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.