Summary Of Slavery In Morrison's Beloved By Toni Morrison

Antony Kamel

African American Literature

Mr. Caulfield

25 March 2014

Title

Katherine Ann Porter, a short story writer once said “The past is never where you think you left it.” In Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, Morrison depicts the journey of a family and how their past effects their whole life. In Beloved, Toni Morrison ultimately portrays the life-long effects of slavery and how it individually affects each character. Her main message is that slavery changes a person forever. Paul D becomes physically and emotionally tarnished. Sethe is unable to come to peace with her past because it was such a brutal experience. Beloved is a living reminder of the repercussions of slavery. Denver never experienced slavery and thus is the only character with an earthly connection.

Slavery breaks Paul D’s person; it changes him both physically and emotionally. When Paul D and Sethe are discussing their pasts, the narrator says, “Paul D had only begun, what he was telling her was only the beginning when her fingers on his knee, soft and reassuring, stopped him. Just as well. Just as well. Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn't get back from. He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut. He would not pry it loose now in front of this sweet sturdy woman, for if she got a whiff of the contents it would shame him. And it would hurt her to know that there was no red heart bright as Mister's comb beating in him” (86). Paul D begins to reminisce on his painful past, but he is afraid that if he and Sethe talk too much they will begin to uncover an emotional past. Paul D tries to avoid talking about his past at all costs and both have ways of cop...

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... also the strength of slavery.

Denver is affected by slavery in a different way. Every other character, as a result of slavery, is unable to become a contributing member to the word. Denver is the only one who is able to have a connection with the world. Sethe loses her mind, and Paul D is so caught up in his past that he cannot appreciate the present. Denver is the only character who develops her own opinions and beliefs. When she leaves 124 to seek a different life, she finds a new sense of individuality in herself. Denver is able to move on with her life because she never experienced slavery first hand. Morrison is using Denver as a way to draw a contrast between someone who experienced slavery versus someone who did not. Paul D and Sethe are timid and unable to move on, while Denver makes a name for herself and becomes her own person.