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Beloved is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. The novel is loosely based on the life and legal case of the slave Margaret Garner, about whom Morrison later wrote in the opera Margaret Garner (2005). Beloved book cover This image is a book cover. ...
For the Louisiana politician, see deLesseps Morrison, Jr. ...
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Modernist literature is the literary form of Modernism and especially High modernism; it should not be confused with modern literature, which is the history of the modern novel and modern poetry as one. ...
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Alfred A. Knopf (September 12, 1892 _ August 11, 1984) was a leading American publisher of the 20th century. ...
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See also: 1986 in literature, other events of 1987, 1988 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ...
For the Louisiana politician, see deLesseps Morrison, Jr. ...
Slave redirects here. ...
Margaret Garner was a slave from Kentucky. ...
For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ...
Margaret Garner is an American opera loosely based on the life of runaway slave Margaret Garner. ...
In 1998 the novel was adapted into a film of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...
Beloved, originally Toni Morrisons Pulitzer-Prize-winning 1987 novel, was released as a Hollywood film in 1998. ...
Oprah Winfrey, (born January 29, 1954) is a multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in television history. ...
A survey of eminent authors and critics conducted by The New York Times found Beloved the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years; it garnered 15 of 125 votes, finishing ahead of Don DeLillo's Underworld (11 votes), Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (8) and John Updike's Rabbit series (8). The results appeared in The New York Times Book Review on May 21, 2006. [1] The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ...
Don DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American author best known for his novels, which paint detailed portraits of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ...
Underworld is a novel written in 1997 by Don DeLillo. ...
For the musician, see Cormac McCarthy (musician). ...
For the Canadian band, see Blood Meridian (band). ...
John Hoyer Updike (born March 18, 1932 in Shillington, Pennsylvania) is an American writer. ...
John Hoyer Updike (born March 18, 1932 in Shillington, Pennsylvania) is an American writer. ...
is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Plot summary
The book follows the story of blacks Sethe (pronounced "Seth-uh") and her daughter Denver as they try to rebuild their lives after having escaped from slavery. One day, a young lady shows up at their house, saying that her name is "Beloved." Sethe comes to believe that the girl is another of her daughters, whom Sethe murdered by slitting her throat with a handsaw when she was only two years old to save her from a life of slavery, and whose tombstone reads "Beloved." It was thought, at first, that Beloved's real name was Liz Granacher, but that is shown to be false later. Beloved's return consumes Sethe to the point where she ignores her other daughter and even her own needs, while Beloved becomes more and more demanding. Paul D. and Stamp Paid know that Beloved is evil, but do nothing out of fear.
The novel follows in the tradition of slave narratives, but also confronts the more painful and taboo aspects of slavery, such as sexual abuse and violence. Morrison feels these issues were avoided in the traditional slave narratives. In the novel, she explores the effects on the characters, Paul D and Sethe, of trying to repress - and then come to terms with - the painful memories of their past.
Major themes Beloved is a novel based on the impact of slavery and of the emancipation of slaves on individual black people. There are several themes that remain central to the novel:
Motherhood The concept of motherhood within Beloved is as an overarching and overwhelming love that can conquer all, strongly typified within the novel by the character Sethe, whose very name is the feminine of "Seth"- the Biblical 'father of the world'. This can also be seen within Morrison's other works and has led to her sometimes being cited as a feminist writer. The feminine capacity for love is maximal: "It hurt her when mosquitoes bit her baby". Further, Sethe's escape from the slave plantation (ironically named 'Sweet Home') stems from her desire to keep the "mother of her children alive" and not from any personal survival instinct. Sethe's maternal instincts almost lead to her own destruction. We can here assume the interpretation that Beloved is a wrathful character looking to wreak revenge on Sethe for killing her, despite the fact that the murder was, in Sethe's mind, an entirely loving act. Sethe's guilt at Beloved's death means that she is willing to "give up her life, every minute, hour and second of it, to take back just one of Beloved's tears". Further, toward the end of the novel, "Beloved didn't move, said, 'Do it', and Sethe complied". The strength of her love leads her almost to the point of death as she allows Beloved to take her revenge.--- This article is about the Biblical Seth. ...
History Toni Morrison wrote Beloved on a foundation of historical events. The most significant event within the novel--the "Misery", or Sethe's murder of Beloved--is based on an actual historical event. In 1856, Margaret Garner murdered her children to prevent them from being recaptured and taken back into slavery with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Morrison admits to "an obsession" with this account after she discovered it while helping edit a scrapbook on black history. The novel itself can be seen as the reworking of fact into something with a very emotional central message. History is woven throughout the novel. The Middle Passage is referenced along with the Underground Railway in many parts of the novel; the 'Sixty Million and More' to whom Morrison dedicates the novel may refer to the many who died during the Middle Passage. The entire concept of the slavery described in the novel: Paul D's confinement in Georgia, ideas such as the "bit" and the legislature described are all based on history. This gives the novel a powerful impact. 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Margaret Garner was a slave from Kentucky. ...
It has been suggested that Fugitive slave laws be merged into this article or section. ...
Beloved's appearance reawakens memories of slavery among the other characters, and they are forced to deal with their past instead of trying to repress their memories. Reincarnation and rebirth are also themes in this novel.
Manhood Again, the concept of manhood is important within Beloved. Paul D is the only developed example of a male character, and is "the kind of man who could walk into a house and make the women cry. Because with him, in his presence, they could cry and tell him things they only told each other". He is, however, emotionally crippled and is forced to keep his emotions locked inside a "tobacco tin"- a box "rusted shut." This is a metaphor for the way in which he must control his feelings to survive. During the chain-gang period, his hands uncontrollably shake until he can learn to trap his emotions and effectively lock them away. It takes Beloved to release him, shown by the uncontrolled repetition of "Red Heart. Red Heart..." Within the novel, the male is significantly weaker than the female, one reason being there is no other developed male character other than Paul D to test the strength of women in the novel against, all others being the past oppressors of Sethe and other former slaves. Paul D cannot cope with the extreme demonstration of love exemplified by Sethe's murder of Beloved and leaves. Still, the book ends with Paul D coming back "to put his story next to hers", a display of his courage and mature love, if crippled by his slavery ordeal. Leaving the readers without ultimate answers, Toni Morrison concludes on a hopeful note, with Paul D trying to explain troubled and past-obsessed Sethe that "[she is her] best thing."
The most strongly ambiguous character within the novel is Beloved. The first interpretation of her character is that she is a supernatural, incarnate form of Sethe's murdered daughter. The second is of her as, as Stamp Paid puts it, "a girl locked up by a white man over by Deer Creek. Found him dead last summer and the girl gone. Maybe that's her". Both are supportable by the text. The concept that Beloved is the re-incarnated child is supported by her knowledge of the song that "nobody knows but me and my children" and her knowledge of Sethe's earrings, but it is also true that the characters have a psychological need for Beloved- Sethe can assuage her guilt over the death of her child, and Denver gains a playmate, or even more. The reader is forced to be active rather than passive and is made to work to discover what is going on. The emphasis is on interpretation rather than on what the author says.
References - ^ What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?, The New York Times May 21, 2006
See also The Color Purple by Alice Walker African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. ...
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