How slavery ruined Sethe´s ability to sustain healthy relationships.

In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, the main character, Sethe who is an ex-slave, is reunited with her deceased daughter. Sethe saved this daughter from her own fate, by cutting her throat, when she was just 2 years old. This relationship between mother and daughter develops throughout the book, and is an clear example of how slavery ruins the ability to sustain healthy relationships.

In an analysis of Toni Morrison's Beloved, “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self”, Barbara A. Schapiro writes about the relationships between the characters in Beloved. Sethe's experiences as a slave drives her to kill her daughter Beloved, when schoolteacher; her former slavemaster, arrives at her house to bring her back Sweethome. This is an act of love, and as Barbara A. Schapiro puts it “Her humanity has been so violated by this man, and by her entire experience as a slave woman, that she kills her daughter to save her from a similar fate.”, and as Sethe states in the book "If I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her" (200). Like the analysis discusses, Sethe killed Beloved to save her from mental death, a thing Sethe herself has experienced.

Sethe´s emotional abilities is highly affected by her years as a slave, this is mentioned in the book, when Sethe says;  "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another" (95).  Sethe's eyes are also described as empty, symbolising her emptiness inside, coming from the expression that eyes are the windows of the soul; "deep down in those big black eyes there was no expression at all" (55). In “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self” this is also mentioned by the author writing that;“Her eyes reflect the psychic loss and denial of self she has experienced on all levels in her life.”

The murder of Beloved, shows Sethe's unconditional love for her children, and when Beloved returns, that love will physically drain Sethe. Symbolising how loving Beloved takes more humanity, than Sethe has left after her life as a slave. In the analysis Barbara A. Schapiro writes;

“The dynamic suggests a mother being drained by the child's greedy, excessive need.”

Sethe does not have the emotional ability to give Beloved the love she needs, so when Sethe is emotionally drained, she continues to give physical love, like her limited amount of food, to satisfy Beloved. We can also see this change in Sethe and Beloved's physical appearance, as Beloved gets fatter while Sethe gets thinner."Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it"(250).

This symbolizes the odd dynamic between mother and daughter, set off by Sethe's years as a slave, which lead to her overpowering love for her children, blurring her judgement of right and wrong. This love shows in both the action of killing Beloved, then almost killing herself when she returns, as a consequence of giving Beloved everything she asks for.

Psycho Killer - How Slavery Damaged Sethe's Mental State: Critical Lens Experts

In Beloved, Toni Morrison portrays various themes and messages through methods and literary techniques such as characterization and symbols. Sethe, for example, provides a strong depiction of the strength of the love of a mother. In addition to this, various symbols that Morrison uses throughout the novel provide representations for the way in which slavery affects the characters. Through both the characterization of Sethe as a mother and the use of the symbol of Sethe’s tree-shaped scar, Morrison conveys the message that the experience of living through slavery significantly psychologically damages a person, causing what once was beautiful and benevolent to become tarnished with abuse and cruelty.

Through various symbols throughout the novel, Morrison conveys how slavery affects and scars the psychological functionings of someone. For example, Morrison's use of the chokecherry tree-shaped scar on Sethe’s back acts as a physical representation of how Sethe’s past as a slave impacts her throughout her life. The imagery of a tree brings to mind the idea of growth and roots. Through illustrating this tree as a scar from slavery on Sethe’s back, Morrison uses it to show how slavery impacted Sethe’s roots. In doing so, she illustrates how slavery has caused her to grow and develop with permanent psychological scars which cause her to act in certain ways and harm those around her. However, the image of a tree is one that is oftentimes thought of as beautiful and that represents life and nurturing. This juxtaposition between beauty and life and pain and suffering illustrates how slavery damages what was once loving and benign.

Not only does Morrison use symbolism to express the psychological effects of slavery, she also accomplishes this through Sethe’s journey as a mother by illustrating how slavery takes away a sense of humanity from those within its grasp. She shows how it deprives one not only one’s freedom, but also one’s sanity. In “Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Psychological Reading”, Sandra Mayfield explains how Sethe’s experience as a slave caused significant psychological damage to Sethe, leading her to “ente[r] a phase of self-hatred and contempt that paralyze her actions and her thought” (9). Through the article, Mayfield analyzes how slavery psychologically and physically damages people. Mayfield focuses on Sethe’s actions and role as a mother and how it is affected by her past of slavery. As a slave, Sethe constantly experienced people exploiting her and stealing from her. These people dehumanized her. Through various acts of abuse, the white people who “owned” Sethe treated her as “not a woman, but a piece of property” and “not a mother, only the breeder of more slaves” (Mayfield 9). As a result of this treatment, Sethe learned “to cling to life and to the lives of her children” (Mayfield 10-11). Once she escaped from slavery, she had developed a mindset of doing whatever may be necessary to protect her children, for whom her love was the strongest, from the abusive cruelty of slavery. This intense love that Sethe has for her children has been tainted by Sethe’s past as a slave. Thus, it causes her to act irrationally. Similar to the tree being nurturing and loving, the love of a mother is often seen as one of the most pure and powerful forms of love. While this type of love can often be seen as truly benevolent, Morrison illustrates how slavery can take this love, something which is innately kind, and through the deterioration of humanity, transform it into something malevolent and ultimately lethal.

Through her portrayal of motherhood and development of symbols, Morrison conveys the psychological damage slavery can have on a person. She expresses how it can turn something that was beautiful, pure, and loving into something malevolent, harsh, and cruel. The way Sethe is shown as a mother and how her past has impacted her behavior towards her children exemplifies the way slavery causes those it affects to lose somewhat of a sense of humanity and to act in ways which may seem irrational. The tree-shaped scar on Sethe’s back symbolizes both the love and nurturing care Sethe provides as a mother and how this love and care is scarred, or damaged, by her past as a slave. Examining this theme and how Morrison portrays it in her novel allows us to further understand it and its depth. We, as readers, are able to look into what Morrison is saying through her novel and realize that the characters, plotline, and other aspects of the book serve more purpose than merely telling a story; they expose a message and truth of humanity that demands to be known. This message and truth uses various literary techniques to expose to the reader how slavery affects the mind of someone and damages what was once beautiful and benevolent within him or her.

Beloved: Learning To Forgive and Forget

Beloved by Toni Morrison presents a variety of complex themes that tend to revolve around Beloved or other factors throughout the book. Her novel ties issues relating to family, redemption and slavery. However, throughout the book and it’s entirety one of the most noticeable over arching theme revolves around Beloved and a source of redemption for Sethe and issues in general about humanity. Though some scholars might challenge the role Beloved plays throughout the novel, such as a demon, it’s most noticeable how Morrison uses the symbol of Beloved to help Sethe and other characters reflect on their past to essentially help the reader understand that as humans we must learn to “forgive and forget”.
Ideally, it’s clear how Beloved initially almost becomes symbol of redemption and of family towards Sethe and at times even for Denver. Beloved represents the lost baby that Sethe originally killed and Beloved even describes to Denver about being in a dark place,“[laying] down in her side curled up” (88) something commonly noticed in babies while they are in their mothers wombs. Essentially, pushing the reader to think that she is talking about her experiences of being Sethe’s dead baby. However, none the less, this only helps contextualize the fact that Beloved or the idea of Beloved is purposely back to help Soothe heal from her “wounds” as she goes onto state to Denver that she is here to, “ ‘See her [Sethe’s] face”(89). While, other scholars to this day may argue Beloved’s contribution to the theme; such as Pamela E. Barnett who argues that Beloved’s purpose throughout Beloved was to strengthen the idea of sexual abuse or play a role of a succubus, or a female demon that terrorizes males in there sleep. While there might be some truth to this, personally I would not say this is Beloved’s main role throughout the book. Beloved predominantly haunts females for a greater cause, such as Sethe, by having them reflect on their past experiences to learn and grow from them. For instance, throughout chapter 27 we first see how Sethe relives her experience of having white men come back and nearly kills Mr.Bodwin. This scenario originates from her initial experience of killing her baby so he wouldn’t have to endure being enslaved by “white men”. Additionally, we later go onto find that Beloved has left Sethe as Paul D finds Sethe around 124 she tells Paul D that “ ‘She [Beloved] has left me [Sethe]’ … ‘She [Beloved] was my best thing’ ”(321). This is almost a repetition of the past, and how Sethe felt after having killed her own baby. However, instead of being hung onto the past and not being able to move on. Paul D helps her understand the notion that “It’s good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind” (321) after remembering anecdotes from a conversation with Sixo. This pushes Paul D to tell Sethe that they have a “yesterday” and need a “tomorrow”. Though the loss of Beloved stings, and always will be a scar in The heart, Beloved leaves Sethe and Paul D to figure the remaining pieces of the puzzle. They must not be scared to move forward. Paul D’s superego helps him realize that Sethe is the one for him because she understands him, and vice versa; such as their trip to the carnival as almost a family. As a result of Beloved leaving now, Paul D and Sethe help each other mutually in the end and is only right that they attempt to have a “tomorrow” or a family and forget about their sad haunting pasts. This helps illustrate the idea that Beloved helps haunt females not just for the fun of it, but for a better cause, to help promote movement and growth in different characters.
Another scholar by the name of Philip Page discusses the idea of family throughout Beloved. Particularly stating that,“Family-the creation of it, the attempt to preserve it, the nostalgia for it-dominates the plot”. Much like Page, I tend to agree more with her statement. Hence it becomes clear that Beloved plays a role to rehabilitate Sethe’s family and past. For instance, we see how initially she tends to protect Beloved telling Paul D to ,“stop picking on her” (77) something we often see mothers do which is to defend their baby. Beloved to Sethe serves as a second chance at being a mother. More noticeably we see this when she states, “Beloved, she my daughter. She mine. See. She come back to me of her own free will…” (236). Though she is physically not the same baby Sethe had, Sethe has correlated Beloved as her own daughter and has helped her think about her role as a mother and has almost even given her the chance to be a mother all over again. Not only that, but Beloved helps Sethe and others remember painful memories and helps Sethe, and the other characters like Denver reflect on their past. For example, Sethe is often pondering about her time as slave at Sweet Home, and why she killed Beloved. Presumably after seeing these four white men. Sethe, as a result, is traumatised as the white Nephew had nursed Sethe, however, having Beloved around she even swears that now “No one will ever get my [Sethe’s] milk no more except my own children”(236). Now having Beloved again gives Sethe a sense of her priorities. Sethe more noticeably prioritizes her family now that she has a second chance at having Beloved. Nonetheless, it is quite clear how Beloved impacts Sethe in particularly to help her move from her past memories. Sethe must learn to forgive herself and move forward in life.

Rape and Its Consequences On the Mind

Beloved is a complex novel that depicts the extreme hardships of black slaves. Throughout the book, many themes arise regarding race, gender, power, and the mind. There have been many interpretations of this novel through differing lenses and points of view. One of these articles that analyzes Beloved through a psychoanalytic lens is “Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved” by Pamela E. Barnett.

This interpretation of the text focuses on the theme of rape throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Barnett interprets the story’s central theme as rape and how it played a role in slavery, both for women as well as men. Barnett uses the example of the rape committed by the white men towards slaves on the plantation to show how rape in Beloved is not determined by gender, but by race (107-9, 229). Barnett also uses examples of Sethe’s rape by the “mossy toothed [white] men” on the plantation, and how they robbed her of her breast milk due to their objectification of her. Throughout the history of slavery, people used rape as a form of control and domination over black people. Almost every black character in Beloved is affected by rape.

Later on in the story, however, the theme of rape makes a subtle shift with Beloved’s arrival. Towards the end of the novel, the theme focuses on rape’s implications on the mind as well as on “supernatural rape” caused by Beloved and her hunger for power. Beloved is interpreted as a demonic, vampire-like being that “sexually assaults male sleepers and drains them of semen” like Paul D, and haunts them by reenacting their past assaults. In Sethe’s "undreamable dreams... a gang of whites invaded her daughter's private parts, soiled  her daughter's thighs and threw her daughter out of the wagon" (251). Beloved haunts Sethe’s mind and doesn’t seem to understand Sethe’s intense fear of her own daughter being raped. Because of this, Beloved goes on to inflict rape on others to demonstrate the power that she had lost when she had been killed. Barnett uses these examples to convey the idea that Sethe’s life, as well as the novel as a whole, are consumed by, and revolve around the idea of rape as a form of power over others.

One broader theme represented in both the book as well as Barnett’s interpretation is how one’s past can be devastatingly haunting, even many years later. Beloved has the ability to bring up Sethe’s past which starts to completely destroy Sethe. Beloved shows signs of being an omniscient character; for example, Sethe realizes that Beloved recognized a song which only Sethe’s children knew (178). Furthermore, Beloved asks Sethe about where her “diamonds” are, even though Beloved has never been told about Sethe’s earrings. This makes it likely that she is a representation of Sethe’s subconscious, a part of her which is haunted by her past of slavery. With the arrival of Beloved also comes the painful memories of hardship and abuse from many years ago.

The theme of the past being a forever constantly haunting memory relates to Barnett’s interpretation because they both relate to sexual abuse. However, the theme that the past can be devastatingly haunting is not only related to rape, but power and human rights as a whole. While the theme of rape that Barnett identifies plays a huge role in the novel, an interpretation without touching on how one's past can be devastatingly haunting would be incomplete.

Sethe`s internal conflict and id, when remembering Halle

In this passage it is shown how Paul D triggers Sethe's memories of Halle, and how Sethe needs Paul D's love, because she hasn't experienced desire since she left Sweet home without Halle.

“Paul D sighed and turned over. Sethe took this opportunity afforded by his movement to shift as well. Looking at Paul D´s back, she remembered that some of the corn stalks broke, folded down over Halle´s back, and among the things her fingers clutched were husk and cornsilk hair. “

In this passage on page 32 in Beloved, Sethe has just been intimate with Paul D, making her remember her first sexual encounter with her former husband; Halle, this creates a flashback in the book, that had just finished when this passage is written. The passage tells us that, when Sethe sees Paul D´s back, she is instantly thinking about Halle, instead of the man she just shared a moment with.

Sethe is throughout the book haunted by her past, making current events constantly trigger her mind to think of past memories, good and bad. We can see this in this passage when it is written that; “Looking at Paul D´s back, she remembered that some of the corn stalks broke”

Focusing on the word remembered, we can see how seeing Paul D´s back triggers a memory in Sethe´s subconsciousness. Paul obviously reminds her of her husband, maybe because he is the first man she has been with, since the loss of her husband, or because he too was one of the men at Sweet home.

Why she chooses to grant Paul D´s wishes to find comfort with her, is a mix of many different factors, thought through by her subconsciousness, letting her id make the decision. This is based on her desire to be loved, and need for attention, which is animalistic needs. The way she describes herself throughout the book, makes us believe that she has never been desired by any man, except for the men at Sweet home. This is addressed in the book as Denver is thinking about Paul D coming to visit; “ For twelve years, long before grandma baby died, there had been no visitors of any sort and certainly no friends.”This shows she hadn't had a man since Halle, because nobody has visited the house for twelve years.This explains that when she is reunited with this attention and love, nonetheless desire, she is compelled to act on these feelings of being wanted.

Sethe also creates an internal conflicts by remembering her former husband, subconsciously comparing Paul D to Halle. This quote, and the previous pages,  shows us her love for Halle, especially the way she is romanticizing the whole memory in the cornfield. We can see this in the wording she uses in the passage, looking back at the memory, she tells how she is clutching cornsilk hair, using the word silk when referring to the corn. While her experience with Paul D, was briefly described, followed by a long flashback from Sweet home including the episode in the cornfield.

Sethe and Paul D's Id, Ego, and Superego

Are any characters or concepts in the text symbolized by the id, ego, or superego?

The following is a passage from the novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison:

“Not quite in a hurry, but losing no time, Sethe and Paul D climbed the white stairs. Overwhelmed as much by the downright luck of finding her house and her in it as by the certainty of giving her his sex, Paul D dropped twenty-five years from his recent memory. A stair step before him was Baby Suggs' replacement, the new girl they dreamed of at night and fucked cows for at dawn while waiting for her to choose. Merely kissing the wrought iron on her back had shook the house, had made it necessary for him to beat it to pieces. Now he would do more...

There were two rooms and she took him into one of them, hoping he wouldn't mind the fact that she was not prepared; that though she could remember desire, she had forgotten how it worked . . .

It was over before they could get their clothes off. Half-dressed and short of breath, they lay side by side resentful of one another and the skylight above them. His dreaming of her had been too long and too long ago. Her deprivation had been not having any dreams of her own at all. Now they were sorry and too shy to make talk. Sethe lay on her back, her head turned from him”(24-25).

Psychoanalytical Interpretation:

The idea of the id, ego, and superego of the human psyche is one of Freud’s most famous theories. These three systems are parts of our conscious and subconscious mind (not physical sections of brain) that play a huge role in every-day actions and decision making. The id is the unconscious, primitive, impulsive, instinct-driven part of the brain. Biological compulsions, such as aggression, sexual desire, and hunger are all subconscious feelings related to the id. The ego is the aspect of the brain that revolves around reason and compromise in order to avoid negative consequences of the id’s actions. The last section, the superego, revolves around learned morals and ethics, especially regarding sex or aggression. The superego controls the id’s desires in order to fit into what society deems normal. The superego is also divided into two sections: the conscience, or creator of guilt when the id gets its way, and the ideal self, a standard that we may feel guilt over if not upheld. In the passage above, Sethe and Paul D’s id, ego, and superego truly stand out.

Paul D’s sexual desire for Sethe is a clear symbol of the brain’s id. The passage even goes as far as to say that because of Paul D’s extreme inherent desire for Sethe, he forgets the past 25 years of time spent apart from her: “Overwhelmed. . . by the certainty of giving her his sex, Paul D dropped twenty-five years from his recent memory”. Paul D’s sexual desire for Sethe is primitive, unrealistic, and fantasy oriented because “his dreaming of her had been too long” and because Sethe was “the new girl they dreamed of at night and fucked cows for at dawn” in their past life together on the plantation. These characters’ biological desire for sex that has grown over time is a perfect  example of Freudian theories involving the id regarding sex. Furthermore, the id can be seen in the subtle references to aggression that the author creates. When the author writes that Paul D “shook the house” and “beat it to pieces”, the instinct of aggression represented by the id is evident. By using words with clear connotations of belligerence and hostility such as “beat”, the author conveys to the reader what Freud would consider the id’s aggression.

Many actions that take place in this passage demonstrate the power of the superego. Derived from the conscience and the ideal self, the superego is represented through Sethe and Paul D’s feelings of guilt and shame for having sex. Sethe grew up on a plantation where she was seen as the sexual prize for the many men who desired her. It is likely that her ideal self or standard she strives to meet is one that has been overly sexualized by her past life; She most likely wants to be a desirable and passionate woman. Sethe obviously does not live up to these high expectations for herself making her feel guilty: “she had forgotten how [desire] worked”. When the author says that Sethe and Paul D “lay side by side resentful of one another” too “sorry and too shy to talk” the presence of the conscious, guilty part of the superego is evident. When the author uses words like “sorry” and “shy” with connotations of shame, it's evident that the superego section of the brain is being used.

Due to the fact that this passage is rich with emotions ranging from desire to aggression to guilt, it is a perfect literary example to demonstrate the power of the id, ego, and superego. Freud’s ideas, while only theories, seem to perfectly represent the feelings and actions displayed in this passage through words with strong connotations and symbols.

What's up with Beloved's Sweet Tooth?: Critical Lens Close Reading

The following passage is from pages 66 and 67 of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison:

...From that moment and through everything that followed, sugar could always be counted on to please her. It was as though sweet things were what she was born for. Honey as well as the wax it came in, sugar sandwiches, the sludgy molasses gone hard and brutal in the can, lemonade, taffy and any type of dessert Sethe brought home from the restaurant. She gnawed a cane stick to flax and kept the strings in her mouth long after the syrup had been sucked away. Denver laughed, Sethe smiled and Paul D said it made him sick to his stomach. [...] 

         "You just gonna feed her? From now on?" Paul D, feeling ungenerous, and surprised by it, heard the irritability in his voice. 

         "Denver likes her. She's no real trouble. I thought we'd wait till her breath was better. She still sounds a little lumbar to me." (66-67)

The psychoanalytical lens looks at a text through the examination of subconscious desires, the personality forms of the id, ego, and superego, and other Freudian psychoanalytical theories. By using this lens, the reader can develop a sense of the potential reasons and motivations behind characters' actions and thoughts.

According to Freudian theory, humans possess three distinct forms of personality. These are the id, ego, and superego. Each describe and give reason to our actions, thoughts, and general behavior. In the novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison, we see certain characters conveyed as symbols of the three factors of personality. Beloved, Sethe’s dead baby who mysteriously appears in the physical form at their house one evening, represents the id. The id, being the instinctual and impulsive form of personality, drives our wants, desires, and bodily needs. It is the only one of the three personality forms that we are born with, and it remains a driving factor and motivator of our behavior throughout the stages of life. Morrison portrays Beloved and her desires and effects on the people around her as a symbol of the the id through various literary techniques such as connotation and symbolism as well as characterization.

Morrison uses Beloved’s desires to clearly illustrate her connection and symbolization of the id. When she appears in front Sethe’s house the night of the carnival, Sethe, Denver, and Paul D decide to take Beloved in and care for her. They quickly realize that she has a strong craving for sugar.  Morrison uses the sugar and “sweet things” which Beloved craves to symbolize our desires and impulses which the id acts on. The id’s actions revolve around what is known as the pleasure principle, which is the motivating psychic force which draws us to desire immediate gratification. As sugar often provides us with an immediate gratification, Morrison utilizes Beloved’s craving for sugar to further convey her character as a symbol of the id.  In the text, Morrison describes how she seems to be “born for” sweet things, which expresses the innate instinctually of the id. In addition to this, being Sethe’s dead baby, Beloved possesses an unrestrained childlike impulsiveness in her desires and actions. This characterization creates a clear representation of the instinctual cravings and impulses of the id. Morrison also uses the saccharine and somewhat destructive connotation of the “hard and brutal” “sludgy molasses” when describing the “sweet things” which Beloved desires to illustrate how the id often leads us to crave things which can be immoral or malignant in their nature. By doing so, Morrison portrays Beloved and her wants or desires as somewhat poisonous. This characterization of Beloved also reflects how she appeared in the novel at a time when Sethe, Paul D, and Denver were just beginning to feel like a family, and disrupted the newfound peace and harmony between them.

In addition to her desires, Beloved’s effect on the people around her also demonstrate her connection to the id. For example, after he, Sethe, and Denver take in and begin caring for Beloved, Paul D develops a certain “irritability” and lack of generosity towards Beloved; this hostile attitude towards her illustrates how giving in the the id’s desires can cause others around us to feel aggravated and negative towards us and our selfish behavior. In contrast, the attentive care which Denver and Sethe give to Beloved express how tempting it can be to obey the cravings of the id. Sethe tells Paul D that Beloved is “no real trouble”, even though she has, and continues to do so later on in the novel, caused significant disruption within the family. The way Morrison characterizes Beloved in different ways through the eyes of both Paul D and Sethe, as well as Denver, illustrates how the id can cause us to act on impulses which may exasperate or bother others around us, yet it still causes us to feel strongly inclined to give in to its cravings and desires.

Ultimately, Morrison uses various literary techniques such as connotation, symbolism, and characterization to portray Beloved as a symbol of the id. Beloved’s strong cravings for sugar as well as the way characters such as Paul D and Sethe perceive her and develop certain attitudes towards her, represent characteristics of the id and how it drives impulsiveness and instinctual behavior.