Thursday, April 8, 2010

Beloved




I think this novel was perhaps the easiest for me to relate to my big question. As complex and detail orientated as the text is, I found it relatively simple to understand the concept, or my perception of it at least, of happiness within the novel. I think the strongest aspect I took away from Morrison's text was how fragmented everything was. The characters, the story line, the way it was told, all of the components were shards of the story that were pieced together.

That is exactly the way happiness was found within the novel as well for me. I was able to see it incredibly purely in some places, noticeably absent in others, and slivers of it hiding behind a character in rare occasions. There was a never a solid line of happiness, however. For me, it existed in moments, quick flashes of it before it vanished. There were moments when Denver could find happiness within the eyes of Beloved. Her desire for a sister and for someone similar to herself was so deep that her happiness manifested through the presence of her ghostly sister. But it would never stay long. Something would inevitably get in the way; something like fear, disbelief, or even jealousy.

I found that Sethe sometimes saw happiness in Paul D. He was her representation of the future, of the possibility that there could be something more in Sethe's life. I don't think Paul D was a happy character necessarily, I really don't think any of the characters are, but to Sethe, he was able to bring her those fragmented pieces from time to time. Moreover, for Sethe, happiness was her future of any kind. She was so broken from the past, so tired of running from what had occurred, that anything in her future was exciting and hopeful. I think Paul D found happiness in the character of 124. As Sethe clung on to the prospect of the future, Paul D saw 124 as being his new life. He had suffered incredibly hardships as well as Sethe, but I don't think he was as haunted by them as Sethe found herself to be. The house for Paul D was the physical manifestation of a proper life for himself. In those walls, he was finally able to be the man he had dreamed he should have been all his life. He felt he was entitled to have such a life, and his happiness resulted in the presence of 124 along with Sethe and Denver.

As much as this novel is a ghost story, and to some extent, the elements of fantasy that go along with it, I think this is by far the most humanistic and relatable novel we've read thus far. Happiness within the story mimics that of real life. I don't think we are all naturally happy all of the time. Our lives, composed of moments, take different tones based on the movements of our existences. Like Beloved, we experience an array of emotions at any given point, and it's not impossible for happiness to coincide with another element. This is a human story, afterall.

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