BELOVED: SETHE’S KEY TO HAPPINESS (PART 2)
(An essay I wrote based on the novel, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison)
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(Continuation from part 1)
Morrison then sets up Beloved as being the person with the ability to lead Sethe into contentment and comfort with her past. Before understanding how Beloved is capable of accomplishing such a task, a comparison between the two women is necessary. In the passage, Morrison attaches positive words to Beloved: “delightful”, “sweet”, “satisfaction”, and “pleased” (Morrison 69). These are words that display a blissful and jovial tone. This was done to suggest that, like Beloved, happiness for Sethe is an unfamiliar and unknown subject. Whereas negative words are attached to Sethe: “hurt”, “painful”, “lost”, “unspeakable”, and “tender” (Morrison 69). This highlights the idea in the text that suffering, like Sethe, is a very concrete and familiar subject. The difference between the women is further described by Morrison, however this time it is with regard to Sethe’s past: Beloved obtained “profound satisfaction…from [Sethe’s] storytelling” (69), whereas for Sethe “every mention of her past life hurt” (69). Essentially, Sethe represents misery and Beloved represents happiness. This contrast gives credibility to the notion that Beloved is Sethe’s savior from a life of “hurt” (69).
After understanding why Sethe is so guarded, and how Beloved and Sethe’s differences are useful for Sethe’s betterment, the next point of examination is the effect storytelling has on Beloved, and its significance to Sethe. Morrison utilizes an extended metaphor of “feed[ing]” (69) in this passage. First, it is stated that storytelling “became a way to feed [Beloved]” (Morrison 69). This was followed by the use of words such as “sweet” and “tender” (Morrison 69). This metaphor is significant because it emphasizes the pleasure and importance the stories had for Beloved: “feed[ing]” (Morrison 69) is what nourishes living beings and keeps them alive. Likewise, storytelling is what strengthened and “pleased” (Morrison 69) Beloved. So Sethe has to “feed” those stories to Beloved in order to begin her learning experience of how to face your past and conquer those memories. It is Morrison’s hope that Sethe may also become as excited by her past as Beloved is, and not ignore it.
(Part 3 coming soon)
