Throughout almost all of the books that we have
read in class this year, the theme of identity has been brought up because it
is so important in the shaping of African American history. It also happens to
be one of Beloved’s central themes, with
it particularly touching on Sethe’s journey to find an identity after slavery by
supporting a family and starting a life in Blue Stone. However, Beloved shows
how this past of slavery can affect African Americans in forming their
identity. I know that in Mr. Sutton’s history class we are learning about how when
slaves were suddenly released (but in Sethe’s case she escaped) they were still
treated unequally and since they had no background in being an individual and
making her own plans, they were completely lost, attempting to find a path to success.
In the case of
Sethe, slavery had its serious mental toll on her, when Sethe was with
schoolteacher I remember they started measuring her body parts and determining
which ones were human or animal. In addition to this they stole her breast milk
while she is awake is, which adds onto her further dehumanization. So after
Sethe escaped it looked like she chose to ignore the fact that slavery had ever
affected her, but by doing it seemed to me that she unintentionally made her
mental state worse because her past kept on coming to haunt her. For example,
when the school teacher comes back to take control of Sethe’s children, Sethe gets
a sense that no matter how far she runs away the effects of slavery is inevitable,
but because she thinks that there is still a chance that her children can avoid
it, she kills Beloved.
On the other hand,
I think it would have been better if Sethe confronted her past of slavery in
order to empower herself and find her true identity. Morrison even shows how
when Beloved is reincarnated she feels like she is losing her identity when she
loses a tooth and irrationally feels like she is falling apart. To me the reason
was because Sethe had always hid her past from Beloved and I think that
Morrison is implying that in order for Beloved to form her own identity she
must have a sense of what tragic part of American history her mother and family
were a part of.
Ultimately,
Morrison shows how African Americans must accept their history of slavery as something
they have faced AND THEN move on from there in order to find themselves, even
though it’s hard and painful to do so. With the return of Beloved and the
teacher, Morrison shows that Sethe can’t be free from her past relating to
slavery until she is open and accepting with it. But when she tries to avoid her
unavoidable roots, in order to start a new life, it actually works against her.
Slavery is such a large and long lasting setback for African American’s that it
has in a way become embedded in their culture, and by ignoring it Sethe is
ignoring a part of her and her relatives’ history.
