Baby Suggs' Last Words: a Beloved Analysis

Marisa Eng

Period 5

4/3/13

In Beloved, Toni Morrison’s description of the dramatic event causing Baby Suggs’ depressing death illustrates the theme of continual suffering slavery imposed by repetition of negations, a shift in tone, and ambiguous foreshadowing. When Sethe goes to the clearing to pay tribute to Halle and to look for clarity and advice from Baby Suggs, dark memories of her arrival at 124 resurface. Sethe recalls that right before Baby Suggs died, she said, “There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks” (105). By using the hyperbolic statement that the only “bad luck in the world” was “whitefolks,”Morrison emphasizes the magnitude of suffering “whitefolks” caused on Baby Suggs and as root of her misery. Furthermore, Morrison creates a dismal, empty, and lonely tone when she goes on to repeat the word “no” in a series of negative descriptions to describe the loss of friends, love, and happiness at 124 caused by the “bad luck”. Morrison then describes how “Baby Suggs, holy, believed she had lied”  (105). By saying that even Baby Suggs “believed” she had “lied” about overcoming the cruelty of “whitefolks” and to love oneself, Morrison highlights Baby Suggs’ defeated nature. Also, Morrison contrasts the image of “holy” Baby Suggs preaching about love and hope before Sethe arrived to the self-doubting Baby Suggs after, sadly displaying how even someone “holy” can be broken. Morrison emphasizes a quick change when everything for Baby Suggs “began to collapse twenty-eight days after her daughter-in-law arrived” (105). The ambiguity of the word “collapse” gives a double meaning that Baby Suggs fell apart physically and emotionally, drawing attention to the mysterious devastation created in the “twenty-eight days” Sethe was at 124. Morrison uses the dark change in Baby Suggs’ beliefs about post-slavery life to set the traumatic tone of the tragedy brought by arrival of Sethe.

The Importance of Freedom

As Sethe reminisces over the way 124 was when she first arrived there with her newborn baby, she recalls that Baby Suggs used to preach to former slaves and their families in a clearing in the woods.  Morrison uses repetition along haunting images of slavery in order to clearly juxtapose the happiness experienced through being part of Baby Sugg’s community and the horror experienced under slavery.  Sethe tells that Baby Suggs taught that “in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs… Love it. Love it hard” (103).  All who have gathered in the clearing are free to express themselves however they want to and for that they should be truly grateful.  Morrison repeats the phrase “love it” to the highlight how important it is for these former slaves to appreciate their freedom.  This point is made clearer as Baby Suggs goes on to say, “Yonder they do not love your flesh…  No more do they love the skin on your back.  Yonder they flay it” (103).  In this instance, “Yonder” can be interpreted as anyplace away from the tight knit community created by Baby Suggs or as within the institution of slavery.  Either way it is a terrible place, for Morrison uses the image of flayed skin, which is commonly associated with the cruelty of slavery.  The haunting image that goes along with “Yonder” is juxtaposed with the happiness experienced in the clearing as Baby Suggs implores her followers to “Love your hands! Raise them up and kiss them” (103).  Being part of Baby Suggs community is wonderful and liberating, while being under slavery is horrible and terrifying.  By showing the great influence Baby Suggs had over all her followers, Morrison is able to give an idea of the drastic effect her death and absence has had on Sethe.

Passion In Words: An Analysis of Beloved

Teddy Janes

AP Lang

April 2, 2013

Passion In Words: An Analysis of Beloved

In Beloved, before heading to the Clearing, Sethe remembers the passionate sermons Baby Suggs used to give in front of the black community in Cincinnati. Toni Morrison’s intense and emotional language emphasizes Baby Suggs’ leadership role and her impact on Sethe. Her speech begins by telling her listeners to love themselves, she says, “Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh” (103).  Suggs addresses their former owners as “they” in this passage. Throughout her speech, Suggs uses negation in regards to how much the masters appreciated their slaves. By showing how little they had been loved, Suggs’ words become more emotional. The repetition of “Love it” emphasizes Suggs’ aspirations: to love one self. Also, the adverb “hard” portrays the intensity behind Suggs’ words. Later in her sermon, Suggs instructs the crowd “stroke [your hands] on your face ‘cause they don’t love that either. You got to love it, you!” (104). Suggs’ emotion is revealed through Morrison’s writing. By stating “you,” Baby Suggs speaks directly to her audience, creating even more emotion. The exclamation point too shows Suggs’ great passion. Concluding her speech, Suggs develops her final message: “More than your life-holding womb and your life-giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart.” (104). The commas in this sentence create pauses that build up the last two phrases, stressing their importance. Sethe remembers Baby Suggs’ speech because it reminds Sethe to love herself and to move on from her past.

Arise to Freedom: A Third Beloved Analysis

            In Beloved, Morrison adds further to the conception of freedom in the mind of an escaped slave by her presentation of Sethe’s new start as an escaped, self-liberated woman through the use of some symbolic imagery and word choices. After finally joining Baby Suggs and the rest of the black community of Cincinnati,  “all taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide what to do with the day. That’s how she got through waiting for Halle. Bit by bit, and in 124 and the Clearing, along with the others, she had claimed herself” (111). One of the significant interactions Sethe remembered of her arrival is that of the other escaped slaves “taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide” (111). The symbols of “wak[ing] up,” and “at dawn” represents Sethe’s awakening into the beginning of a life of more freedom and promise than she had previously lived. Also, in relating her memories, Sethe uses active verbs when describing her and the other escaped slaves’ actions. The use of these active verbs like “taught,” “claimed,” and most notably, “decide,” relates to Sethe’s expanded agency that came with her escape. These three verbs in particular represent actions a slave in bondage could rarely or never have performed. By means of these words and  the symbols of dawn and awakening, Morrison contributes to expressing Sethe’s total acceptance of her new freedom.

Possession: Beloved Analysis the Third

In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison explores the character of Beloved and the strange hold she possesses over the inhabitants of 124. Ever since her arrival, Beloved has grown gradually more possessive in her attitude towards Sethe. After returning from the clearing to find Sethe with Paul D, Beloved laments that “she had been so close…it was so much better than the anger that ruled when Sethe did or thought anything that excluded herself” (118). At first glance, this excerpt seems to refer to Beloved’s fury when Sethe does not pay attention to her. However, the ambiguous pronoun “herself” lends itself to a second interpretation. As previously seen in the first portion of the novel, Sethe pours her stories out to Beloved, who in turn listens with rapt attention. Instead, the word “herself” could instead refer to Sethe, and that Beloved feels angry when Sethe does not pay attention to herself and her own memories, because it is the memories that seem to satisfy Beloved and allow her to form a strange bond to Sethe. In addition, Morrison shows Beloved’s possessive nature over Sethe by referring to Sethe and Paul D in Beloved’s inner monologue. After reflecting on Sethe’s divided time, Beloved says that it was occupied by “Him mostly. Him who said something to her that made her run…him who kept her hidden at night behind doors” (118). Morrison uses Beloved’s unacknowledgement of Paul D’s name to show that he means nothing to her. The anaphora lends a spiteful, almost bitter tone to the words, underscoring her adamant refusal to mention him by name. However, like much of Morrison’s book, two meanings can be gleaned from this passage. If Beloved is indeed a revenant, the use of “him” could underscore the fact that Paul D usurped her original position in the house. Beloved’s disregard of Paul D’s name in favor of an impersonal pronoun echoes how Sethe and Denver referred to her as simply “the baby ghost,” not Beloved. Finally, the pronoun of “her” in the same passage underscores Beloved’s possession of Sethe. Both of the impersonal pronouns dehumanize Sethe and Paul D, but in Sethe’s case, the word “her” classifies her as more of a possession, as if she is an item only one of them (Beloved or Paul D) can have. Morrison reveals Beloved’s growing possessive attitude towards Sethe to foreshadow further events. 

symbol/motif of croaker sack

Morrison uses the symbol of a croaker sack to create a paradoxical comparison between Paul D and Sethe’s different opinions of showing affection. Paul D believes that loving too much is risky, “and if they broke its [child] back, and shoved it in a croaker sack” he could have love left over for someone else (54). The internal rhyme of this saying expresses the simplicity and significance it has in Paul D’s mind; do not love children too much, as they could die at any moment. When Sethe crosses the Ohio River and reaches the other side, a woman appears  “with a croaker sack” and “greeted her” (107). She then continues “taking a wool blanket, cotton cloth, two baked sweet potatoes and a pair of men’s shoes from the sack” (108). Here, the croaker sack resurfaces, this time with positive connotations; these items actually save both the Sethe’s life and her baby’s. The “croaker sack” associated with Sethe seems to contain goods that save her baby’s life, whereas Paul D’s croaker sack contains dead babies. The symbol of a croaker sack symbolizes both Paul D’s conservative love and Sethe’s faith in love. The croaker sack essentially compares affection and death to affection and life, reflecting the contrasting experiences and perspectives of Paul D and Sethe. 

Dance and Cry with your Heart: A Third Analysis of Beloved

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Third Beloved Analysis: Dance and Cry with your Heart

            In Beloved, as Sethe ventures into the clearing with both Beloved and Denver, Sethe reminisces about Baby Suggs’ preaching to the local black community and the aid that Baby Suggs brought to people who endured slavery. In this particular scene, Toni Morrison couples visual imagery with reoccurring images in order to recreate one of Sethe’s positive memories and further develop Baby Suggs’ character as a caregiver. Sethe recalls that the scene comprised of “laughing children, dancing men, crying women” (103). Morrison utilizes parallel structure between the participles “laughing,” “dancing,”– a motif– and “crying,” and employs asyndeton in order to demonstrate the multitude of emotions evoked by Suggs’ preaching. Using powerful verbs, Morrison is able to simply illustrate a vivid picture, or better yet, a memory in which Sethe has not rejected. Furthermore, Sethe continues to remember how “Baby Suggs, holy, offered up to them her great big heart” (103). Morrison incorporates the repetition of Baby Suggs’ “great big heart,” a reoccurring description from earlier in the recollection of the memory in order to explain both Baby Suggs’ compassion and selflessness. To further the characterization of Baby Suggs, Morrison portrays Suggs as “holy,” which plays off the reoccurrence of religion while possibly suggesting that Sethe sees Baby Suggs as almost god-like or a sanctified being able to bring joy and peace to “them,” or her black audience. Moreover, when Baby Suggs instructs her disciples, Baby Suggs commands, “Love your hands… love your mouth… love your heart” (103-104). Using imperatives, Baby Suggs suggests that one must learn to self-love and appreciate these god-given gifts. The fact that Morrison selected the body parts: “hands,” “mouth,” and “heart” is imperative to the scene and idea of slavery as a whole, for during slavery “hands” were fettered, “mouth[s]” were unable to speak, and the “heart” was not able, or told, not to love. Ultimately, Sethe routinely stores the unspeakable memories within herself, yet Sethe is able to recollect this helpful memory wherein Baby Suggs taught Sethe to love and to rebuild her broken self.