Beloved

The novel Beloved is an elaborate metaphor for the lasting scars of slavery. The characters Sethe and Paul D embody the concept of repressing the horrors they suffered at Sweet Farm. Sweet Farm itself is a metaphor for the generic plantation that thousands of slaves could identify with. So this novel is trying to use the gothic theme to expose the emotional toll they suffered through. In a way it is the best theme to use. It would be impossible to think any other genre would fit. The characters are haunted by the ghosts of slavery and even the actions taken during the most oppressive times. This would be referring to Sethe killing her children to keep them out of slavery.

Sethe is the woman’s perspective on what slavery takes away from a person. She suffered the loss of her children. Two by running away and one by her own hands. She had to kill her baby, which is partially killing herself, and it is a desperate attempt, and success, to keep them out of slavery. This cruel institution caused a woman to sacrifice the one extension of herself that could keep her happy. Now she is forced to live as an outcast in her own community because of her actions. The other horror that a female slave faces is the control over her sex. Sethe was sexually abused and affectively lost control of herself and her sexuality.

People like Paul D represent the loss of identity and home. He constantly wanders after he leaves Sweet Farm. The irony is that Sweet Farm never leaves him. All the slaves are forever linked to your plantation and the memories that you received there. The sad thing is when they arrive to Sweet Farm all their past memories of their real home are left behind. Here you are yanked out of Africa to a new place that is oppressive and foreign. You are separated from your family, probably never going to see them again, and are expected to work on a farm or plantation. So where can a slave go to get any solace? Is it possible to find a piece of themselves. On page 25 Paul D muses about the trees of Sweet Farm. He says they were inviting and he liked to sit under them. He had his favorite called Brother. The tree might seem insignificant, but I think it refers to roots. Paul D is searching for his roots away from the farm and the white people. His longing for his roots attracts the other men to come sit with him. This action of gathering together is a simple way of trying to get the sense of family, community, or more realistically home.