Group 2

Jonathan Clarke
Katherine Hancock
Malik Thompson
Kayla Chevis
Christal Scott

Characters

Sethe - Protagonist, mother of Denver, former slave from Sweet Home

Denver - Youngest daughter of Sethe

Baby Suggs - mother in law of Sethe, Halle’s mother

Halle - Husband to Sethe, Father to all of her children

Paul D - was at Sweet home with Sethe, Baby Suggs and good friends with Halle

Paul A and Paul F - were also slaves at the plantation

Sixo - Native American that also lived on the plantation

Mr. and Mrs. Garner - Original Plantation owners

Schoolteacher -  Second plantation owner after Mr. Garner dies, much harsher

Amy Denver - Saved Sethe during her escape, the inspiration behind Denver’s name

Beloved Blog Post

The first half of Beloved can best be described as dense.Toni Morrison has created this intense environment that is 124 Bluestone road, that depicts several key aspects of both slavery and life after emancipation. She is also able to describe some of the most horrible things in a beautiful and somewhat poetic way.The story itself is centered in Sethe and her child Denver as they both cope with their reality in post-emancipation Ohio, but also revolves around the dark past of Slavery that looms over the house. By framing the story this way, readers gain an understanding of how slavery and its brutality are not in any way forgotten after emancipation.  Freedom and Slavery are in constant dialogue with one another.

A major theme of the story is memory and rememory. Rememory is a recollection of a painful past that is shared by all those who experienced it and that cannot be understood by those who did not. All those who experienced slavery suffer with rememory and there are two coping mechanisms displayed in the book. Baby Suggs used to preach to the community about embracing your inner feelings. She would let her congregation cry, and laugh, and dance,  and sing in order to tap into those emotions. She preached about loving the body that was the chained and the flesh that was tortured. But something happened to her that changed her that we have yet to find out. Paul D and Sethe on the other hand cope by not speaking and not touching those feelings at all, which makes being in each others company even harder because they themselves are both mementos of a shared past to each other. Out of this past comes Beloved.

Beloved is the ghost of Sethe’s dead daughter but she is also a depiction of the life and history that Paul D and Sethe share, a life that Denver knows next to nothing about. Denver protects Beloved and idolizes her because she seems to know things about her mother that her mother would never share with her. She wants to know these things but her mother does not want to expose her to the physical, emotional and psychological agony that defined her time at Sweet Home. Beloved herself is a strange and mysterious creature that seemingly comes out of the water and finds her way to 124 in search of Sethe, her mother. In the narrative, she serves as more of a symbol of the past than anything else.Beloved chokes Sethe at one point as she is massaging her shoulders and when later confronted by Denver, she replies that she didn’t do it but rather it was the “Iron Circle”, the iconic iron neck ring that enslaved millions.When she has sex with Paul D, she forces him to call her by her name. To name something is to address it directly and at that moment, the tin can that kept his truest feelings hidden inside comes spilling open. Paul D is directly addressing those feelings that he has kept locked away for so long and it’s painful and the only thing he is capable of saying is, “ red heart, red heart, red heart…”

Love is also a very important theme in this story. Love to a slave or former slave can be a  dangerous thing. Raised and living within an institution in which anything and everything that you love can be taken away at any moment is a heavy burden to bear. Sethe has learned not to love everything completely, because she knows it can be taken away. Baby Suggs taught her that. Paul D describes this on page 54: “The best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you’d have a little love left over for the next one.” Sethe loves Denver but in an effort to protect her, she alienates her from the parts of her that are the most tender. There is a wall between them that cannot be broken down and because of this, Denver lives in near complete isolation but I suspect, in the future, the truth will come out. Sethe mentions how “freeing yourself was one thing; but claiming ownership of that freed self was another” and I think that is the main point of the story. Even after Sethe has lost her husband Halle, 3 of her children, her mother in law, and she is slowly losing her youngest daughter Denver but,  she still has to go on living, she has to keep fighting, they all do.

Group 1

Group 1: Giulia Russell, Meaghan Pickles, Negusu Hizkias, and Gage Battles

In Beloved by Toni Morrison, Morrison shapes the story through each character’s personal internal struggle. Beloved is incredible in its ability to shape each character solely by how Sethe, Denver, Paul D, and Beloved feel of one another through their painful pasts and their present lives together.

Denver’s character is incredibly interesting because of the connection she has to Sethe. Sethe’s past is hidden from her, yet she yearns to hear all of it. The brutality of slavery and the things Sethe went through constantly haunt her, literally. Sethe describes Denver by saying, “Years of haunting had dulled her in ways you wouldn’t believe and sharpened her in ways you wouldn’t believe either” (Morrison 117). The haunting of Denver’s baby sister in 124 caused people to isolate the house. These years of solitude “dulled” Denver however they also “sharpened” Denver’s character. After Howard and Buglar ran away, Denver thinks, “she did not wonder why Howard and Buglar had run away. She did not agree with Sethe that they left because of the ghost” (Morrison 121). Denver found that the ghost present in 124 was haunting them because of something horrendous that happened in Sethe’s past.  Denver was “sharpened” because her mother’s past lingers in every aspect of her life. The darkness of the past scares Denver yet with every page she slowly uncovers her mother’s painful past.

Sethe is a character both emotionally guarded and wrought with vulnerability. Although earlier in the novel it is clear that she has voluntarily and painfully removed herself from the obligations of loving her children, Beloved seems to create a solid dent in the wall she has built up over time. When Paul D is suspicious of Sethe keeping Beloved in their home, saying, “‘It’s clear why she holds on to you, but I just can’t see why you holding on to her’”, Sethe replies sharply, “‘What do you care who’s holding on to who?’” (80), insinuating that there is a wealth of history and a well of emotion just below her hardened surface. The birthing scene, as described by Denver to Beloved, acutely displays Sethe’s resilience in what initially appears to be guaranteed death. Not even Sethe seems to understand why her survival is important, and yet she claws her way through the terror of a cold, unforgiving night to give birth to Denver: “Sethe couldn’t think of anywhere to go but in. She waited for the sweet beat that followed the blast of pain” (98). Sethe has endured unimaginable pain in her life, and with each page it becomes more clear what this pain has made her capable of.

Paul D is another captivating character from Beloved. He was enslaved with Sethe before they escaped and while she was committed to his friend Halle, he shared a bond with her simply because of the atrocities they endured together. Paul D’s presence is significant because while providing comfort, he simultaneously serves as a reminder of a past that Sethe is constantly trying to escape. Paul represses most of his memories and feelings so that he “still has some love to give to the next person”. While an upsetting practice, one would think that this type of detachment was common in that time period because it was hard to know if the people you care about would be gone the next day. Paul D is a character with a deep background and one that I look forward to learning about as we read on.

Beloved is one of the most complex characters in this story. It was clear she was to be a complex character after introducing herself as Beloved, the same name that was given to Sethe’s first child that was murdered. Beloved has a weird infatuation for Sethe and whenever she talks to Denver, she only wants to talk about Sethe’s past. I believe that Beloved is the return of Sethe’s first child as well as an embodiment of Sethe and Paul D’s past. For example, in the scene where Beloved forces herself on Paul D and tells him to “you have to call me my name”, she forces Paul D to acknowledge her which causes a can of worms to be opened for Paul D. She told him to call her by name so that he would be forced to acknowledge her because Sethe has been ignoring the possibility that Beloved is her daughter. Another interesting scene is when Sethe is strangled by Beloved by the river. After being accused of strangling Sethe, Beloved claimed that it wasn’t she who strangled Sethe, but the “iron circle” referring to the collars that bound slaves.

Group 3: Beloved

In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Sethe is a former slave who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio during 1873 with her daughter Denver. Sethe’s home is haunted by the spirit of her deceased first-born child. Originally, Baby Suggs, Sethe’s mother-in-law lived in the house in addition to Sethe’s sons; however, Baby Suggs dies shortly after Sethe moved in. Sethe’s sons leave home because of the eerie encounters that occur within the house. Sethe tends to avoid talking about her past as a result of the emotional trauma she experiences as a slave. Her most traumatic incident occurs as she tries to escape Sweet Home: Sethe has her “milk taken from her”, meaning that she is raped and that her child was taken from her. As a result that broke her husband Halle. The name of the plantation is ironic because of the negativity that Sethe experiences there. Sethe’s traumatic experiences cause her to have an emotional disconnect with people close to her. For example, her mother is hung, and she is separated from her husband after fleeing Sweet Home. Also, Baby Suggs dies, and her two sons leave 124. During the era of slavery, slaves expected to be separated from their families. As a result, many slaves purposely prevented themselves from forming close familial ties with others.

Paul D is a former slave from Sweet Home who becomes Sethe’s new lover. Their ability to bond over their stories of the past enable them to reconnect on a deeper level. Beloved articulates the reality of love in a slave’s life especially through Paul D. Several times throughout the story Paul D is afraid of falling in love because all of the former slaves in the novel have lost the ones they love most. They are afraid of losing additional loved ones,“the best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you’d have a little felt over for the next one” (54). The second place where Paul D scared of the thought of love is when his “tobacco tin” is mentioned in the novel. It is where Paul D keeps his memories from slavery which is why he is scared to open it. As a result, detachment is seen as a major theme within the novel. Eventually, a new form of attachment arises when Beloved is introduced.

Beloved is a girl roughly around Denver’s age that stumbles upon 124. Her presence in the house is welcomed in a different manner in comparison to Paul D’s entrance. Initially, Denver is not entirely fond of Paul D. She is not used to sharing the presence of her mother with another person which causes feelings of jealousy; however, Denver reacts differently to Beloved. Beloved’s presence immediately draws everyone in the house into her. Denver shares a sisterly bond with her, and Sethe treats Beloved as a daughter. Suddenly, the atmosphere of detachment within the house is converted into attachment. Sethe’s attachment to Beloved stems from the death of her first born daughter. Sethe killed her first born daughter in an attempt to kill all her children, preventing them from being recaptured into slavery. The tombstone of her deceased child reads “beloved.” This is an example of how Sethe’s traumatic past directly influences her behavior of the present. Sethe’s repressed emotions regarding her dead child cause her to be oblivious to Beloved’s strange behavior. Paul D is the only character to question Beloved, whereas Denver and Sethe are immediately drawn to her without hesitation.

Stylistically, one of Toni Morrison’s goals in this book is to confuse the reader. She confuses her audience by incorporating flashbacks that are told in pieces rather than at once. As a result, the time line of this piece is hard to follow. She also purposely leaves out the chapter numbers to distort the timeline of the story even more.  Slaves were constantly faced with confusion during the slavery era because of the lack of control within their lives. By tweaking the structure of the novel, Morrison tries to portray the constant confusion faced by slaves.

1/28 Group 4 review- Beloved

Major Themes:

• Dehumanization
• Emotional destruction as a consequence of slavery
• Familial distortion
• Psychological chains as a consequence of slavery
• Hopelessness
• Resilience
• Family

The novel Beloved explores many different aspects of life in America post-emancipation.  The world did not stop, or even slow down for people thrown into freedom, so the adjustment from bondage to freedom was a tremendous and hard transition for the entire formerly enslaved populus.  Major themes themes in this book, as noted above, focus more on the emotional bondages of slavery and how these bondages kept a strong-hold on their victims even after freedom was achieved.  From the inability to love and care to the heavy broken spirits that were too abounding to lift, Toni Morrison does an excellent job of traveling back in time and encapturing the ora of a people as they tried to reconstruct themselves after centuries of being torn down.  

Using a medley of flashbacks, Beloved depicts the challenge of navigating everyday life while grappling with the haunting past of slavery and its present implications. As characters yearned to move forward in their lives, memories of slavery continued to rear its ugly head. Countless examples could be cited on the hopelessness enslavement chained people to, however some of the most poignant are the plights of Sethe and Paul D; which fundamentally crippled the capacity for love, also, simply, to feel. Made evident in the novel Sethe is overwhelmed with the past she does not even the energy to dream, because she is plagued by her past. “But her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day.” This demonstrates how much the past has changed one’s present because their traumatic experiences have inhibited their capacity for more.

Additionally, Paul D’s masculinity is constructed difficulty, because he has been trained in slavery to show no emotion as it is a sign of weakness. Expressing his frustration with having to suppress his emotions he says, “Let me tell you something. A man ain’t a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can’t chop down because they’re inside.” While he is explaining how difficult it is to be called on as a man as strong and emotionless, he also shows how being treated as an object and work tool changes a man's psyche and causes them to break when brought into severe emotional distress. Furthermore, in the novel characters are constantly reminded not to love at all, because in slavery everything is temporary. The novel continuously grapples with how people learn to love again as all their lives they’ve been taught not to love, to save their feelings.

Group 1

Group 1- Giulia Russell, Meaghan Pickles, Negusu Hizkias, and Gage Battles

The readings for this past week highlight some of the most atrocious acts human beings are capable of. These readings bring together and recognize the horrendous lives led by these slaves. However, they also emphasize how African Americans rose up against the constant prosecution, manipulation, and white “dominance” they were constantly exposed to while enslaved.

In Envisioning Emancipation, Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer explore the effect of Emancipation on African Americans. They did this by contrasting images of slaves from before emancipation to pictures of African Americans in post-emancipation. For example, an image African American shown frowning in the first image and then seen with a wide smile in the second photograph. These images brilliantly displayed the impact of emancipation on African Americans. These illustrations include images of free African Americans in the Civil War Era. Willis and Krauthamer’s included a variety of images from African American soldiers in the Union Army, to slave reunions in church, to emancipation statutes of white Americans that helped push for emancipation. These images show not only the effect of emancipation on African Americans but also the ways it impacted all the other Americans of different colors and genders.

In chapters 5-7 of Incidents in the life of a slave girl. Written by herself, a young girl brought up as a slave struggles to identify herself as “owned”, and brutally comes to the realization that she will never be the “master” of her own life. Not only was her master inappropriate with her, but he thrived on his constant manipulation. The power he had was so strong he was not afraid to hurt her in ways that caused her to feel as though death was the only way she would be freed. Slavery and sexual abuse was not the only form of power her master, Dr. Flint, had over her. The constant manipulation he fed off cut to the core of her identity as a human being. Not only was she physically violated, but was also mentally and emotionally wounded. His ability to take her “lover” from her was harmful in the act itself but also stripped her ability to love. Love is one of the strongest emotions humans bestow on other humans. By stripping her of this, he tore away a piece of her humanity. In his eyes, she was less than human. In the beginning of chapter 7 she even questions this normal human emotion. She says, “Why does the slave ever love?...at any moment be wrenched away by the hand of violence?” (pg 58). As a young girl, she was stripped of all the “normal” human emotions people develop as they grow. By doing this, Dr. Flint stripped her of her own body and soul.

Remembering Slavery offers some insight into the different experiences that African Americans had during that time period. One of the most interesting aspects of the reading was the way that former slaves described the difference of having “good owners and bad owners”, as if there's any such thing as a good owner. The book states that some owners “exercised their dominion subtlely as to almost be invisible, while others were omnipresent, intrusive, and heavy handed”. This is interesting because it shows the range of perspectives that slavery induced.  While the reading shows the many atrocities that came with slavery as well the good memories and strength that the slaves found in each other. It is very clear that without this community, slavery would be near impossible to endure.

Saidiya V. Hartman’s Scenes of Subjection frames a biting legal context for the degradation of black slaves, especially the emotional and sexual vulnerability of black women. Since black women were not considered citizens, they were not protected from the constant sexual harassment and assault on the part of white owners. Hartman states that “as the enslaved is legally unable to give consent or offer resistance, she is presumed to be always willing”, creating a living hell for female slaves in which they have no right to express that their sexual contact was nonconsensual, and a particularly vile aspect of the total abasement of personhood slavery has the power to cause. With the heartbreaking example of State of Missouri v. Celia, a Slave, a young girl was sexually assaulted for four years before finally reaching the height of desperation and humiliation, killing her owner. It would be ridiculous to assume that Celia would have received a fair trial, as “neither slaves nor free blacks were allowed to testify against whites” and the crime Celia purported was acted against her did not technically exist in a court of law.

1/21 discussion+readings group 4

Incidents of the life of a slave girl

Major Themes:

• Fear
• Oppression through the form of restricting love
• Power
• Control
• Intimidation
• Loss of innocence
• Jealousy
• Family
• Lack of justice in the American judicial system  

In this narrative, the protagonist lives in complete fear of her master and her mistress.  As she tries to fulfill her daily tasks while struggling to defend her virtue from her master as well as keep her mistress happy, her morals and self-will are constantly challenged.  She is forced to grow up too fast and blossom before it is her time due to the selfish wants of her master.  The poor girl lives in fear for her life everyday and is suffocated under the thumb of both tyrants in the house.  The helplessness she felt was inherently perpetuated by the lack of representation and protection of the American judicial system, as slaves in that time period had no legal standing in court.  She was legally powerless, oppressed by fear, and stripped of the blissful innocence that lies within normal adolescence.  

Her hopes and dreams of real love are also crushed by the manipulative control of her master.  She sacrifices all ties with the man she loves in order to protect him, which is a wise decision way beyond her youth.  The jealousy displayed from her mistress is rageful, vengeful and undeserved as she shows no interest in her masters advancements, yet still has to wake up to the scary sight of a hateful mistress watching her while she sleeps. The full exercise of power exerted over the young girl as well as the struggle for power between the master and mistress represents just how vital the hand of power played in upholding the institution of slavery.  Yet, in spite of all of her trials and tribulations, the one comforting thought she always has to rely on is the support of her family.  Her grandmother and brother are the cornerstone of her sanity and thus the importance of the strength of the black family, and ultimately the black community, during that time period is accentuated.    

Remembering Slavery

Major Themes:

• Brutality
• Varying experiences of slavery
• Religion
• Power
• Oppression
• State sanctioned
• Rise of the “Invisible Institution”
• Dehumanization
• Foundation of white supremacy

In a detailed memoir framed as interviews with former slaves, this writing explores the many intricacies of slavery that allowed it to be such a long standing institution. As the writing tells the stories of how slave masters used brutal punishment to reinforce their dominance over slaves, it demonstrates the role of dehumanization. Most slaves were beaten and tortured into submission like cattle. While some slaves claimed they had “good” masters, the negative experiences overwhelmingly outweighed those experiences. In one event a child is beaten for taking a piece of candy. To restrain her from trying to escape the beating, her face was pinned underneath a rocking chair, resulting in permanent disfigurement of her mouth and facial bone structure.

There could be cases upon cases brought up explaining the brutality of slavery, in which a person was badly injured or even killed as a result of their master’s brutality. Nonetheless, it was deemed irrelevant, because under federal law it did not matter what happened to slaves because of their existence of as property instead of  human beings. Therefore, slaves could be raped, murdered, and brutalized with impunity. Moreover, Christianity of all things was used to substantiate the argument of slavery. It was even believed that slaves were an unevolved subspecies of sorts, by “educated” individuals such as Thomas Jefferson. White affluent people held great advantage over African Americans at this point. They used religion, “logic”, and even called slavery their moral obligation to teach slaves skills to justify their notions of white supremacy. What more could they need to continue slavery as a long standing institution for eternity? Or so they thought, the African American people would eventually overcome.

Envisioning Emancipation

Major Themes:

• Emancipation is not true freedom
• Refined Clothes
• Monuments are paradoxical
• Emergence of black communities
• Black culture unbound

In Envisioning Emancipation, Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer explain how emancipation is not true freedom for African Americans. Power is freedom, which African Americans did not have during this time period. True freedom is complete freedom from the concept of slavery and white supremacy. By “freeing” slaves, white people maintained control over black people because the concept of black people as objects was still in effect. Additionally, some statues and monuments erected still portrayed affluent white men as a “savior” for the former slaves. For example, a statue depicting Abraham Lincoln with an outstretched hand over a slave dressed in tattered clothing only furthers white supremacy, because it portrays African Americans as downtrodden and suggests that their emancipation and freedom was a favor, and not a right.  Also, monuments of white supremacists were kept. Since they were not destroyed, the negative ideals of white supremacists presented within the monuments stay in place even though emancipation is supposed to be about equal opportunity for black people.

On the other hand, several photographs of black people dressed in refined clothes are displayed in Envisioning Emancipation. Black people are displayed as humans with sophisticated clothes such as suits. The refined clothes represent a sense of hope for black people, but more so seek  to change the perception and image of them. Emancipation also sparked the emergence of black communities and black culture became unbound. Since black people were no longer imprisoned by white supremacists, black people were able to rapidly spread their culture, resulting in a influx of black musicians, artistry, and eventual historical figures. Emancipation represented the realization of a long time dream of African Americans, presenting them the opportunity to advance themselves and effect change throughout the world.

Group 2 - Readings: Remembering Slavery, Envisioning Emancipation, Scenes of Subjugation, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Jonathan Clarke, Christal Scott, Kayla Chevis, Malik Thompson, and Katherine Hancock

The excerpts that we read this week paint extremely detailed and specific images of what life was like as a slave, and the complex, violent, paradoxical relationship that slaves and slave holders had. We read about what slaves remember from their time in slavery, as well as what life was like after emancipation.

Slave owners often acted contradictory towards their slaves. Remembering Slavery defines slavery as “a social system that defined men and women as things, vested owners with enormous power over those they owned” (3). This frames the rest of the excerpt from this book and helps with the rest of the readings because throughout the piece, we see slave owners mistreating the slaves like any other kind of material property. It was disconcerting that some slave owners showed obvious guilt over acts of violence to their slaves, however, because it means there is a more complex relationship between the two individuals besides owner and piece of property—emotions were involved. If the owners felt guilt upon physical violence, why was the guilt not deep enough to end the institution of slavery altogether? Additionally, slaves and their masters shared common ground in religion, but it was not enough for masters to recognize and fix the wrong in owning people in the first place. According to the interpretation of Christianity that the slaves used, slaveholders were deemed hypocritical. “Dere wuz a man who folks called a good preacher, but he wuz one of de meanest mens I ever did seed.” (22) However, in the view of the slaveholder, Christianity justified slavery.

Envisioning Emancipation shows more contradiction in the relationship of freed slaves and previous slave owners. Although slaves were supposedly free under law, they were still bound by the upper hand of white people. All of the images in this excerpt collectively portray the idea of a new outlook on the African American race. They are all dressed in nice clothing compared to when being enslaved, and in the images on pages 169 “Fireman” and 151, which is a family portrait, the audience can see that there is a start to integration. Although it looks as if things were becoming better for the newly freed race, the images to not depict the possible realities of what the African American woman means to that family, whether or not she is a maid, or under some other type of employment by that family. The inconsistency lies in the fact that during this time period there was still segregation, and black people were undeniably the lower class. So this portrayal of this black family being part of the upper class creates an inconsistency. The transition of emancipation was certainly a monumental step in African American history, however it was evident that there was still much work to be done.

Scenes of Subjugation and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl both depict the male slave owner dominance over young female slaves.

“Do four years and two children later imply submission, resignation, complicity, desire or the extremity of constraint” (pg.85, State of Missouri V. Celia) Not only do the cases presented in Scenes of Subjugation shed a light on the complete subjugation of the slaves but the utter hopelessness of being a slave woman. Slave women had no rights whatsoever. They could be raped by all men, whether slave or master. They had no rights as a wife or mother, and could not be protected under the law, by either son, brother, or husband. Rape was seen as a way of life and on top of being forced to work as the men did, women also lived in constant fear of being overpowered, devoid of will whatsoever, in a dehumanizing way that forced young girls to lose their innocence.

Possibly the most horrible aspect of slavery, evident across all readings, is that slaves’ treatments relied upon what was essentially the best business strategy. The “extent of protection of life limb was decided by diminutions in the value of capital” according to Scenes of Subjugation. This is proof that slavery is the utmost instance of devaluing human life.