Respond Reflect

Before and after 

Before reading Beloved, I didn't know anything about the feminism movement. I only knew that women weren't equal to men, and this was obviously wrong. Women make 77 cents for every dollar men make today.  While reading Beloved, I saw lot extreme examples of the need for feminism. Reading about how Sethe's family experienced horror at Sweet Home: "This house he told her to leave as though a house was a little thing--a shirtwaist or a sewing basket you could walk off from or give away any old time." (66). 

 

This passage showed me how sweet home was a bitter part of her past. She was not only sexually assaulted here but also scarred emotionally. Even today, women (and men) who are sexually assaulted. These victims are seen as dirt and simply thrown to the side; they're treated like a "basket...you could give away". Through such symbols, I was able to understand how Sethe felt and the long term effects of her horrid experience at Sweet Home. I was able to see how Sethe's character not only developed, but how the characters around her developed. Baby Suggs influenced Sethe, who then influenced Denver. This raises the question, how should the reader observe Paul D. Should he be seen as a negative character for his role at Sweet Home? Or as a good character for trying to fix himself in the long run, by rekindling with Sethe and accepting Denver? This is up for debate. However, after reading Beloved, my idea of feminism expanded: I was able to see how women were portrayed from the eyes of an African American female. I saw that, with historical context, women were oppressed. Though this book is a fiction genre, the lessons learned are the same. We know that women are still seen as inferior and this has to stop. In general, Beloved taught me about the importance of keeping life equal for all. I understood the feelings of the characters by attempting to shift through other lenses. Other books can also be read through the feminist lens, such as A Series of Unfortunate Events, in which the youngest and oldest daughter protect their brother, creating the sense that females are in control. In other books however we don't see this control. Life of Pi, which I saw the movie, shows me that sometimes women aren't in control, and men take over. Thus, Beloved and its feminist view, allowed me it know one thing: society isn't simply equal because men are "upper", society isn't equal because women are put lower. We need to build more programs that women can be equal, such as equalizing the wage gap, and simply equalizing the world. 

Figurations of Rape

The article "Figurations of Rape", says that Sethe's family experienced a dark past at sweet home. They were tormented by the brothers there, who sexually harassed them. I agree with this statement. As someone who wrote with the feminist lens, I see the point being made. Sethe, like several women of this era, were treated like dirt. They were seen as objects, according to the article. Women in this era were seen as property and status symbols. The article also says that during this time, in addition to the skin color of slave women, they were treated like animals, "raped while enslaved". This disturbs me. Women, even today are seen as the bad people, oppressed and shunned from opportunity. Though it isn't directly stated in the article, we know that women weren't seen as just slaves during this era. They were servants to not only their owners, but their husbands, who shackled them mentally and stopped them from achieving goals. But this didn't stop character like Sethe: Sethe rose above the negativity and avoided sweet home. She made sure that her daughter would live a better life. The pain that Sethe and her pre-Denver family experienced, was horrid. Paul D was affected by this too. According to the article, he "vomits [when he realized the punishment he was supposed to give to 'the chain gang']". To me, this shows the aftermath of modern feminism. Men are disgusted by what they see in the world too, not just women. Lastly, I found something interesting in the article. It said that when Paul D was being assaulted by Beloved "he didn't break out because he wasn't man enough". To me, this is interesting. It shows that Paul D doesn't give in, and simply shows that he won't hit Beloved, also showing us a darker side of feminism. Another analysis I stumbled upon was the idea that rape in this book (and in society), is a weapon. It suppresses the voices of women. Rape causes the victim to live in fear and be inferior to assailant. Rape isn't just an atrocity, it's a weapon that silences its victims. Though some feminists protest peacefully, very few other women resort to violence. Is violence the way to hammer in the nail?  

Close Reading: " And so they were: Paul D Garner, Paul F Garner, Paul A Garner, Halle Suggs and Sixo, the wild man. All in their twenties, minus women, fucking cows, dreaming of rape, thrashing on pallets, rubbing their thighs and waiting for the new girl-- the one who took Baby Suggs' place after Halle bought her with five years of Sundays."

In this passage, I see a lot of feminist views. Sethe and her family was treated like animals, among people who "dreamed of rape". The men at Sweet Home treated their women like animals, literally by abusing cows. These men also thought like animals, even dreaming of rape, which is not only disturbing but also inhuman-like. This relates to my lens since it shows how women, even in modern society, are seen as inferiors. The tone and connotation that Morrison uses pushes towards the idea that men, in this era, were disgraceful towards women and simply seeing them as objects. The "rubbing of thighs" defines how the men are so easily aroused, that they'll even "abuse cows". This is a disgrace to society. We need to stop treating women as if they're shackled to men, and controlled by them. However, given the time period, this sounds "normal". At this time, women were seen as inferiors and meant to do "womanly" duties. They weren't allowed, or known as people, to go to school. In this time, women were meant to stay at home and work, and meant sexually abused in the heavily south areas. Even in modern society, women in Saudi Arabia can't drive, because that's not what "they're meant to do". Women are oppressed but there's nothing that is happening to stop it. 

Entry #7: Final Reflection and the Stength of a Single Mother

I have finished reading Beloved by Toni Morrison through a feminist lens and one of the things that stuck out to me the most was the strength of a single mother. Both Baby Suggs and Sethe experienced the life of a single mother. They both have been through the struggle of having to raise multiple children on their own with no help. Personally I know what this looks like because I have a single mother myself and I have seen all the pain and sacrifices my mom been through over the years just as Baby Suggs and Sethe have. My mom spends a long hard day at work only to come home to more work around the house just as Sethe does. Sethe had a husband once but she ran off leaving him behind hoping he would eventually follow. She was left to raise her four children on her own which eventually turned into three after she killed one. She ran to Baby Suggs with her four children leaving Baby Suggs to help care for her children. Even though Sethe's two sons ran off and one of her daughters passed away, Baby Suggs helped raised Denver and grew a strong connection with her. Denver felt very lonely when Baby Suggs passed away and was glad to have a friend and someone to talk to when Beloved showed up.

As I have said in my other blogs, reading Beloved through a feminist lens has taught me a lot about the power and strength of women. Too many people don't really take the time to see how much a woman can do and how they are no different than men. In fact, they are in some ways stronger than men. Women go through 9 months carrying a child then have to raise them for 18 years. Woman are attached to their children and feel a special connection with them wanting to only provide them with the best life possible.

#7: The Final One

Beloved was one of the hardest pieces of literature I have read. Reading the book through the psychoanalytic lens made it even more challenging in a very different way. The psychoanalytic lens analyzes the motives and reasons why certain characters chose to take certain actions. Morrison uses flashbacks and memories to describe and give more insight of the characters in the novel. One of the most important flashbacks in the novel is in Chapter 16 when Sethe attempts to to murder her own children. After analyzing Sethe and her ulterior motives in the situation  it was out of sheer weakness she attempted to murder her own children. For her, she believed it would be the only way her children would be safe; if they were not living on Earth.

The novel provides a very different yet real view on the familial structure at the time. From Africa, these people came in hordes, some with their existing families but many alone. Families were torn and broken but these people had no choice but to come to the New World. Many of these people had to start a new life and families on the fields. In Sethe’s case, she could choose from 5 men at Sweet Home, the plantation of the Garner Family. Sethe did not have a chance to look out and find who to marry. She did not have choice. Just like this is the Indian culture. Most marriages in India are arranged by the parents. Parents in India believe that they know what is better for their children. They believe they have more knowledge on what would be the right marriage. With this in mind, comes a very harsh reality. Since parents are choosing the spouses without consent from their children, many brides and grooms do not meet each other for the first time until the time of marriage. It is so sad to see this happen in such a modern day and age.

Although the topic of marriage does not relate directly to the story Beloved, it does somewhat to relate to the position Sethe has been put in. She does not have a choice the way she wants to live. One wrong move can cost her her life and her family.

All in all, reading this book through the psychoanalytic lens has provided me with an insight view of the characters that I feel I would not have gotten had I read the book through a different lens. This lens really made me dive deeper into the text. I had to re-read paragraphs, passages, and pages just to gain a better understanding of the motives behind the characters. It was a very challenging read for me since I am not much of a reader but it was definitely well worth the effort.

#6 Analyzing the Text at a Deeper Level

In the text “Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Psychological Reading” author Sandra Mayfield, compares two of  Toni Morrison's most famous novels Beloved, and Playing in the Dark. In Playing in the Dark, “Morrison analyzed the works of Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and Willa Cather” concluding that  “the works of those writers deemed most valuable in American literature at that time, there was a blindness to an Africanist discourse, to the mind and spirit of Africans inhabiting these works of American writers.” Morrison is saying there was an absence of African history and the hardships they faced all throughout the history of America. Morrison goes to claim that the largest that the absence of “ understanding of Africanism” is essential “in order to complete the history of literary criticism in America...”. The African discourse, as Morrison describes it, has definitely been left out of modern literature. Morrison used this to write her book Beloved. She uses this situation of under representation to make people more aware of the reality. Morrison uses the main female character Sethe to depict her message. Throughout the novel, Morrison makes it clear the hardship these African American men and women faced.

Many authors these days are transforming literature as a way to express thoughts and feelings in a written manner. Mayfield writes, “Morrison claims that in the early decades of American literature… White American authors were disturbed, confused, unsettled by the Africanist presences....” It is very surprising to see authors be so against about the African  discourse that occurred on a mere 200 years ago. However, reading the book Beloved, though fiction, has brought me to realize the expanse of this issue. It is not 1 person, or 1 community, it is a whole race that was affected; it was more than the 60 million Toni Morrison dedicated her novel to.

The Dehumanizing Effects to Humans

"Inside, two boys bled in the sawdust and dirt at the feet of a n**** woman holding a blood-soaked child to her chest with one hand and an infant by the heels in the other. She did not look at them; she simply swung the baby toward the wall planks, missed and tried to connect a second time, when out of nowhere...the old n**** boy, still mewing, ran through the door behind them and snatched the baby from the arc of its mother's swing"

In this passage, schoolteacher, one nephew, one slave catcher and a sheriff come to the shed of Baby Suggs's home to catch Sethe and the rest of the family, while Sethe is attempting to murder all the children. The two boys are Howard and Buglar, the baby is Baby Beloved, the infant is Denver. We see a very different side of Sethe in this passage that is not directly shown in the rest of the book.

Toni Morrison depicts Sethe as a very strong willed and headstrong women. She will do anything to better the life of her children in a time when these people were considered equal to animals and livestock. However, like mentioned earlier, this passage illustrates a very different side of Sehte; it shows weakness in many respects. When someone murders in general there is a problem with the person. Sethe is smart enough to understand that the white slave owners are there to take her and her family back to 124. Sethe solution to the problem is to kill her children. Killing her own children makes Sethe seems as if she has lost all hope; that these children will not have a future if taken to the fields. She thinks murdering her kids is the only way they will be safe. Though, she miserably wounds her kids 3 out of the 4 remain alive. This could also be a sign of weakness. She could not fulfill the action of murdering all her kids. Sethe does not have enough strength to carry out such a crime.  

Even though some may see this as a sign of weakness, some may view it differently. In Sethe’s time, beating and lynching were common. Kids were made to work on the fields with beating if the job was not done right. Sethe probably committed such an act so her children would not have to see and live through the torture and dehumanizing tactics used against slaves at the time.

#3 The Circular Communities

In the text “Circularity in Toni Morrison's Beloved” author  Philip Page, discusses a point in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved that many people may not have read or identified. Morrison has written this story with so much detail, that many interpretations of the text can be derived. Page discusses the idea of circular metaphors. Page reveals that “An examination of these explicit and implicit circles and their implications reveals the subtle relationships between the novel's content and its form.” (Page, 31) He goes to prove how these circular metaphors enhance the reading of the text. However, other than enhancing the experience as a reader, it gives the reader immense insight on how Toni Morrison chose to write the novel. She clearly chose to write the novel with a theme of power and strength in mind. All characters in some way show power and strength in their individual stories. With a dedication of the book made to the 60 million slaves, Morrison uses the “circle” to exemplify the unity and solidarity these slaves had while going through such hardship. Page writes, “One circle is the black neighborhood around 124 Bluestone. Composed of other refugees of slavery and war, this neighborhood constitutes a community circle whose presence is felt throughout the novel.” This is the circle that holds all the slaves together and binds them together. Page further explains how when one is isolation from this “community circle” they “are haunted by their past…”.(Page, 32) Like mentioned earlier, Morrison used this “community circle” as a way to show the solidarity and togetherness these slaves had through all the beating and dehumanizing tactics used against them. It is so interesting to me that even though Philip page and I are reading the same book, how one person finds meaning in such small details. I personally wouldn’t have identified such a theme myself.  Now that it is visible, however,  my reading is definitely going to become more focused on the smaller details that make the novel so powerful.