Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The True Goal ( Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison's Beloved)

       Throughout the story Beloved seems to really want to get attached to Sethe, but what is the reason behind this? Sethe had no idea why did Beloved come to specifically 124, but when she heard her name her body reacted suddenly and abruptly. And she suddenly begin to feel like this person should have been with her for a long time. Beloved had a reason behind this scheme of hers, which was to obtain what she had lost. In the case of the book she says that Sethe is her face and that she lost that face but has now found it and can be reunited with it once more. In the reading Slavery and motherhood in Toni Morrison's Beloved that is about many different things, however the main thing that stood out to me was motherhood and the symbol of it, which explains about this phase that happens in the book which is basically Beloved's fantasy of fusing with her so called "mother". This indeed occurs, but it does so in a strange way where Sethe is being shrunken while Beloved is becoming more of Sethe's mother and Sethe is being taken care of by Beloved. Beloved made this happen by draining Sethe's energy and forced Sethe to become more dependent, while Beloved stealing Sethe's life became more of a wome, and a mom.
     
      Looking at this through the psychoanalytical lens, we can clearly see what were Beloved's through desires and motivations. Which are not really shown, until towards the end when Paul D left. And maybe Beloved had sex with Paul D in order for Paul D to freak out and make him leave the house, that way Sethe was going to be all for Beloved. This lead to her true desires of obtaining what she had lost which was pretty much Sethe. By being alone with Sethe and nobody to grab Sethe's attention, she was able to get her face back and to be able to see and smile the way Beloved wanted to from the begging that she arrived at 124. Looking at this book through the psychoanalytical lens, has allowed for a deeper understanding of what characters were thinking, what were their intentions, what were some of the conflicts that the characters had whether that was internal or external and this helped me to realize the way Beloved was and maybe even what the meaning of Beloved in this book was.

4 comments:

  1. The point you are trying to get across in this blog is really the main idea in the story. Beloved becomes obsessed with Sethe up to a point where she notices every single detail about her. Beloved also wishes Paul D would not be interfere between her relationship with Sethe. Good Job Manny!

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  2. I see where your going with this! The character of Beloved in this story is really a puzzle you must figure out. You are doing a good job on taking in Beloved's actions and asking yourself why she acts a certain way! I can't wait to see what else you will be blogging about!

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  3. I see where your going with this! The character of Beloved in this story is really a puzzle you must figure out. You are doing a good job on taking in Beloved's actions and asking yourself why she acts a certain way! I can't wait to see what else you will be blogging about!

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  4. This is really interesting, how you talk about Beloved wanting Sethe to be more dependent. Sethe is at first portrayed as really strong, but as Beloved shows up and the past is brought up she seems weaker and more insane. This post is really good!

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