Thoughts about Beloved: Morrison seeks to confront “the problems of human relationships, morality, death, and time in relation to a disintegrating world.” There is a sanctity in people and an unknowableness that should not be violated.” Morrison Morrison: “Rootedness: ancestor in black writing” “Ngoma brings together the disparate elements of an individual’s life threads and weaves them into a meaningful fabric. It does this, particularity though devices of mutual “call and response” sharing experiences of self-representation, of articulation of common affliction, art of consensus over the nature of the problem and the course of action to take.” “The last word of the novel Beloved, like the novel itself, is in part an incantation, a performance of nommo, the force that makes words living things, not so much recuperative of loss but rather regenerative.”--M. Handley Requirements While Reading: NOTES: It is necessary to focus (as a critical reader) on multiple levels of the text: the themes, characters, plot, setting, imagery, structure, and overall significance.How we make sense of a text depends on what we choose to focus. As you read, compile notes somewhat like an index of two particular themes or motifs.You can record this information in list form, chart form, 2-column note form. Be sure to include page numbers and references to the specific element of that theme. Your purpose it to identify and analyze the significance of your themes in the novel as a whole--you can describe, analyze, or compare/contrast. Due: at the end of our study
Beloved Introductory Notes Hope has two beautiful daughters.Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are. –St. Augustine Lecture
·Historical Context: slavery in South before and after Civil War, treatment of African-Americans antebellum (post war) and after emancipation, female slaves, underground railroad, middle passage ·Personal Context: moral dilemmas, loving no matter the cost, secrecy, shame, our past, love Epigraph: I will call them my people, Which were not my people; And her beloved, Which was not beloved. Romans 9:25 Other Biblical Allusions: 1.The novel opens with the following inscription: I will call them my people, Which were not my people; And her beloved, Which was not beloved. Romans 9:25 This reference comes from the Epistle to the Romans, a book of the New Testament written by Paul.As he prepares to visit Rome, he sends a letter stating his beliefs.He discusses the nature of God’s relationship with humanity and focuses on the sovereignty of God.He also raises the problem of the justice of God, power mixed with mercy, even if it leads to problems.This chapter, despite its examination of the evils on earth, ends on a note of reconciliation.The following verse reads as follows, “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto thee, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God”(Romans 9:26).See also Romans 1:22, 23. 2.Loaves and Fishes This line is used to describe Baby Suggs’ feast for the others in the community.This allusion comes from Matthew 15-15, Mark 6, and Luke 9.They all mention the miracle of Jesus feeding the thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish. 3.The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in Revelations 6.The chapter tells of a scroll in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals.When the first four of these seals are opened, four horsemen appear. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heasrd the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.And I looked, a behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.Revelations 6: 2—8 See also Revelations 7, in which the four angels appear.Specifically, 7:17. 4.Lot’s Wife When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Lot’s wife was warned not to look back.When morning dawned, the angels urgedLot, saying, ‘Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here,lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.’But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife, and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought himforth and set him outside the city.And when they had brought them forth, they said,’Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills lest you be consumed. Genesis19:15-17.Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.Genesis 19:26. 5.Pride Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.Proverbs 16:18 6.The Spirit is Willing Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.Matthew 26:41 7.Sufficient Unto The Day Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.Matthew 6: 34 8.Don’t Study War No More And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.Isaiah 2: 4 Motifs and Themes in Beloved: Dilemma Tale Antiphonal/Multivocality Orality Call/response Presence of a chorus Sensuality Presence of an ancestor Iron Superstition Resurrection Colors Plants Motherhood/Breastfeeding Heart Sethe’s Gaze Hummingbirds Freedom Love Family Plot structures and effects Setting
Beloved Time Line
1795 Baby Suggs is born. 1835 Sethe is born to “Ma’am,” the only name given to her mother
Halle is born to Baby Suggs
The Garners purchase Baby Suggs and Halle to work at Sweet Home in Kentucky
Halle works on Sundays for 5 years to buy his mother’s freedom.
Sethe arrives at Sweet Home as a replacement for Baby Suggs 1849 Sethe marries Halle; they consummate their marriage in the cornfield
Sethe gives birth to Howard, Buglar, and Beloved within three years.
Garner dies. Schoolteacher arrives at Sweet Home. 1855 Sethe sends Buglar, Howard, and Beloved to live with Baby Suggs, for she is afraid they will be sold away from her.
Paul D, Sixo, Halle, and Seth plan to escape from Sweet Home
Sethe is attacked by Schoolteacher and his nephews. After she tells Mrs. Garner, Sethe is severely beaten by Schoolteacher. Schoolteacher kills Sixo and Paul A
Sethe runs away from Sweet Home, gives birth to Denver with the help of Amy Denver, and arrives at 124 Bluestone to find Baby Suggs
Sethe spends 28 days at 123 before daughter dies. 1856
Paul D is captured and locked up in Albert, Georgia (“18 years of roaming” before finding Sethe). Paul D spends 86 days on the chain gang in Georgia before escaping.
Beloved ghost’s takes up residence at 124 Bluestone
Denver is not accepted because of the house being haunted 1857 Sethe takes a job at Sawyer’s Restaurant 1862-1863 Denver attends Lady Jones’ school (7 years old) 1864 Buglar and Howard leave home; Baby Suggs dies (happens within two months) 1873
Sethe takes off her shoes by the river to wash of the chamomile
Paul D. enters the house and is overcome by grief and despair
Sethe tells Paul about being beaten and the “tree” in her back
Paul D. banishes the ghost of the baby
Baby ghost flings table at Paul D.
Paul D. fights off the ghost with a table
Paul D. attacks the house, which is being controlled by the ghost of the baby
Beloved arrives at 124 Bluestone; Beloved seduces Paul D.
Morrison seeks to confront “the problems of human relationships, morality, death, and time in relation to a disintegrating world.”
There is a sanctity in people and an unknowableness that should not be violated.” Morrison
Morrison: “Rootedness: ancestor in black writing”
“Ngoma brings together the disparate elements of an individual’s life threads and weaves them into a meaningful fabric. It does this, particularity though devices of mutual “call and response” sharing experiences of self-representation, of articulation of common affliction, art of consensus over the nature of the problem and the course of action to take.”
“The last word of the novel Beloved, like the novel itself, is in part an incantation, a performance of nommo, the force that makes words living things, not so much recuperative of loss but rather regenerative.” --M. Handley
Requirements While Reading:
NOTES:
It is necessary to focus (as a critical reader) on multiple levels of the text: the themes, characters, plot, setting, imagery, structure, and overall significance. How we make sense of a text depends on what we choose to focus. As you read, compile notes somewhat like an index of two particular themes or motifs. You can record this information in list form, chart form, 2-column note form. Be sure to include page numbers and references to the specific element of that theme. Your purpose it to identify and analyze the significance of your themes in the novel as a whole--you can describe, analyze, or compare/contrast.
Due: at the end of our study
Beloved Introductory Notes
Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are. –St. Augustine
Lecture
- Biographical information on Toni Morrison
- Nobel Prize
Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech 1993http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1993/morrison-lecture.html This site has audio.
- stream of consciousness writing technique
· Historical Context: slavery in South before and after Civil War, treatment of African-Americans antebellum (post war) and after emancipation, female slaves, underground railroad, middle passage· Personal Context: moral dilemmas, loving no matter the cost, secrecy, shame, our past, love
Epigraph:
I will call them my people,
Which were not my people;
And her beloved,
Which was not beloved.
Romans 9:25
Other Biblical Allusions:
1. The novel opens with the following inscription:
I will call them my people,
Which were not my people;
And her beloved,
Which was not beloved.
Romans 9:25
This reference comes from the Epistle to the Romans, a book of the New Testament written by Paul. As he prepares to visit Rome, he sends a letter stating his beliefs. He discusses the nature of God’s relationship with humanity and focuses on the sovereignty of God. He also raises the problem of the justice of God, power mixed with mercy, even if it leads to problems. This chapter, despite its examination of the evils on earth, ends on a note of reconciliation. The following verse reads as follows, “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto thee, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God” (Romans 9:26). See also Romans 1:22, 23.
2. Loaves and Fishes
This line is used to describe Baby Suggs’ feast for the others in the community. This allusion comes from Matthew 15-15, Mark 6, and Luke 9. They all mention the miracle of Jesus feeding the thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish.
3. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in Revelations 6. The chapter tells of a scroll in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals. When the first four of these seals are opened, four horsemen appear.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heasrd the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, a behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Revelations 6: 2—8
See also Revelations 7, in which the four angels appear. Specifically, 7:17.
4. Lot’s Wife
When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Lot’s wife was warned not to look back. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here,lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.’ But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife, and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought himforth and set him outside the city. And when they had brought them forth, they said,’Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills lest you be consumed. Genesis19:15-17. Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26.
5. Pride
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
6. The Spirit is Willing
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41
7. Sufficient Unto The Day
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6: 34
8. Don’t Study War No More
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2: 4
Motifs and Themes in Beloved:
Dilemma Tale
Antiphonal/Multivocality
Orality
Call/response
Presence of a chorus
Sensuality
Presence of an ancestor
Iron
Superstition
Resurrection
Colors
Plants
Motherhood/Breastfeeding
Heart
Sethe’s Gaze
Hummingbirds
Freedom
Love
Family
Plot structures and effects
Setting
Beloved Time Line
1795 Baby Suggs is born.
1835 Sethe is born to “Ma’am,” the only name given to her mother
Halle is born to Baby Suggs
The Garners purchase Baby Suggs and Halle to work at Sweet Home in Kentucky
Halle works on Sundays for 5 years to buy his mother’s freedom.
Sethe arrives at Sweet Home as a replacement for Baby Suggs
1849 Sethe marries Halle; they consummate their marriage in the cornfield
Sethe gives birth to Howard, Buglar, and Beloved within three years.
Garner dies. Schoolteacher arrives at Sweet Home.
1855 Sethe sends Buglar, Howard, and Beloved to live with Baby Suggs, for she is afraid they will be sold away from her.
Paul D, Sixo, Halle, and Seth plan to escape from Sweet Home
Sethe is attacked by Schoolteacher and his nephews. After she tells Mrs. Garner, Sethe is severely beaten by Schoolteacher. Schoolteacher kills Sixo and Paul A
Sethe runs away from Sweet Home, gives birth to Denver with the help of Amy Denver, and arrives at 124 Bluestone to find Baby Suggs
Sethe spends 28 days at 123 before daughter dies.
1856
Paul D is captured and locked up in Albert, Georgia (“18 years of roaming” before finding Sethe). Paul D spends 86 days on the chain gang in Georgia before escaping.
Beloved ghost’s takes up residence at 124 Bluestone
Denver is not accepted because of the house being haunted
1857 Sethe takes a job at Sawyer’s Restaurant
1862-1863 Denver attends Lady Jones’ school (7 years old)
1864 Buglar and Howard leave home; Baby Suggs dies (happens within two months)
1873
Sethe takes off her shoes by the river to wash of the chamomile
Paul D. enters the house and is overcome by grief and despair
Sethe tells Paul about being beaten and the “tree” in her back
Paul D. banishes the ghost of the baby
Baby ghost flings table at Paul D.
Paul D. fights off the ghost with a table
Paul D. attacks the house, which is being controlled by the ghost of the baby
Beloved arrives at 124 Bluestone; Beloved seduces Paul D.