I am starting to hate the story in Beloved. I don't hate the book, in fact I like it a lot, but the story I am reading makes me frustrated and miserable. Things started out like their might be a happy ending, but now it seems inevitable to me that the characters are all going to end up miserable and worse off than when the book started. Much of this can be attributed to the character of Beloved, and much of my hatred is directed towards her and the way others act around her.
Before Beloved arrived on the scene, everything was starting to turn in a good direction. Sethe and Denver were no longer alone, and with Paul D around it seemed like there was a chance of them becoming a family and becoming a normal family, no longer in complete isolation from the rest of the community. A great symbol of this was them walking home from the carnival where they had been mingling with others, hand in hand and enjoying each others company (59).
All this is ruined when Beloved shows up. She takes what was beginning to be a happy household and turns that on its head, souring the relationships between the other characters. Denver becomes incredibly devoted to Beloved and she becomes very jealous of Sethe and the stories she could tell to please Beloved (75). Denver and Paul D also grow farther apart after they seemed like they could enjoy each other after the carnival. Sethe is flattered by all the attention she is receiving from Beloved and she humors Beloved's desires for stories from the past. Her constant telling of the stories irritates both Denver and Paul D and even surprises herself. "Sethe learned the profound satisfaction Beloved got from storytelling. It amazed Sethe (as much as it pleased Beloved) because every mention of her past life hurt" (69).
One place where Beloved is particularly adept at ruining things is the relationship between Sethe and Paul D. They seem to be getting along ok before, but soon they start having arguments about her since Paul D thinks she is suspicious and Sethe doesn't see anything wrong with her (80). Then she separates Sethe and Paul D by making Paul D so restless he has to start sleeping in other places of the house. Even worse, she seduces Paul D into having sex with her when he doesn't want to and is trying to stay true to Sethe and Paul D is too weak to tell Sethe about this, which I am sure will cause problems in the future.
Beloved has a knack for messing things up, and I'm sure she will continue to do so for the rest of the book whether it be by wrecking relationships or using her powers like she did when she almost strangled Sethe.
It's interesting that Beloved has seemed to take on the stereotypical role of the child who doesn't like mom's new boyfriend after the child's parents have just split up. She craves Sethe's attention, and tries to drive a wedge between Sethe and Paul D by any means necessary, going to the extent of seducing Paul D . But the thing is, she's the new member of the family, newer than Paul D even. I guess, if she's the reincarnation of the dead baby though, then she is an old member of the family, and Beloved only wants Halle, the father figure of the stories Sethe has told her, to be with her mom, not Paul D.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly it, Chas: her role takes on a whole new valence when we view her (as the novel seems to encourage) as the spirit who has occupied this house for 18 years. She acts like she's been around because she *has*.
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