Alienation within Beloved

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Alienation within “Beloved”

“Cultural trauma refers to a dramatic loss of identity and meaning, a tear in the social fabric, affecting a group of people that has achieved some degree of cohesion” (Day 2). This quote by Ron Eyerman in “Cultural Trauma” references a large theme within the novel “Beloved”; Alienation of the self with its own identity. As the cultural trauma of slavery took its toll on the populations of each and every state where it persisted, it culminated in the same outcome in every instance. Put quite simply, the institution of slavery forms concrete and seemingly immovable walls between slave and master. Within this practice, members of these societies became locked into their respective roles. Erikson defines identity as “the conception of who one is and what one is over time and across situations”, (Day 3). Yet slaves in this day did not live through any variety of “situations”. Second only to the harsh conditions and emotional trauma of slavery was its consistency. Each day from dawn to dusk consisted of the same schedule of work with variety rarely occurring. With this in mind, it is hardly a stretch to say that the slave was deprived of identity through their inability to see themselves in a variety of real life situations. The slave only knew the life of a slave. It is only when Paul D and Sethe escape this life that they are forced to stop alienating themselves from the world around them and come to terms with their own identity. The slave-masters throughout “Beloved” whether seemingly benevolent or not, have one effect on their slaves, they alienate them from all around them, even to the point (in the words of Fredrick Douglass) that they crush (the natural affection of the mother for the child”, (Da...

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...other. Morrison shows us through her novel that there is more to life than master and slave. She documents the struggle of Sethe, Paul D, Baby Suggs and Stamp Paid to escape this mentality, but as they do, the community is united and the horrors of the past (Beloved) are driven away. Despite years of social training, it is only when the alienation is broken that love and life can occur.

Works Cited

Day, Lanette. "Identity Formation and White Presence in Toni Morrison's Beloved and The Bluest Eye." Mckendree.edu. Mckendree University, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

Øisang, Rikke A. "Otherness and the Black Body in “Beloved”." New Narratives. University of Oslo, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

Leon, Geoffrey. "Sense of Alienation and Racial Discrimination in Beloved." Sense of Alienation and Racial Discrimination in Beloved. Bachelor And Master, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

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