The horrors of slavery are commonly dismissed with comments such as “it’s over; it’s done”. However, with Beloved Toni Morrison demonstrates how history is not over and done with. Morrison allows the reader to re-vision and understand African-American history through nonwestern eyes by re-telling history through the lives of former African slaves.
American history is reconceptualized by this novel, which is concerned with historical transmission of a racial trauma. "Beloved" places historical trauma at the center of American race relations and reveals two denials of historical trauma through unveiling the two types of violence; the interracial and ‘intraracial'. The racist institutional power denied the violation of African American lives, and the black society refused to admit the truth of African American familial self-destruction and self-hatred. Morrison’ s Beloved is a revelation of this trauma portrayed by apocalyptic events, such as infanticide.
Infanticide is a motif that occurred already before Christ. Children were seen as properties of their parents who thought to have the ‘right’ to kill them for example because of poverty.
This paper tries to analyse and explain the infanticide which Sethe commits, from different points of view. It shows how Sethe ‘legitimates’ or explains her act. This is followed by a section with a closer focus on the phenomenon trauma and healing. The last chapter discusses weather the characters surrounding her have the right to judge her or not.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Infanticide in Beloved
2.1. Sethe’s Reasons to Kill Her Child
2.2. The Second Rescue of Beloved in Comparison to the First Rescue
2.2.1. The Necessity of the Rescue’s Repetition for Sethe’s Healing
2.2.2. The Paradoxes in the Second Rescue - A Different Interpretation -
3. Beating Back the Past
4. Judgement of the Infanticide by Different Characters
4.1. The Point of View of Schoolteacher and White People
4.2. Stamp Paid, Ella, and the Community of Women
4.3. Paul D’s Reaction to Sethe’s Dark Secret
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Key Themes
This academic paper examines the complex nature of historical trauma and the psychological aftermath of slavery in Toni Morrison's novel "Beloved," specifically focusing on the protagonist's act of infanticide. It seeks to analyze how different characters interpret this act and explores the thematic necessity of "rememory" and repetition as catalysts for individual and collective healing.
- The interpretation of infanticide as an act of maternal protection versus a moral transgression.
- The psychoanalytic significance of trauma, repetition, and catharsis in the healing process.
- The contrasting perspectives of the white community, the black community, and key figures like Paul D.
- The role of the past as a "living organism" that shapes current American race relations.
Excerpt from the Book
Sethe’s Reasons to Kill Her Child
The central question in the novel if Sethe as a mother has the right to decide about her children’s existence cannot be answered objectively. Sethe has good reasons for her action. Afro-American slave families usually got split and slaves had the status of cattle or even lower. As Samuels and Hudson-Weems say: “in slavery the value of humanity is nonexistent”4.
Separation of family and being treated like animals are also some of Sethe’s own experiences. In killing her child Sethe believes she saves her daughter “unspeakable” experiences, which most slave women including herself had to pass through. Sethe is traumatized by what happened to her at Sweet Home. Being punished by schoolteacher, who had beaten her in such a way that her entire back is covered by scars, does not seem to have hurt her as much as the immoral act of schoolteacher’s nephews, who “stole her milk” that belongs to her children by sucking her breasts. In this way they harrased her and humiliated her and her rights as a mother. She is also “bearing a psychological scar of childhood”5. When Sethe a child she found “her mother hanged, along with many other women”6.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The introduction establishes the novel as a profound re-visioning of African-American history and trauma, introducing infanticide as the central apocalyptic event used to reveal submerged racial memories.
2. The Infanticide in Beloved: This chapter analyzes Sethe’s desperate motivation for murder as an act of maternal love and protection, while contrasting her first act of violence with her later attempt to defend her daughter from Mr. Bodwin.
3. Beating Back the Past: This chapter discusses how the traumatized characters attempt to repress their memories and the necessity of confronting these fragmented pieces of the past to achieve healing.
4. Judgement of the Infanticide by Different Characters: This section explores how different groups—specifically white enslavers and the local black community—perceive Sethe's actions, and details the specific psychological reaction of Paul D to her secret.
5. Conclusion: The conclusion posits that while Sethe’s act remains morally ambiguous, it is understandable as a result of the extreme dehumanization of slavery, and highlights the novel's role in forcing the reader to confront historical realities.
6. Bibliography: Lists the primary and secondary sources utilized for the analysis of Morrison's novel and the relevant psychoanalytic and historical frameworks.
Keywords
Toni Morrison, Beloved, slavery, infanticide, trauma, rememory, healing, catharsis, historical trauma, African-American literature, maternal love, racial relations, psychoanalysis, collective memory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic work?
The work focuses on interpreting Toni Morrison's "Beloved," specifically analyzing the motives behind Sethe's act of infanticide and how various characters and the reader process this traumatic historical event.
What are the central thematic areas discussed?
The paper covers the themes of maternal love, the dehumanizing effects of slavery, the psychological concept of trauma, the necessity of memory, and the complex reactions of the community to acts of defiance.
What is the core research question?
The primary research question addresses whether a mother in Sethe's circumstances has the right to decide the existence of her children, and explores how this act is justified or condemned from different perspectives.
Which scientific methods are applied in this analysis?
The analysis employs literary interpretation and psychoanalytic theory—specifically concepts of trauma, repetition, and transference—to examine the characters' development and the narrative structure of the novel.
What is the main subject of the chapters in the book?
The chapters transition from an analysis of Sethe's specific act of infanticide to a broader discussion on the difficulty of confronting the past, concluding with an investigation into the social and personal judgements rendered by other characters.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include Beloved, slavery, infanticide, trauma, rememory, catharsis, and collective memory.
How does the author interpret the "second rescue" in the novel?
The author views the second attempt at violence not merely as a repeat of the first, but as a symbolic step toward Sethe's potential healing and an act of claiming independence from the trauma represented by the character Beloved.
What role does the community play in the judgment of Sethe?
The community is initially depicted as judgmental and distant, reflecting a lack of solidarity, yet they eventually play a crucial role in the final stages of the novel by acting to help Sethe, marking a shift toward empathy.
- Citation du texte
- Kader Aki (Auteur), 2003, It's not over - Rememories of a haunting past in Toni Morrison's "Beloved", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/57395
