Race and the American Novel Project: Beloved Synthesis

A significant theme in “Beloved” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is motherhood and the effect that slavery has on the relationships between mothers and their children. We see time and time again that slavery causes mothers to take drastic measures for their children’s safety. In “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, Eliza leaps across a river with her child in her arms in order to keep him safe from the horrors of slavery. In “Beloved”, Sethe murders her own baby in order to keep her from a life as a slave. Even today, actions from the mother in Baltimore toward her rioting son show that passion for one’s children is timeless. The sacrifices and risks that these women took for their children show incredible character, but also extreme desperation. A powerful quote from “Beloved” is, “How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her” (Morrison, 114). There is heavy implications behind this sentence. To Sethe, slavery is worse than death. By killing her she saved her innocence and spirit from certain torture.

The situations that these two women found themselves in were not the norms during the time of slavery. More often, children were taken away from their mothers and they could do absolutely nothing to stop it. In “A Slave Auction Described by a Slave, 1841” by Solomon Northup which I wrote about in part one of this project, he describes a scene of a child being taken away from his mother, and her absolute despair at this reality. Her pleading and crying show what can happen when a mother has no control over the safety of her children, it nearly destroys them.

This draws in the critical commentary by Elizabeth B. House that said Sethe was so hurt by her past that she projected it onto a person in her present. Having to kill her child would be one of the worst realities a woman could face. Having gone through that kind of trauma, it would be reasonable for someone to think that the cracks in her heart skewed her perception of real life. Though I don’t believe this is the intended meaning of the book, it is not entirely outlandish to think that a mother suffering in this way start inventing things to help her cope.

I think a mother’s instincts to protect her child are very important. I know that I am very lucky to be born in a time where my mother does not have to leap across a river to keep me safe. However, I have no doubt that she would if she had to. The world gets a little bit better everyday, but people are still facing hardships. Fathers and mothers are raising the people who will shape the future, and protecting them until they can protect themselves is a big part of that job. They have to teach their children how the world works and show them how to think for themselves. As Sethe says in the novel, “Because you mine and I have to show you these things, and teach you what a mother should” (Morrison, 115).

Beloved text used:

http://www.africanafrican.com/folder10/alot%20of%20african%20american%20history%20in%20pdf%20doc%20ppt1/toni%20morrison/BelovedFullTextToniMorrison%20USE%20THIS%20ONE.pdf

Race and the American Novel Project: Beloved Reader Response

The reviews of “Beloved” on Goodreads.com were interesting. People generally gave either all five stars or only one. Obviously this reaction is just about as mixed as you can get. A few notable quotes from the people who gave one star are; “This is probably my least favorite book I’ve ever read” (User: Harpal), “I found it a borderline insulting waste of my time” (Mark Stone), and “This is like the deliberately hideous painting that is called ‘art’ by intellectuals” (User: Trillion). Many of them said they felt it was pretentious and over-analyzed even though there was no real substance. On the other end of the spectrum, the people who gave it five stars generally just quoted the book and then discussed those quotes. One memorable quote from one of the people, however, was “Beloved is the Great American Horror Novel. Sorry Stephen King: evil clowns and alcoholic would-be writers are pretty creepy, but they just got nothing on the terrifying specter of American slavery!” (User: Jessica).

The reader reviews on Barnes and Noble’s website were much more mixed. There were many two, three, and four star reviews. One of the one star reviews, amusingly titled “BeHated” said, “Toni Morrison ought to be ashamed of herself for writing such weirdness” (Anonymous). Thinking that the book was weird is certainly a theme among the negative reviews. A four star review said, “Morrison wrote this novel with spellbounding emotion that can hadrdly [sic] be compared to any work of fiction I have ever read” (Anonymous). So again, mixed reviews.

Amazon had the most positive reviews. It had a lot of five stars and not as many one stars. That may just be that at the time I read the reviews a large amount of five stars came in. An interesting thing about Amazon is that it has a verified purchase option so you can see who has most likely actually read it. I do not know why someone would leave a review for a book they had not read but it could happen and influence the reviews.

I tended to agree with the positive reviews more than the negative. It seemed that at some points the negative reviews were written by people who did not really understand symbolism. Many were made uncomfortable by the disjointed writing style and unusual characters. However, these aspects are exactly what makes this book so unique in my opinion. It deals with dark topics and leaves you with more questions than answer. I think this is what a serious classic novel ought to do. If I were to write a review on one of these sites, I would give “Beloved” five stars.

Race and the American Novel Project: Beloved Contemporary Connections

Recently there were riots in Baltimore. These riots seemed to erupt from years of racial tension between white police officers and black civilians. While the focus of the news coverage was primarily on the destruction and the stealing, there were many peaceful protests going on that were overshadowed by the people who took advantage of the opportunity to display their frustrations. A video taken during one of these riots of a mother calling out her son who was participating in the riots, yelling at him, hitting him, and trying to rip off his mask became very popular among news stations, including CBS. People commended the mother for taking action and discipline her son before he could get himself into real trouble.

I believe there are significant connections between this news story and “Beloved”. Sethe and this woman would do anything to protect their children, even if they had to use violence against them. For Sethe, the consequences of leaving her children alive were horrible for her to imagine. She killed her baby to protect her. In the same way, this Baltimore mother knew that her son would face repercussions if he was arrested and she used all the physical force she had in order to get him out of the situation he was in. They both wanted the absolute best life for their children, even if the best life means no life at all. The actions of Sethe and this woman show how much a mother would do for her child.

There are differences between these women too. Sethe was dealing with slavery and the Baltimore mother was dealing with less blatant racism. Sethe’s child was just a baby and was being put into a situation by no choice of her own, while the boy rioting was doing so by his own free will. Another big difference is that the woman in Baltimore was punishing her son while Sethe was only protecting her daughter. Though there are differences in the situations, they still stem from similar histories and motherly instincts.

Article link:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/04/28/angry-baltimore-mom-smacks-son/

Race and the American Novel Project: Beloved Critical Commentary

In Elizabeth B. House’s criticism of Beloved, titled “Toni Morrison's Ghost: The Beloved Who Is Not Beloved”, she makes the point that Beloved could not be a ghost, but is instead a confused orphan. House argues that Sethe is so hurt by her past that she is looking for anything to fill that void. When Beloved shows up, confused by the death of her parents and her traumatic past, she quickly latches onto Sethe and claims her to be her mother. House was brought to this conclusion by her own skepticism. She doesn’t believe that Toni Morrison would write a gothic book about a ghost coming back from the dead. To her that seems like an outlandish storyline, and Beloved being an abandoned orphan makes much more sense.

She makes a very compelling argument for her theory. She does believe the book is a ghost story, but not for the reasons one would think. As she says in her article, “Yes, it is a ghost story, but not because things move around in 124, not because strange lights invade rooms; it is a ghost story because of the history of the human heart, because of the inability of the human spirit to shrug off that which might be best forgotten” (House, 266). What she means is that Sethe’s inability to let go is what has created a ghost. She is the one that projects what she wants to see onto Beloved, therefore making her out to be the child she murdered.

Though this is a well thought out article, I cannot say that I agree with it. Obviously, there are many ways to interpret a fictional novel, but I do believe Beloved came from some otherworldly place. There are too many curious coincidences involving Beloved that at a certain point you have a hard time believing that they could be mere chance. When her character is first introduced and she says her name is Beloved, the same as the single word on the dead child’s tombstone, that just seems to be Morrison giving us a blatant hint as to what she was going for. It is interesting to consider the novel in different ways, but seeing that it is a work of fiction, I have no problem accepting that a character is the ghost of a dead child.

Source:

House, Elizabeth B. "Toni Morrison's Ghost: The Beloved Who Is Not Beloved." Studies in 

American Fiction 18.1 (Spring 1990): 17-26. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. 

Christopher Giroux and Brigham Narins. Vol. 87. Detroit: Gale, 1995. Contemporary Literary

Criticism Online. Web. 15 May 2015.

Extra Credit Blog: We Wear the Mask

“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a poem about hiding one’s pain and true feelings from the world. Smiling to hide deeper feelings is something all of us have done in the past and something that we will likely do in the future. It seems to be how our world works. Dunbar makes the point that this is the fault of “human guile”, which means human cleverness. It’s almost as though the human race has decided that we must be intelligent not publicly represent our sadness and anger. The only emotions that you may share with the world are meaningless surface ones. Being genuine about hard things is rare.

When you’re very young, it seems as though everyone puts on a face for you. Every adult smiles in your direction and everyone seems to be happy. It’s not until you get older and wiser that you start to understand the pain behind the smiles. You may find out about a hardship in someone’s life, but unless you’re very close to them it’s likely that they won’t tell you yourself. It can be difficult to see someone who is hiding their feelings. It is viewed as a sign of strength but it can make it much more difficult for the person because they have to spend so much energy acting like they’re fine and they may not feel comfortable opening up to anyone.

There are so many powerful lines in this poem. “With torn and bleeding hearts we smile” (Dunbar, 624) perfectly sums up the main idea. We don’t project what we actually feel whenever we are hurting. Another powerful line is, “Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask” (Dunbar, 624). The mask is a powerful symbol that somehow we are all immediately familiar with. Only letting people see you in one ingenuous way is how anxiety builds in people because it is stressful to be wearing a mask everyday of your life.

This poem points out certain aspects of our culture that we should strive to change. If we never stop living in a world where real emotions are weak, then we will always be unknowingly surrounded by people who need help who are afraid to express it. It takes much more strength to admit when you’re hurting than it does to put on a happy face and act like nothing is wrong. Hopefully these tides will turn and we will have a more open culture, but until then it is important to remember that you don’t know everyone’s story. Also, if you’re hurting but choosing to wear a mask, you aren’t the only one.

Blog 6: The Woman Warrior

One very important aspect of “No Name Woman” from “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston is sexual identity, specifically for women. The aunt of the narrator faced harsh prosecution for her sexuality. This story explores many of the possibilities of what could have led to her suicide, whether it be rape or love. Either way, it is very clear that her community blamed her for her actions and made sure she knew it. This is made clear by how they ransacked her house and pretended she never existed after her death. The latter is especially horrible because their religious belief is that the dead get whatever you give them in the afterlife so she would never have anything.

This story opened up my eyes to the ways of traditional Chinese culture. Obviously there is pressure in our own culture for women to be sexually conservative, but I didn’t know about the harshness of this society. The idea that her community, a group of people that were all meant to be considered an extension of her family, would shame her so much that she would take her life and the life of the child that she loved is just so shocking on so many levels. It doesn’t seem like the people have advanced much either. We see throughout the story that the narrator is still being told to be pure and to not disgrace her family by being promiscuous.

There were many relevant quotes about female sexual identity on this reading. One line that directly shows the difference between men and women in this culture is, “They expected her alone to keep the traditional ways, which her brothers, now among the barbarians, could fumble without detection” (Kingston, 1510). Because the men in her village went to America, it is accepted that they will not be held accountable for their actions there, whereas the narrator’s aunt had all of the pressure on her shoulders to be perfect. We see that when she doesn’t meet these expectations, the repercussions are severe. We also see some of the pressures to be modest in this story. For example, when she says, “More attention to her looks than these pulling of hairs and picking at spots would have caused gossip among the villagers” (Kingston, 1511). It’s hard to believe that something so trivial would actually matter to so many people. This just illustrates the intense pressure on women to behave and not express their sexuality.

There is much pressure on women today to act a certain way sexually. If you have too much sex, you are a slut, if you don’t have any, you’re a prude. It really is an awful way to box in half of the population. In the case of rape, a woman’s sexuality is essentially taken away from her. It’s scary how rampant it is in our society and how often the woman is blamed for being attacked. All of this comes into play in this story, and it makes the reader consider the narrator’s aunt as more than just a woman who got pregnant and committed suicide, but as a person who lived a hard life and did not deserve to be treated so terribly.

Blog 5: We Real Cool

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks has a lot more to it than one might realize. There are themes within this poem of uncertainty, fear, and realization. The unique poem structure is where we find the uncertainty. The hanging we’s at the end of each line suggest a slight hesitation before each statement. It seems to suggest that the pool players are being falsely confident because they know deep down that they’re making poor choices. That is where we see the fear. They are afraid of their futures and the people they have fallen in with. On some level they understand that because they are currently making the easy choices to conform and to never challenge themselves, they are ultimately hurting their futures and shortening their lives. That is the realization of the poem.

I think everyone knows people who are lazily throwing their lives away. They seem to be unmotivated and stagnate. This is driven by their need to conform to their friends. Conformity can be very destructive to people. It seems that the “bad kids” in modern times are just misunderstood individuals who have found acceptance among people who do not encourage them to be successful, but rather to cut class, drink alcohol, and generally not think about the consequences of their actions. This can affect our lives as sometimes these people are our siblings or old friends who we care about. These perspectives make this poem cut much deeper.

I think the most important line in this poem is “We die soon” (Brooks, 1312). This shows the real meaning and purpose of this poem. It is the underbelly of the attitude of the pool players. They know they’re living dangerous lives, but they can’t be afraid of that, or at least they can’t say they’re afraid of it. They just have to act like they’re above society and above being told what to do. Because of this, they will likely die soon. Another significant quote is, “We left school” (Brooks, 1312). A lack of education can certainly lead to delinquency. Education is one of the most important pillars of society. Without an educated public, society will take extremely long to progress. Whether these pool players skipped class for a day or dropped out of school altogether, they are hurting their ability to understand the world they live in and taking opportunities away from themselves.

This poem does not have extremely positive implications about these pool players. It seems to imply that they are throwing their lives away and they’re proud of themselves for it. That can be hard to read the first time through. However, when you think about it, it may not be entirely bleak. If they are the ones saying that they know they will die soon then there is some hope that they will change. It is hard to move away from an identity such as the one these pool players have created for themselves, but it is possible that they will be able to realize what they are doing to themselves and choose a better life, especially because they hesitate after the we’s, which shows that they are not confident in their current circumstances.