What does Beloved want?
Though Beloved was wrapped up pretty nicely, I was left with lots of questions. In an already confusing and complex book, Beloved is by far the most confusing character. The few chapters we read from her point of view were jumbled, and almost incomprehensible. One of the most confusing questions for me was what Beloved’s intentions were with Sethe.
In the beginning, when Beloved is
first introduced, I found myself a bit wary of her. Why was she showing up
right as Denver and Sethe are going to move on with their lives? Has she come to
hold them back? Despite those initial fears, Beloved doesn’t really do too much.
She mostly seems like a lost and confused girl who just might be some
sort of reincarnation of the baby ghost. The first time I noticed my suspicions
start to rise was when Paul D discusses how he feels. He says she’s pushing him
out of the house, and after seeing how happy Sethe was with him, I immediately saw
that as a red flag. One part of this book I still can’t reconcile is Paul D and
Beloved sleeping together. I was unnaturally disgusted while reading that, and
even now I shudder when I think about it. Maybe I’m upset with Paul D for betraying
Sethe in such a drastic way, or maybe I’m just uncomfortable with the dynamics
of a grown man sleeping with a 20-year-old who is… part baby?
After Paul D leaves, Beloved
appears to only get meaner. While before she constantly professed her love for
Sethe and that she only wanted love in return, resentment starts to grow. We
can see how angry she is with Sethe for leaving her but she appears to be
unwilling to listen to Sethe’s numerous apologies. A scene I think that most accurately
describes Beloved’s relationship to Sethe is when she “allegedly” strangles her
in the clearing. As Sethe reminisces about Baby Suggs, Beloved appears to
strangle her and then immediately runs to rescue her from the attacker.
I still find myself confused on
what Beloved’s plan is with Sethe. Does she want love or does she want Sethe to
grovel at her feet. Either way, she’s getting Sethe’s undivided attention, and
I think that’s ultimately the goal. Trauma wants to hold us back, whatever way
it can, and will stop at nothing to achieve its goal.
I think that although Beloved actions are confusing, they make sense. I think that Beloved wants the love of Sethe, her mother. If Beloved truly was the reincarnation of Sethe's children, then it does make sense why Beloved could harbor feelings of hate towards Sethe. I think the part about Beloved being a baby is also relevant when trying to understand Beloved's actions because babies are young and don't really know what they're doing. This could be applied to Beloved because she may not know what she's doing. Toni Morrison maybe intentionally made Beloved confusing to the eyes of readers to make her seem like an adolescent.
ReplyDeleteOne of the perplexing things about Beloved as a character is that when we DO get into her mind, in the "unspeakable thoughts" section, it actually doesn't do much to clear up her intentions. I think it makes sense, in a way, that Beloved doesn't represent one set of easily understood intentions or motivations--she harbors a complex mix of love and hate (or resentment, or of being "rebuked," as Denver puts it), and there is no obvious "end game" or resolution. Her desire for Sethe's love ends up draining Sethe to the point of near death, as she shows her willingness to sacrifice for her children. In the end, it's maybe less about Beloved's intentions and more about the effect she has: she forces Sethe to contend with all the unresolved feelings of grief and remorse (even if she will continue to justify her actions), and this is difficult and painful emotional work, a scary and supernatural form of therapy, in a sense.
ReplyDeleteI also felt similarly about Beloved's intentions. I think the best way that I can comprehend her is by imagining her as a baby abandoned by her mother for 20(ish?) years who has come back. Obviously, she is upset about being left alone, but she is also glad to be back with her mother who she missed and loves dearly. I think Beloved herself is a bit conflicted about what she wants, and understandably so, considering the complexity of the situation.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog posts so much, and this one, as always, was super insightful and compelling to read! I completely agree and also was confused overall by Beloved’s intentions, especially because, as you discuss, when we do hear anything from her perspective, it is very hard to understand if we can get anything out of it at all. What resonated with me so much is your last line: “Trauma wants to hold us back, whatever way it can, and will stop at nothing to achieve its goal.” I feel like this is an incredibly, incredibly powerful idea that is spot on and fits perfectly with the rest of the novel. You phrased it amazingly!
ReplyDeleteWhile watching The Pieces I Am in class, if I remember correctly, I think that at one point Toni Morrison mentions how Beloved is showing both sides of a baby who got strangled: both “love” for the mother but also the desire to “punish” her (perhaps with the choking scene and when she starts to “consume” Sethe?). This idea stuck with me too. Perhaps there are two intentions, or two different sides of a more complex goal, that Beloved has?
But, my favorite interpretation is still your last line about trauma holding us back! I thought that was incredible. Awesome blog post once again!
I really liked your post, and I agree that Beloved is a confusing character to understand the motives of, but I think you were right on with your last point that Beloved's ultimate goal was just to have Sethe's undivided attention, and almost Sethe's entire self. Beloved wanted to consume Sethe and everything Sethe could give her, even if she left Sethe an empty husk. I really loved your concluding statement about how trauma just wants to hold you back, and for me I would also add that it wants to be able to take up your entire life, and become the most important, constantly-there presence if you let it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my take on the Paul D-Beloved ... thing, was that I also found it really disturbing, but more so because it felt like Beloved was kind of, I don't know, forcing Paul D to do it in a way? I think that's how Paul D felt about it at least - like he did not want to be doing this but didn't really have control.
I believe that Beloved's attitude towards Sethe was a duality of love and hate. She loved her because she is her mother and tried to keep her safe. In a way she loved her the most which is why she killed her first. However, she also hates Sethe for killing her when none of the children were killed. Her intentions were to almost exact a form of divine punishment to Sethe. This is seen through the scene of her choking out Sethe, which clearly had some form of malicious intent behind it. Her love for Sethe is shown through her wanting her for herself, and her relationship with Denver, her sister. Beloved simply wanted justice for what happened to her, at least that's the interpretation I got.
ReplyDeleteBeloved definitely seemed like the most mysterious character in this book. I couldn't figure out whether she was honest in saying she came back for Sethe's love or if she actually wanted revenge on Sethe instead. As we progressed through the book, I started believing more that Beloved genuinely loved Sethe and wanted her love in return, but when we got to the clearing scene I just got confused again. Maybe she started choking Sethe out of anger/revenge but stopped out of guilt?? I could see Beloved herself feeling conflicted about the whole situation, but it seems as though she was leaning more towards wanting Sethe's love.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Beloved was like a physical manifestation of Sethe's trauma that came back to haunt her. Especially since we hear of her soon after Paul D arrives, I believe it's Sethe's memories of Sweet Home and the events that triggered Beloved's arrival. I don't understand the part in the book where Paul D and Beloved sleep together, but maybe it's a sign that the past is coming full circle and Paul D needs to accept what Sethe did to Beloved in order to finish this cycle of trauma.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I found it really interesting how you talk about trauma and how it manifests itself. I think Beloved wanted to take up as much energy of sethe's as she could. As for Beloved and Paul D, I found it creepy as well. The passage made it seem like Paul D. wasn't into it and was pretty coerced so I think the whole situation was shady at best. Anyways, great post!
ReplyDeleteBeloved is such a confusing character, and I still do not understand her either. I think the scenes you pointed out are really important yet perplexing, one of them being Paul D. and Beloved sleeping together. That section still is very confusing to me and I have trouble deciphering its meaning. Beloved has an unnaturally strong effect on everyone in the household, as did the spirit before she arrived. She is a really interesting character and I feel like there is so much we will never understand about her, which makes her all the more open to interpretation.
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