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[124-beloved]

Situational Irony

Who would have thought that with a name like “Sweet Home,” all there would be was misery and heartache.

The last thing anyone would figure is that life at Sweet Home is not sweet and does not feel like home. However, for Sethe, Halle, Paul D, Paul A, and Sixxo, this is how slave life was. The men thinking they were better because Mr. Garner called them men, and Sethe under the pretense that she and Halle would have a real wedding of some sorts.

"Sweet Home" is where everything that influenced the present/future happened: Sethe was milked, Schoolteacher took over, Halle fell into depression and abandoned Sethe, three out of four kids were born, and so much more. Yet none of these events is actually sweet, because even though new life was brought into the world in the form of Sethe and Halle's children, they became a topic of worry as the former worked to protect and care for them while she endured life as a slave under the infamous schoolteacher. Sooner or later, someone is bound to question the irony of the situation by asking "How come everybody run off from Sweet Home can't stop talking about it? Look like if it was so sweet you would have stayed" (Beloved, Toni Morrison). He recognizes just how wrong it was to consider such a place sweet and home. The others may have seen it too, but none acknowledged it out right like he did.

Yet Sweet Home holds a unique place in Sethe's heart, because "she remembered so little before Sweet Home" (Beloved, Toni Morrison). Sweet home is only sweet and home to her because she either chooses not to or truly cannot remember life before then when her mother was still living. It is sweet because she was able to form a strong relationship with Halle, and have four children with him as a "married" couple. That horrible place helped her see through first impressions and look deeper for the sweetness in everything. She takes in her long lost daughter Beloved because even though her second existence is like the work of the devil, Sethe sees the sweetness in her return to her family.

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Theme

The reappearance of Sethe’s daughter, known only as Beloved, is not just a representation of slavery as a whole and its consequential relationship, including Sethe's relationships with those around her, which are not as easygoing as they could be.

The idea of “Beloved” and who and what she represents is the plot driver of Toni Morrison’s novel. The crawling already? baby returns as a young woman who seems to carry more than her own weight on her shoulders. As Sethe's daughter, she represents the troubles and circumstances a mother must endure while still living her own life.

Any type of relationship was rare during times of slavery for those who endured it. All Sethe wants is for her children to be safe and live a life without slavery. Motherhood proves to be a bit difficult because even after she establishes a life with ehr family far from her old slave home, she chooses to kill them over letting them live in slavery, however she only succeeds in killing one. She says “if only [Beloved]’d come, I could make it clear to her” (p.5) because she recognizes the difficulty of keeping a relationship during these times. She knows her mother kept her because she was the only child she actually had the choice to conceive, and would like to make that decision worth her life.

Toni Morrison uses the characters of Denver, Paul D., Halle, and Beloved to exhibit the stress and trouble involved in maintainng a relationship of any kind. Paul D. reminds Sethe that "your love is too thick" (p. 193) because it appears as though she would rather suffocate her loved ones with love instead of give them the space they need to grow as their person. As Beloved continues altering the lives of those around her, the relationships that were already built reveal how weak they actually are. Beloved presents relationships as a responsibilty, not something that is easy to manage and that lasts forever.

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Historical Reference

Toni Morrison uses the title character of her novel Beloved to represent the forgotten names and faces lost during the times of slavery, because at the end of Beloved’s second existence she too is forgotten.

Slavery is one of the most horrible experiences a human can ever undergo, yet without it much of the wisdom in today’s minds would not be present. The character of Sethe’s daughter, known by most as Beloved, is used to the “sixty million and more” Toni Morrison dedicates the book to. Chapter twenty-two utitlizes Beloved’s uniqueness to describe life in the Middle Way during slavery, where I cannot fall because there is no room to (p. 249).“

Toni Morrison choice of book title also alludes to the many faces forgotten due to slavery. The phrase "dearly beloved” is often heard when addressing large groups of people. However, the crawling-already? baby’s headtsone only says Beloved. This is not only because the engraver told Sethe “you got ten minutes I’ll do it for free,” but also because when memorials are held for the millions of lives lost, it is only as a whole, not by name. The individual is forgotten, and only the majority is remembered.

Beloved ends with the narrator stating that although the unbelievable happened it is not a story that should be passed on. Throught this, Morrison is saying that slavery should not be a part of the world’s history, and should never have to be a discussion topic for learners. But it is. It did happen, just like Sethe should not have had to kill her children, but she had enough time to kill one anyway. Not all stories are pleasent, not everyone’s past is golden, but it is the lesson learned that makes the future brighter than before.

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Biblical Allusion

In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the house numbers may add up to seven, the number of God, but without the three in the common sequence, what could be acknowledged as the holy trinity is not present in the lives of Sethe and her family.

The number 7 is known by many to be one that is full of luck and good fortune. It is also the sum of the three numbers that make up the house number where Sethe and her decreasing family reside. 124 has been describe as "spiteful," "loud," and "quiet." For Sethe, who has left behind a life of slavery, this house known as 124 Bluestone Road has become a safehaven for her and her family. It is a place of safety and comfort, its doors open to anyone who wishes to go in.

However, after Sethe murders her third child, known as Beloved, out love, the missing 3 in the sequence comes to represent the youg child who is now missing from the family picture. As a result, the crawling already?- baby's spirit begins to haunt the house and its residents, forcing them to acknowledge its presence in their lives. Instead of continuing the be Heaven on earth for Sethe, it becomes her own personal Purgatory, the place she stays in to repent for the sin committed when she murdered Beloved.

Sethe says "if only she'd come, I could make it clear to her." (p.5) She has come to terms with her horrible actions, and all she wants now is her daughter's understanding and forgiveness. While the third child cannot actually physically return to her, she would like peace so that the sequence is fully comeplete again as 1234.

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Motif

Breasts and their milk represent a woman’s strength as a mother, but they can also be her downfall. 

 In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Sethe is a mother so willing to protect her children from the worst, that she “out-hurt the hurter” (Beloved, p. 276) by trying to kil them. She was only able to kill one before she was caught and taken to jail, and that one that was killed became Beloved. During this time, Denver is an infant who still drinks from her mother’s breast, and her sister’s blood as well at the time. Because of this, a bond is created between Denver and Beloved, a strange bond that continues to marvel those around them. 

 Although in this circumstance, the consequence was strangely beneficial to Denver and Beloved, Sethe’s chest has not always brought people together in times of joy. Such as when the boys on Sweet Home “took my milk.” (Beloved, p.20) Sethe’s motherhood was robbed of her in that moment, even though that is concept that can virtually never be taken away. As her milk was drained from her body, Sethe felt as though she was losing the connection between herself and her children. 

Without the supply in her breasts, what else could she possibly give her children besides her neverending love and care. Without her motherhood, none of the other characters have a true purpose for being a part of Seth’s life, nor does she have a purpose for being in theirs.  Motherhood brings everyone together, and without it they are nobody.

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Symbol

There are big and small details in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved that relate back to suffering and growth, one of the main ones is Sethe’s back. _

Sethe’s back is full of marks and scar tissue that will forever be a reminder of her time at Sweet Home, where she was a slave. She claims that “I got a tree on my back” (Beloved, Morrison) because of how tangled the scars are with each other, the same way a tree’s branches twist and turn with each other. The tree on her back is a symbol for the undignified treatment of slaves by their owners. She, like many others, will never forget what was endured because of her skin, and now her skin tells more of the story. Trees play a small role in the book, as they are always present, and there are certain types for certain circumstances. The tree on Sethe’s back reminds her that the past is always there, and it is up to her whether or not she accepts it and moves on. Sethe’s new lover Paul D questions this so-called tree on her back, asking if something is growing out of it. She later says that it “could have cherries too now for all I know.” (Beloved, Morrison) The tree-like scars on her skin not only symbolize the suffering of her past, but of her present as well. As she continues living, the suffering becomes greater without her really knowing it. However, she knows it is there. This is part of the reason why she murdered her baby, to save her from the possible suffering she had already experienced. Yet the tree is not just a negative peice of her. It symbolizes growth as Sethe comes to terms with her past and prepares for her future. She says cherries may have grown because she understands that all she has been through has only made her stronger than she was before, regardless of what her actions may convey. Her willingness to spare her children a life of suffering by killing them off displays how strong she is to give up her children if that means they do not have to suffer. Sethe continues to grow as Paul D and Beloved reenter her life, hopefully for the better.

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