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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Inhuman Characteristics: Beloved Analysis

Chris Nkoy
AP Language
Period 3
March 26, 2013
Beloved: Second Close Analysis
In Beloved, when Denver observes Beloved in the keeping room, she notices that Beloved’s physical characteristics are abnormal and inhuman. Toni Morrison, the author of Beloved, uses an uncanny description of Beloved’s facial peculiarities to give Beloved an unearthly, spectral aura that suggests the possibility that Beloved is not a typical human being. Morrison writes that Denver looks at a face “with no trace of sleep in it” (66). For a person who is bedridden and shows symptoms of a life threatening disease, cholera, it is noticeably unnatural for Beloved to show no signs of fatigue in her current condition. When describing Beloved’s eyes, Morrison notes, “The whites of them were much too white—blue-white” (66). The portrayal of Beloved’s eyes as “blue-white” gives off a cold, frigid sense. The blue takes away from the archetypal white shade around the eyes and furthers the notion that Beloved is ghostlike and inhuman. Morrison finishes her depiction of Beloved by stating, “deep down in those big black eyes there was no expression at all” (66). Morrison’s use of alliteration emphasizes the pairs of words with matching letters at their beginnings to portray the peculiarity of Beloved’s eyes. The visual imagery given by looking “deep down” into blackness seems to hint at an abyss. The phrase “no expression at all” adds to the perception of emptiness in Beloved’s gaze. There is no feeling, no emotion, no life in her eyes. Beloved carries certain puzzling characteristics that indicate she can’t be human.

2 comments:

  1. Chris,
    Really good analysis. I liked your analysis of "deep down." You did well to analyze the imagery that it creates along with Morrison's use of alliteration and how it affects the sentence. Great job overall.

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  2. I like your asyndeton: "There is no feeling, no emotion, no life in her eyes." That sentence really gets out your point.
    I think you stress to much that she CAN'T be human, the fact that she has a puzzled look doesn't indicate she is inhuman, but more indicating of the fact that she is confusing and puzzling herself. Instead of emphasizing that she is NOT a human, try to push for: she MAY be a ghost. I think that could help the end of your paragraph seem less stubborn. Does that make sense?

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