In Beloved, the main character Beloved evolves from an innocent, victimized child into a nineteen-year-old body with the same mentality, only not so innocent. Is it merely her murder, or are there other factors that help Beloved become the monstrosity she is at the conclusion? Are there specific characters who also contribute to this metamorphosis? If so, when and how?
I completely agree that it is Beloved's murder that makes her form into the monster that she is by the end of the novel. Beloved's hunger for her mother is insatiable and by the end of the novel it becomes all-consuming. Sethe's need for her daughter's understanding indicates her own painful burden of guilt that she tries to cope with and because of this, the reader sees Beloved become more powerful as Sethe slowly dies as Beloved metaphorically sucks the life out of her. When Beloved first arrived at 124, compared to when she leaves, her character is compared to that of a baby who is unable to fend for themselves and by the end of the novel she fully turns into the 19 year old woman she would have been if Sethe hadn't killed her. Overall her metamorphosis is radical because as we know, her whole motive for everything she does his revenge, which is why she sleeps with Paul D, chokes Sethe and dismantle the little relationship Sethe had with Denver. Beloved is very powerful, more powerful than anyone actually thought she was and because of that her legacy is one that Sethe has to live with for the rest of her life.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Beloved's metamorphosis is due to any character in the novel, I believe that it has come out of her murder, and her time on the bridge between life and death. Being all alone in that space between made her sad and angry at her mother. Sethe was all Beloved wanted, all any child would want crossing into death, but instead she was alone with strange people, suffocating, and teased by her mother in the three times Sethe nearly joined her in death. The only reason she comes back to life is that her mother might be beginning to move on from Beloved with Paul D, and that must not happen.So, Beloved takes a physical form and chases him away. Then she turns on Denver, telling her that she could care less if Denver was in 124 or not. Once her mother is in her grasp, finally, Beloved takes out her anger and hunger for both food and memories and love on Sethe until she can make her mother join her in death. However, Beloved's spell gets so strong that others begin to notice, and then she too, in turn, is driven out.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s change from an innocent child to a monstrous teenager all roots from Beloved’s murder. In Beloved’s chapter, she gives the reader an idea of how scary it was after she died, in the stage between life and death. After experiencing this form of abandonment, she seeks revenge of Sethe. Once she is around Sethe and notices her love for Denver and eventually Paul D, it makes her jealous. Although her main purpose of coming back was to get revenge on Sethe, I think her jealousy of other people Sethe cares about made her even more torturous. Coming back in the form of a teenager, she really understood what she was missing out on by being dead and I think this contributed to her metamorphosis. This is why she does everything she can to make Sethe’s life miserable. Beloved’s pregnant looking stomach in the end is representative of the life Beloved sucked out of Sethe. Beloved’s desire for revenge is what helped her become so evil.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Katie said, I do not believe that Beloved's metamorphosis is due to any character in the novel. I believed her metamorphosis is due to her murder. The only reason why Beloved became the unhinged monstrosity that she has become is because Sethe sliced her throat and did not manage to slice her other three children's throats. Beloved feels cheated and spiteful. She comes back to haunt 124 with the intentions of getting Sethe to love her, to give her all her attention. She wants what she did not have the chance to have, which is her mother's love and she will stop at absolutely nothing to achieve this even if it means that she has to drive everyone else away from Sethe, like Paul D. Beloved had to become a monstrosity in order to achieve her goal because she saw it as no other way for her to get Sethe to herself.
ReplyDeleteI believe Beloved’s growth, or therefore lack of growth, throughout the novel is entirely as a result of her being murdered by Sethe. After years of being without her mother because she was killed Beloved finally returns back home and is both in need of and wants her mother. She has been deprived of the mother figure in her life and is filled with spite being the only child of all her siblings that was robbed of the opportunity to grow up. Beloved is filled with spite and is on a search for revenge, to get back at Sethe taking her life away from her. Her feeling of being “robbed” of her life is what promotes her sense of anger and turns her into a monster.
ReplyDeleteSethe contributed to Beloved’s metamorphosis the moment she murdered her. Beloved was murdered when she was just two years old, a child’s prime age of innocence. It makes sense that when her spirit comes back she is older and innocence has been taken from her. Beloved feels the need to seek revenge on Sethe for killing her and not giving her a chance at life. Thus, she does many things that are not innocent such as sleeping with Paul D and trying to strangle her mother. Beloved’s murder causes her to transform from an innocent baby to a revengeful, manipulative monster.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s metamorphosis is entirely because of Sethe killing her. For years Beloved was stuck in “the other place” while left Beloved feeling tortured and lonely. She craved to have a mother-daughter relationship with Sethe, but ultimately just wanted her revenge for not having the chance at a full life. She turned into such a monstrosity because she wanted to essentially take Sethe’s life away. She did so by driving away everyone that Sethe ever loved, except for Beloved. Beloved made sure that she was the only person on Sethe’s mind. She drained Sethe away from all of her happiness, which is exactly what she wanted, and represented when she is described as very large and even bigger than Sethe.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Beloved's metamorphosis came from her murder and did not have any contributions from other characters. Her murder is what drives her character. Without that, she would not be spiteful or want any revenge on Sethe. Because of her murder she wants Sethe to suffer. She drives away everyone Sethe loves like Baby Suggs, Paul D, and even her two sons. Beloved constantly needs her attention and love, but none of that is ever enough. When Beloved does not get what she wants, she acts out and has a fit. Sethe eventually becomes consumed with trying to please her and becomes very ill. Beloved drained her of all her happiness.
ReplyDeleteThere are other factors that help Beloved become the monstrosity she is at the conclusion. Paul D and Sethe are the characters who contributes to this metamorphosis. Before Paul D came, Sethe, Denver, Baby Suggs, Howard and Buglar were all haunted in the house by Beloved. A “red and undulating light” shone on Paul D when he first arrived (Morrison 10). When he yelled at the ghost until it left, Sethe began to move on from her past without the presence hovering over her. However, Beloved came back from the dead in human form. She felt threatened by Paul D, who was helping Sethe move on and who she felt was taking Sethe away from her. As a result, Beloved put a spell on Paul D, seducing him and making him feel so guilty that when he found the first way out of the house, he took it. Sethe also contributes to Beloved’s metamorphosis in that once she realizes that Beloved is hers, she succumbs to Beloved’s every whim and does anything she asks. When Beloved starts to become selfish, taking anything she can from Sethe, Sethe does not stick up for herself, but allows Beloved to turn into the monster she is at the end. Thus both Paul D and Sethe contribute to Beloved’s monstrosity.
ReplyDeleteI think that Beloveds metamorphosis comes from her becoming more prevelant in Sethe’s life as a rememory. We see Beloved first as an innocent child at the novel who is unfortunately killed by her mother. When she first enters the world as a rememory, she appears hopeless and incapable sitting in front of 124. Her change into a more evil and monstrous character comes as she seeks revenge against Sethe for her actions, as she eventually takes over Sethe’s life. I do disagree however. I think her metamorphosis was unintentionally aided by another character, Denver. Beloved is jealous of Denver. The girl who got to live and receive the attention. I think that aids Beloved to become more monsterous as she sees wha5 her life could have been .
ReplyDeleteI think that Beloved's metamorphosis is due to both her murder and because she felt threatened. When Paul D arrived, it gave Sethe a distraction from her haunting past, which Beloved didn't want her to forget. She wanted Sethe to always remember the betrayal of Beloved so she came back for revenge. She began to push everyone away from Sethe so that her only focus was Beloved. Beloved became more and more greedy, changing from an innocent baby to a monstrous 19 year old girl. I believe that without the introduction of Paul D into Sethe's life, Beloved would not have her metamorphosis because she wouldn't feel the need to remind Sethe of what she had done.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Katherine, I think Beloved’s metamorphosis is a result of her murder. In the time an that Beloved was in the novel, she grew from a baby, someone who couldn't fend for herself, to a grown 19-year old women. Suffering in the stage between life and death, all Beloved wanted was to connect with Sethe. However, she began to grow jealous when seeing Sethe’s affection towards other characters in the book, including Denver and Paul D. Beloved inevitably came back to 124 spiteful and vengeful all due to Sethe’s actions of murdering her when she was a baby.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Sethe murdering Beloved is the soul reason for Beloved's metamorphosis. Just like Sethe feels she never had a childhood or was loved by her mother, Beloved also feels as if she never had a childhood due to her being murdered. In a way its like a backwards pet cemetery, in the sense of child coming back from the dead, looking like the child but not acting like the child. Were in Beloved, the child comes back to life looking different, but acting the same. Beloved is on a war path to destroy Sethe, as she wants revenge for being murdered by her mother. By driving everyone Sethe loves away, and sucking the life out of Sethe, beloved comes into her 19 year old body, eventually leaving a lonely broken hearted Sethe for dead.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s murder is what makes her become the monstrosity. Beloved never got to experience growth and love due to her demise. When she gets the chance to be able to experience these things, she takes all she can from it. In that stage between life and death she longed for Sethe, but also felt spite for her for doing what she did. She may seem life all she wants is to love Sethe and have a family, but what she is really doing is getting her revenge. She basically sucks all the life from Sethe and makes her feel as she once did. Beloved was once robbed of her life, so in return she will make Sethe feel the same. She even attempts to strangle Sethe for taking her life from her. The more she took from Sethe, the bigger monster she became.
ReplyDeleteI think that Denver contributed to Beloved's metamorphasis in a bad way, but not intentionally. Unlike Beloved, Denver had grown up with Sethe and knew what it was like to live with her and be her daughter. Thus, Beloved was not happy when Denver did not express this immense love for their mother, but rather caution and weariness. For example, Beloved becomes very angry at Denver when Denver advices Beloved not to tell Sethe who she really is. Fueling her fire, Sethe becomes belligerent and tells Denver that she does not need her, Sethe is the only one she needs. This was the first time I became weary of Beloved and did not like this evil side that she showed to her sister. It shows how insincere she is and is just persistent on getting what she wants, which is full control of Sethe.
ReplyDeleteI think that her murder plays a big part in Beloved becoming a monstrosity, but I also think it is the time she spent in the place between life and death. Beloved was in an environment similar to a slave ship after she died, and because of this she was living an afterlife filled with the same horrors that Sethe had tried to keep her from. Beloved’s death did not save her as Sethe would have hoped, it only made her more of a monster. Paul D also played a role in Beloved’s evolution. Paul D was the one who had tried to banish her from the house, and in doing so, he made her harsher and made her want to get rid of him. Beloved wanted Sethe for herself, and I think that the absence of love in her life also played a big part in turning her into a monster. Beloved was uneducated and therefore only knew that she had lost out on life. Beloved’s not being able to understand her death also caused some problems with her development as well.
ReplyDeleteBeloved evolves from an innocent, victimized child into a 19 year old girl with the same mentality but with less innocence. This is caused by her murder which turns Beloved into the monstrosity that she is. She was living an awful life after being killed by Sethe in a condition similar to that of a slave ship. When she reincarnates, she grows evil and attempts to seek revenge on Sethe. Beloved acts like a parasite and causes Sethe to grow physcially and emotionally weak. She basically seeks revenge for her murder and tries to make Sethe's life miserable.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beloved’s metamorphosis into a monstrosity merely has to do with her murder. She didn’t die from disease, or from problems after being born, instead she was what could seem to be viciously murdered by her mother, something definitely out of the ordinary. While Sethe was doing so with only good intentions of saving her from a potential life of misery, this murder made her metamorphosis not so innocent. Paul D could be seen as having an effect on her metamorphosis as well. His attempts to remove her spirit from 124 all together could have been interpreted as violence, and she truly lacked love and affection she needed to remain pure and innocent. Therefore, her return caused her to gain attributes in which she was no longer the innocent child she was when she was murdered.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beloved’s evolution from innocent to not so innocent is due solely to Sethe murdering her and does not have to do with any other character. Years after being murdered, Beloved returns to the house full of spite. She is angry that she has her life taken from her and was not able to grow up like the rest of Sethe’s children. Beloved is looking for revenge on Sethe for taking only her life and not the life of any of the other children. The anger over being murdered that drives Beloved is what turns her from innocent to not so innocent. So, her evolution was not due to any other characters and solely due to her anger at Sethe for murdering her.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beloved's metamorphosis into a bad person is due to Sethe murdering her. While Sethe did have good intentions when killing Beloved, it causes Beloved to turn into a parasite that feeds off of Sethe. Upon her return to 124 Beloved is full of spite and is looking to take revenge. Upon Beloveds return Sethe becomes weak and thin as a result. Beloveds change from an innocent girl to a monster is caused by her murder.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Morrison uses the soul of Beloved in the 19 year old girl to showcase the anger and lash that she wants to release on Sethe. When arriving at the home, Beloved becomes controlling and takes over their life in 124. She tries to see revenge on Sethe and also fails to understand why she was killed. The life that Beloved was living in harsh conditions that Sethe had tried to prevent by killing her. The killing of Beloved was not as Sethe had wished in order to save her from the cruelty she has gone through herself.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beloved metamorphosis is mainly caused by the way she died, murder. Such a cold blooded act would mean that Beloved seeks revenge against Sethe. Beloved is angry that her life was taken away from her and she was not allowed to grow up like Denver. She seeks to gain all of Sethe’s love and nothing will stand in her way. I believe this metamorphosis only occurred since Beloved was murdered and was nto able to carve her own life.
ReplyDeleteBeloved's metamorphosis, her monstorus personality and actions, is a result of her murder by her mother, Sethe. Any child would be angry if their life was taken by their own parent, no matter the reason. In order to trump Denver, Beloved tries to regain Sethe's motherly love and will not let anyone stand in her way in the process. The jealousy Beloved feels for the living who have gained Sethe's love causes her to act out.
ReplyDeleteBeloved was murdered an innocent child then evolves into a nineteen year old who is not so innocent. Her being murdered plays a big role in this. Beloved longs for a relationship with her mother, she longs for a life. I don't think she ever fully understood why her life was cut off so soon and this angers her making her come back. In a way it is like Beloved is seeking revenge out of jealousy.
ReplyDeleteWhen Beloved appears as an adult at 124, all she wants is Sethe’s affection. But it becomes more than that; she wants Sethe to spend every possible moment with her, expending as much energy as she possibly can on meeting Beloved’s demands. Beloved is still like the baby ghost: she is angry for having been murdered and just wants to understand why that happened if her mother claimed she truly loved her. She is constantly testing her mother’s love, pushing to see how far Sethe will go to please her daughter. She gives in and only feeds Beloved’s greed. As she gets greedier, Beloved also gets angrier. I think this could possibly be because she is failing to understand why a woman who is doing everything for her would have killed her. This anger builds and Beloved soon turns into a monster who believes that if she had to die to experience this kind of love, then Sethe will too.
ReplyDeleteBeloved did evolve from an innocent and victimized baby to a not so innocent teenager. I believe that her change in character is primarily due to her murder. In Chapter 22, we are given a first person stream of consciousness from Beloved. We are given insight on how Beloved wants revenge toward Sethe as she abandoned her. The rememory of Beloved develops jealousy when she sees Sethe giving attention and loving others. Denver and Paul D may have an indirect correlation to Beloved’s metamorphosis due to Beloved witnessing this. Sethe wants to make Sethe’s life miserable and will do everything she can to do so, which is why Beloved is seen as a monstrosity. The main reason why Beloved became so revengeful is mainly because of her murder. Her life was taken away from her before it really ever began, and her siblings made it out alive.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that Beloved comes back as this spiteful being is not due to Sethe, rather what Sethe did. By murding Beloved, she was trapped in this horrible place between life and death, and she resents her mother for doing this to her. Not only that, she feels as if she’s lost her mother’s love due to the fact that Sethe only managed to killed Beloved, rather than the three other kids as well. By the end, Beloved becomes this horrible monster because she realizes that although Sethe now loves her, she can never change what she did and how she did it. She wants Sethe to feel the pain that she did all these years and wants to rip the life out of Sethe, just as Sethe did to her.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Beloved became such a monstrosity because she had the mentality of a child. She kept speaking about the dark place where Sethe wouldn't smile at her, and no matter how much Sethe tried to justify herself or explain, Beloved wouldn't listen. I also think that Beloved became this way because of the way people treated her spirit in 124. Everyone except for Denver was either scared of it or dismissed it, and nobody really acknowledged her until she was a human, which made the attention she got all the more important to her. As to characters who lead to her metamorphasis, I think the two most prominent are Sethe and Paul D. Paul D chasing her spirit out of the house is what caused her to take human form in the first place, and the attention he payed to Sethe when he was around made Beloved more selfish and long for Sethe's attention. As for Sethe, once she found out that Beloved was her child, she gave everything to her, including the food that she needed to survive and all of the finest things like nice fabric for clothes. This lead to Beloved being more powerful and selfish, and knowing that she can get anything, including attention, from Sethe whenever she wanted. Beloved uses this power to make Sethe feel the pain that she had to endure when she was killed and during her years in between life and death.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beloved’s monstrous state was solely driven by her mother’s choice to murder her. Beloved never received closure as to why she was killed, and although Sethe did this in attempts to save Beloved from a life of misery, Beloved remains spiteful as she never came to the realization for her mother's actions. She was left alone and abandoned which only fueled her need to return and destroy all that Sethe holds dear. Although Beloved interacts with characters in the novel, such as sleeping with Paul D, she was motivated for acts of revenge in attempts to hurt Stehe for her murder.
ReplyDeleteI think that Beloved's murder is what motivates the change in her character. Her drive for revenge causes her to become increasingly more aggressive towards obtaining her goal. But I also believe that the current life Sethe lives and the people in it make Beloved want even more from her mother. By taking her life Sethe took everything away from Beloved. When Beloved sees people like Pual D. in Sethe's life she begins to take him away because that's something Sethe wanted and Beloved still desired revenge. Also between Denver and Sethe, Beloved had to insert herself between them to weaken their relationship even more. Beloved missed life and she wanted her mother to know that even if it meant more pain for her mom.
ReplyDeleteBeloved’s transformation from an innocent child to a all-mighty woman is specifically stemmed from her murder. Being the only child to die, Beloved grows jealous of her siblings and craves to have the life she feels she deserved. For Beloved, the time she spent between life and death was full of vengeance and loneliness. The envy Beloved holds for the life Denver has- the life she should be living- motivates her to take out her anger on Sethe. She ruins the relationship Sethe has with Paul D and Denver, physically drains Sethe, and evens tries to induce upon Sethe the same fate Beloved faced as a child by suffocating her. By the end of the novel, Sethe is depleted to skin and bones, while Beloved is healthy as ever, and even looks pregnant. This appearance represents a child, maybe Beloved herself, as a do-over. Beloved’s pregnant impression places the message in the reader’s head that Sethe’s soul is in Beloved forever.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe there are other factors that helped Beloved become the monstrosity she is at the conclusion. While her murder as a child obviously created issues with Beloved's feelings of abandonment and lack of sense of self, Sethe plays right into Beloved's hands and becomes a vehicle for her metamorphosis into an overpowering entity. Sethe gives Beloved everything she wants from the minute she re-emerges from the water. By the end of the novel, Sethe lost her job and is withering away to nothing while Beloved eats like a pig and grows bigger and larger. Sethe continues to enable Beloved by giving all of her time and attention to her which only enforces Beloved's idea that her and Sethe are the same person. As time goes on, Sethe becomes less and less "alive" as Beloved sucks up Sethe's life and becomes stronger. The notion that she appears pregnant symbolizes how she has Sethe's soul inside her so that she may never be abandoned again.
ReplyDelete