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.