Love can bend and break many rules but just how far will one take it? In the novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison, an African American Slave woman by the name of Sethe lives out her life after attempting to murder all four of her children but only killing one. Throughout the book, many flashbacks and stories are shared between the characters and between the reader so that the reader can pick up clues about the past. Since the story takes place after Sethe’s tragedy, the only way to share something in the past is through flashbacks and telling stories. In the novel, stories are used to give clues about what happened in the past, how it changed or strengthened their way of thinking, and it also connected the person who was sharing their story with
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Stories must be passed down because they retell history, connect bonds together, and lay as a basic foundation for beliefs. Stories must be passed down because they retell history. In the novel Beloved, there are many flashbacks across the book and this is done on purpose because Toni Morrison wanted her audience to feel like they were lost and confused. These flashbacks, although may be very confusing and difficult to comprehend, play the same role as stories since they are used to retell parts of Sethe’s, Denver’s, Paul D’s, and others’ pasts. “I didn’t …show more content…
“ All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again,”(205) said Denver. Denver heavily believes Beloved is her sister and she is afraid of Sethe since she heard many stories about the past and how she attempted to kill her children. Therefore Denver does not trust Sethe and does not let her touch her head. She would also choose Beloved over Sethe if something happened and she had to choose sides. The stories Denver heard about her sister being killed by her mother caused Denver to have a strong belief which was to support Beloved and be by her side and not her mother’s. “She understood Sethe's rage in the shed twenty years ago, but not her reaction to it, which Ella thought was prideful, misdirected, and Sethe herself too complicated,” (256) said Ella. Ella was also in the same situation as Sethe regarding the fact that she killed her child but Ella does not like the way Sethe is currently dealing with her life and therefore decided to leave her alone. She heard about Sethe’s dead daughter coming back and Ella does not want that to happen to her therefore she gathers up 30 women to go and beat Beloved. “Deeper and more painful than his belated concern for Denver or Sethe, scorching his soul like a silver
Stories must be passed down because they retell history, connect bonds together, and lay as a basic foundation for beliefs. Stories must be passed down because they retell history. In the novel Beloved, there are many flashbacks across the book and this is done on purpose because Toni Morrison wanted her audience to feel like they were lost and confused. These flashbacks, although may be very confusing and difficult to comprehend, play the same role as stories since they are used to retell parts of Sethe’s, Denver’s, Paul D’s, and others’ pasts. “I didn’t …show more content…
“ All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again,”(205) said Denver. Denver heavily believes Beloved is her sister and she is afraid of Sethe since she heard many stories about the past and how she attempted to kill her children. Therefore Denver does not trust Sethe and does not let her touch her head. She would also choose Beloved over Sethe if something happened and she had to choose sides. The stories Denver heard about her sister being killed by her mother caused Denver to have a strong belief which was to support Beloved and be by her side and not her mother’s. “She understood Sethe's rage in the shed twenty years ago, but not her reaction to it, which Ella thought was prideful, misdirected, and Sethe herself too complicated,” (256) said Ella. Ella was also in the same situation as Sethe regarding the fact that she killed her child but Ella does not like the way Sethe is currently dealing with her life and therefore decided to leave her alone. She heard about Sethe’s dead daughter coming back and Ella does not want that to happen to her therefore she gathers up 30 women to go and beat Beloved. “Deeper and more painful than his belated concern for Denver or Sethe, scorching his soul like a silver