Brandon Mikuriya
AP Lang, Period 5
March 25, 2013
Beloved: Rhetorical Analysis II
After
Beloved becomes acclimated to life in 124, Sethe enjoys her presence more than
Denver, her only remaining child.
Sethe’s fondness for the girl seems to result from her maternal
instincts, because previously, Morrison likened the urinating scene to the
birth (or rebirth) of a child—Beloved.
In fact, Beloved assumes an infant-like character through her “open,
quiet devotion” (68). Morrison’s diction
reflects the innocent and unconditional love of an infant for its mother; they
leave the womb and enter a world in which a mother’s love determines
survival. For this reason, Sethe finds
herself fascinated by Beloved’s absolute devotion and unwavering love. Interestingly, Sethe proceeds to compare
Beloved’s companionship to “a zealot [pleasing] his teacher” (68). A “zealot” is an individual whose devotion to
a cause remains constant, yet Morrison’s prior usage of “teacher” evokes a
sinister connotation. After the passing
of Mr. Gardener, “schoolteacher” broke the will of his charges with cruel
interrogations, so “a zealot [pleasing] his teacher” could suggest that Beloved
embodies the past—Sethe’s attempts to appease her cruel master. However, she may not represent painful
memories, but memories of Sethe’s deceased child. When considering her living daughter, Denver,
Sethe receives a “chill at the thought of having raised a ridiculously
dependent child” (68). It seems strange
that Sethe considers Denver “a ridiculously dependent child” while Beloved
clearly requires babying, but not when she consider the latter to be the
equivalent of an infant. Therefore, the
following inference can be made regarding Sethe and Beloved’s relationship:
Beloved seems to be the second coming of Sethe’s first child, whether it be
through the supernatural or substitution.
You make a lot of interesting inferences and comparisons, such as the idea that beloved embodies the past because of the connection to school teacher. However, I cannot identify a clear topic sentence that lays out the main point of your analysis. I think you could consolidate your context at the beginning and insert a Topic sentence that adresses the devices that you analyze.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair. Perhaps something like "Beloved, Sethe's deceased daughter, embodies a childish persona and reminds her mother of the hardships of slavery" would work. This passage proved to be somewhat challenging and a clear topic sentence would have helped me organize my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe first part of your analysis has become quite pertinent to the recent reading. Beloved has revealed to Denver that she is in fact a ghost, but she made Denver promise not to tell Sethe. When Sethe, Beloved, and Denver go to the clearing that Baby Suggs used to preach at, Sethe begins to feel hands on her neck, which begin to choke her. It turns out these hands are Beloved's, but in a ghost form. I think you can connect your point that Beloved has an unconditional devotion to Sethe to the fact that she did her harm. What does it mean that Beloved choked her? I think you can start to see a pattern form where Beloved is possessive of Sethe. She it entirely unable to let go of Sethe. This can be seen on page 115.
ReplyDelete