Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Beloved beginning
I'm going to piggy back on Mesa's most recent post, seeking connection between the various works read. I'd like you to take some time to comment on what common threads you are seeing already between Beloved and some of the other books we have studied. In what ways does Morrison echo some of the other authors? In what ways does she give us some different perspectives? Feel free to consider both the content and the style of her writing.
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Morrison echoes other authors (especially Faulkner) when she uses the stream of consciousness as a writing style. Also, some of the dark elements shown in Beloved are similar to those in Pantaloon in Black, such as the spirit of the Baby and the description of the dog. Morrison gives us the perspective of former slaves in the South. In the other books we have read, the theme of blacks vs. white has only been underlying and not the main point of the book. In Beloved, we get to see the perspective of a slave whereas in the other books, we see the perspective of a slave owner. We also see a lot of dialogue, which contrast the lack of dialogue in Go Down, Moses. This is similar to the writing style in A Good Man is Hard to Find. All of the books share themes such as: past vs. present, what was still is, religion, family, man's relationship with nature and racism. In conclusion, most of books in this class have a constant thread, but this one separated itself from the rest because of the unique perspective and the supernatural phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteIn both Go Down, Moses and Beloved, there is a character with a seemingly immortal aspect to them. The bear in GDM was a spiritual character who is always on the mind of the hunters and in Beloved, the baby's ghost seems to always hover over the characters. A difference between Beloved and the other books that we've read is perspective. Most of the books have been from a predominantly white perspective while this book is from a black slave's point of view, which gives the reader a more accurate portrayal of the life of a slave. Another similarity between GDM and Beloved is the complicate family ties. In Beloved, Baby Suggs has eight children from all different fathers which turns the family tree into a family forest (catherine came up with that one...) which is similar to the ridiculous family forest in GDM.
ReplyDeleteIn all of the books we have rad this semester, the passage of time/the past and their roles in the present have played a significant role. First, in Go Down, Moses , Faulkner uses the erratic sense of time to to show what "was" still "is". For Laurel, in The Optimists Daughter, the passage of time and the past are brought to the present when she returns home and is forced to deal with the memories that live there. Now Sethe deals with similar problems. With the appearance of Paul D comes a landslide of memories she had hoped to suppress. And with the clinging spirit of her dead child comes the inability to let go.
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