Baby Suggs’ took many former slaves into the forest annually for a series of religious and spiritual ceremonies and speeches. In one of speeches, Baby Suggs hopes to help slaves realize that their skin color is only skin-deep, and the prejudices associated with African Americans cannot be true because the physical and spiritual selves are separate. In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses a Biblical allusion, word choice, and word usage to align Baby Suggs’ speech with the theme of masks. She writes, “'Here,' [Baby Suggs] said, 'in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it” (88). The repeated use of the word “flesh” is an allusion to Corinthians 5:16 which commands that the Christians, who once looked at Christ according to his flesh, must no longer, because it isn’t a true reflection of him. This context sets the tone for viewing the former slaves as souls within cages. Furthermore, the use of “flesh” as a verb can literally be defined as “to remove the flesh adhering to the skin.” Within this context, to say “we flesh” can be taken as the former slaves peeling off their skin, their physical nature, to reveal their spirit. When Baby Suggs says, “Yonder they do not love your flesh,” she implies, perhaps softening the blow of racism, that it is only the flesh that people despise because it is all they can see, all that is tangible to them. Baby Suggs helps the slaves realize the separate nature of their spirit from their physical masks in an attempt to help them see themselves beyond the “limitations” of their color.
Hollis, I really liked the way you played with the ambiguity of the word "flesh." Although it was a bit of a stretch, you explained it well and tied it in well with the context. In addition to the biblical allusion to flesh, you could also talk about the way the Sermon on the Mount is alluded to, and the reasons why Baby Suggs sort of counters it.
ReplyDeleteHollis, I gave a look at the connection you made to the Corinthians, and I think you may want to look at it in a slightly different way. I think in the Corinthians, the christians are told to stop thinking about flesh completely, because Christ transcends his physical body. Whereas in the passage with Suggs, I think she is trying to tell the black people that they actually should focus on their own flesh, because white people hated it and oppressed them for it, so they should take ownership of it and love it. Other than that, I think you did a nice job with finding the connection which I think others may not have noticed.
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