Morrison uses a series of flashback as a dominant narrative technique in Beloved. What is the effect of such spiral storytellings and repeated images that interweave the stories of past and present?
Friday, April 8, 2016
Historical criticism
Morrison’s work portrays many hardships and cruel atrocities that were inflicted upon black people during early American times. Is this story designed to parallel a post-Civil War America? If so, what do the characters represent?
Beloved's Metamorphasis
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?
Color symbolism
In Beloved, Toni Morrison has colors play a role throughout the book. Describe the role of each color and discuss its significance throughout the story.
Beloved's motivations
By the end of her second life, Beloved is a replica of her mother Sethe. When dead—or in the “other place”—she even states that she “want[s] [Sethe’s] face.” But once again among the living, she tries choking Sethe in the clearing and removed Paul D. the only basis for sanity and comfort of reason in Sethe’s life. On one side Beloved aspires to goodness and wants to be like Sethe; on the other hand, she commits acts that are vengeful toward the mother who so quickly snuffed out her life. With that, and her many other actions in mind, why does Beloved come back from the “other place?” What are her motivations?
Supernatural Elements
What is the function of Beloved’s character as a ghost and of the use of the supernatural in general?
The question
Morrison has said, “[Sethe] did the right thing, but she didn’t have the right to do it.” Comment and expand on this quotation.
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