road” where people can visit, which is why this story had to be created. Despite not being “a story to pass on”, Morrison still felt that the book needed to be written. Instead of writing this book to haunt society with the heinous acts of the past, she probably wanted the book to serve as a means of comfort to those who want to revisit the past and witness for themselves the humanity of the ancestors whom white people deemed to be less than human. I believe that she wanted people to find a community through this book. A community who could remember the past together and heal through their shared sympathy and grief. Isn’t that what a memorial is