Beloved :: essays research papers

Beloved is a novel set in Ohio during 1873, several years after the Civil War. The book centers on characters that struggle to keep their painful recollections of the past at bay. The whole story revolves around issues of race, gender, family relationships and the supernatural, covering two generations and three decades up to the 19th century. Concentrating on events arising from the Fugitive Slave Act of 1856, it describes the consequences of an escape from slavery for Sethe, her children and Paul D. The narrative begins 18 years after Sethe's break for freedom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children...by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims". The novel is divided into three parts. Each part opens with statements to indicate the progress of the haunting--from the poltergeist to the materialized spirit to the final freeing of both the spirit and Sethe. These parts reflect the progressive of a betrayed child and her desperate mother. Overall s ymbolizing the gradual acceptance of freedom and the enormous work and continuous struggle that would persist for the next 100 years. Events that occurred prior and during the 18 years of Sethe's freedom are slowly revealed and pieced together throughout the novel. Painfully, Sethe is in need of rebuilding her identity and remembering the past and her origins: "Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. You know. Some things you forget. Other things you never do. But it's not. Places, places, are still there. If a house burns down it's gone, but the place--the picture of it--stays, and not just in rememory, but out there in the world". Baby Suggs' horror at her grandchild's murder is displayed: "Baby Suggs had got the boys inside and was bathing their heads, rubbing their hands, lifting their lids, whispering, Within this horror, the insensitivity of her landlord is shown when Baby Suggs is approached by her landlord's kids regarding fixing some shoes, not knowing and not caring to know they just give her the shoes: "Baby Suggs ... She took the shoes from him...saying, 'I beg your pardon. Lord, I beg your pardon. I sure do" Paul D's memories of Sweet Home are remembered to confront his and Sethe's past: "Paul D smiled then, remembering the bedding dress. Sethe was thirteen when she came to Sweet Home and already iron-eyed" these various voices act as witnesses to Sethe's experiences and showing how black women had no control over their husbands, children or own bodies.