A little lesson in life (Reader Response)

Toni Morrison’s Beloved is by far the most enjoyable novel we have read this semester. I found that I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and that I looked forward to being able to read the next section. I found that not only was this novel a great story full of history and stories but it was a novel that spoke of all people. Toni Morrison addresses the fact that people believe that telling the trying tales of their lives are a must, but leaving out the uncomfortable parts are also a necessity.

Morrison spends much of the novel telling and retelling the story of Sethe’s life and it’s trials. The novel begins with telling of a ghost that haunts the house that her family lives in and that Sethe’s two sons leave for the same reason the ghost haunts. The first few pages clue the reader in that the baby that haunts the house was Sethe’s baby. Sethe’s baby, Beloved, died an unfortunate death and has come back to the house to stay. Later a beautiful young lady visits the house, Beloved. Denver speaks of a scar on Beloved that she sees when she is dressing. This scar is only a hint at what really happened to this baby. Morrison does not tell the whole story until the end of the novel. Sethe feels guilty for taking the life of her oldest daughter and that is the reason she deals with Beloved through this whole novel. Reading this novel, it seems as though the reader almost coaxes a story out of Morrison.

Paul D. also keeps stories quiet; he keeps them locked up in a “tin box.” Paul D. keeps his stories quiet throughout the whole novel. He does not speak of seeing Sixo killed or of seeing Halle after the horrific experience of watching the brutal beating of his wife. Paul D. finally tells his stories at the end of the novel. It’s as though if Paul D. tells his stories he might have to take responsibility for the events that occurred in his life. Maybe if Paul D. tells the stories of his life he will have to make sense of all that happened in his past.

This seems to be a common theme between the two main story tellers of the novel. If the true story is told right away the characters would have to make sense of all that has occurred in the past. Toni Morrison spends the entire novel trying to make sense of a story before she even tells it. This is exactly what people do with their lives. Before sharing stories, everyone wastes time trying to make sense of the past. The past is the past and stories should be told. “Those that do not acknowledge history are doomed to repeat it.” Sethe, Paul D. and everyone else should just accept the past, learn from it, tell the story, and move on.

Morrison addresses this idea on the last two pages of the novel. After telling all of the stories she says, “This is not a story to pass on.” Morrison tells the story because she is acknowledging the past and is accepting the past. She also brings Paul D. home to Sethe and he helps Sethe to realize that she is the best thing, he tells her to not let the past beat her. By telling the stories the characters in this novel acknowledge the past and vow to never repeat it. They learned from the past even though it did not necessarily make sense. Maybe the rest of the world could take this book as a little advice to live their life by.

Freedom

Paul D. refers to the rooster as free. Paul D. realizes that he will never truly experience freedom. Paul D. will always remember what he experinced, the fear he felt, the imprisonment he experienced. Aren't we all a little like Paul D. in some way? Fears imprison us. Fears keep us from experiencing all that we can. Fears and apprehensions hold us back. Our thoughts keep us prisoner. Often our thoughts do not allow for contrast. My thoughts do not allow for contrast. I am like Paul D. I was never a slave but to my own self. I am the only one that could hold myself back. No one else. Only me.

Stereotypes

Much of our view on society is based on stereotypes. I find that I make first impressions not based solely on the type of person someone is but by many stereotypes I uphold. Thomas struggles throughout the novel with stereotypes. One pointed out rather clearly is the point made during the story told to Malcome in Dove's novel. Thomas points out that not all black men are lazy, in fact, he tells the story in such a way that he is perceived as not being lazy. Thomas kills the possum and not only does he just kill it he eats it slowly and enjoys it. The lazy man would have completed haslf of the job, but this man completed the whole task at hand. Everyone deals with stereotypes, whether they are trying to overcome stereotypes or they are stereotyping people themselves.

Identity (Reader Response)

Growing up in a small town I never knew anyone who rented a house or moved around a lot. All of my friends lived in a house that their parents owned. My childhood was filled with houses that had to loving parents inside, a little dog barking in the front lawn and a white picket fence. Basically, I grew up rather naïve and was not exposed to a diverse community. Now looking back I really was shallow. We decided who was “cool” and where we wanted to spend our time by the things our friends had. My friends always wanted to come to my house; I was “cool” because my parents had installed a pool in our backyard. We didn’t ever go to Sarah’s because she did not have her own bedroom. As kids our whole identity was based on where we lived and what we owned.

Cisneros addresses the idea that identity is based on where a person lives and what they own. Esperanza dreamed of a house all her own, one that she would own. It never occurred to me that in our childhood decisions of who was cool really was based on someone’s lifestyle. If their lifestyle was not lavish and rather comfortable, we did not want anything to do with them. Esperanza runs into this problem as well. When she tries to become part of the group of students that is allowed to stay at school and eat a sack lunch rather than walking home to eat, the nun refuses her and says she really only walks three blocks and points out a house. Esperanza agreed that the nicer house really was hers, when in reality the house pointed at was not. Esperanza was embarrassed of her house. To Esperanza the house was not a safe haven like most homes, it was a prison.

In the beginning of the novel, she describes one of the houses her family and she lived in. She describes that it was on the third floor of a run down building and not of the floors were flat. The floors were running at angles and were either going uphill or downhill. She also refers to the boards over the windows that her father nailed up. Her father nailed the boards up to protect the children from falling through a window from the third story; Esperanza saw these boards as bars in a prison cell. She wanted to escape from that house but there was something always holding her back. Esperanza was a prisoner. This house defines her in so many ways. She feels as though she will never be able to leave. She will be stuck living with her parents for the rest of her life. Esperanza’s childhood homes make her who she really is.

Esperanza and I are a lot a like and very much different. I loved my home where I grew up. I have many fond memories of the place where I grew up and would never give those up. Esperanza also has many memories of the places she grew up. The place we are different is that she would give anything to change those memories. She would give anything to have the memories I have of coming home to a barking dog in the front yard and a bedroom all to herself. A person’s possessions, in society, truly identify their identity. And as children our whole identity was based on where we lived and what we owned. Cisneros points this out in her novel, A House on Mango Street. The main character, Esperanza, struggles with the places she grew up and her whole identity throughout the novel. Cisneros supported the idea that a home is an identity in society by using Esperanza as a character constantly striving to have the American dream – a house, a loving family, a barking dog, and a white picket fence.