Reflection of Beloved
There are many stories that tend to deal with the past that tend to give an insight of the story to the audience. Many stories fluctuate by giving flashbacks, some stories share events about the past while the other stories just give out some incidences that happened in a character’s life and link it with the present story. The idea that one gets is that when a person is reading the stories they tend to relate the past with the present to get a sense of the story. However, in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”, the novel is most importantly centered on the aspect of memory and history. The author does this not only by portraying the historical perspective of slavery but also the psychological and fictional point of view. Through the effective use of memory, images and literary devices “Beloved” focuses on the theme of racial discrimination and self-identity that is well accepted and enjoyed by the readers. One of the most important memories in the whole novel is about slavery, which the slaves try to forget, however, for Sethe these memories remain with her forever and they continue to haunt her. From the beginning, “Beloved” focuses on the aspect of memory and history. Sethe tends to have a hard time in forgetting about her past since her daughter’s ghost is related with her past memories that threaten her. It is almost impossible for Sethe to forget about her past and move on with her life because she is haunted by the memories of her daughter’s death. However, the arrival of Paul D after almost 25 years also reminds Sethe about her life sufferings and history. Toni Morrison illustrates the sense of horror in the novel by saying something about the house 124 in every part of the story. In the first part she illustrates this by saying, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” (Morrison 10). This is one of the reminders that makes Sethe recall her past. Slaves were treated as servants and did not have any identity of their own. The chapter provides other similar