When
Beloved arrives at 124, Toni Morrison describes her with imagery normally
associated with a baby or child. In doing so, Morrison suggests parallels
between this woman and Sethe’s lost child. When Denver gives her water, “a
little water was on her chin, but she did not wipe it away” (62). This behavior
resembles that of a child. Both the fact that she was given water and her disregard
for having spilled some on her face make her seem like a child. This image
hints at parallels between Beloved and Sethe’s child who did not make it when
they tried to escape. This image arises again when the woman “gazed at Sethe
with sleepy eyes” (62). This image reinforces the connection between this woman
and Sethe’s child. First of all, it is unusual for a stranger to gaze at
someone “with sleepy eyes,” so this description immediately suggests something
more is going on. Also, the words “gazing” and “sleepy eyes” suggest the way a
young child might look at its mother. Finally, Sethe notices that she looks “poorly
fed” (63). Noticing how well someone is fed seems to be a motherly
characteristic, and suggests that Sethe cares about her. By suggesting the characteristics
of a mother-child relationship through the actions of both Beloved and Sethe,
Morrison creates a revealing scene that may foreshadow later events.
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ReplyDeleteI like the topic of your analysis, but I think you could find even better passages from the book that support your thesis. Of course this is just a short analysis, but if you were to continue with this topic, you could talk about Beloved's birth-like appearance from the water, Sethe's sudden urge to urinate as if her water broke, Beloved's inability to support herself (especially her head), and Beloved's incontinence and sister-like relationship to Denver. Also, I think talking about Beloved's supernatural characteristics would further suggest that she might represent Sethe's lost daughter.
ReplyDelete^ Furthermore, Beloved's speech patterns are often basic and without verb tense, suggesting only a beginning knowledge of English.
ReplyDeleteYour thesis refers only to the parallelism of Beloved and Sethe's child through the childlike qualities, but your analysis serves a slightly different purpose, suggesting with "poorly fed" that Sethe feels mothering impulses. This is interesting analysis, but I think the evidence might not support this specific thesis. However, this subject matter undoubtedly has tons of room to expand.