by Vicki League
This image highlights the ambiguous nature of Beloved’s existence. She seems to be real and tangible at times, but also appears to be ghostly and missing some human qualities. One of the biggest questions the reader has after reading Beloved revolves around what exactly Beloved is. Her presence seems unreal, her appearance and behavior suggesting that she is something otherworldly. In class, we spent a lot of time discussing what Beloved might be, eventually settling on her existence as some sort of memory resurfacing to embody Sethe’s guilt. However, I’d like to touch back on the facet of Beloved that seems ghostly in the traditional sense of the word. In her article "Is Morrison Also among the Prophets? 'Psychoanalytic' Strategies in Beloved," Iyunolu Osagie, an English professor at Indiana State University, says that “there is plenty of evidence for the reading public to assume that Beloved is a ghost returned in human form" (426). Although many may not agree with this assumption, it is worth noting that Beloved does possess ghostlike qualities that cause the reader to question her existence in the same way that the viewer of this image will question the subject's existence.
At the start of the novel, Morrison primes the reader for a ghost by describing the house as apparently haunted by the baby that Sethe killed. When Paul D enters the house and asks what evil presence occupies the house, “Sethe describes this "company" as her "daughter…With this indelible memory of a ghostly presence in our minds, we are quick to believe that Beloved is the ghost returned” (Osagie 426). The reader already sees the baby as a ghost and expects ghostly occurrences to happen. As Osagie says, “when we are introduced to a ‘fully dressed woman’ walking out of water… our now somewhat conditioned minds begin to look at her as, perhaps, another ghostly manifestation” (426). Beloved arrives with unblemished skin and impeccable clothing, strange for the age in which she appears. Automatically the reader interprets Beloved as a ghostly manifestation of the dead baby, especially when Beloved names herself after the baby and Sethe reacts strongly to her presence.
Beloved disappears during a scene with Denver: they are inside a shed with only one exit, yet Beloved seems to vanish without exiting. Denver, the narrator at this point, says that "there is no sight or sound of Beloved...Cold sunlight displaces the dark. The room is just as it was when they entered--except Beloved is not there" (Morrison 144). She reappears later on with “no footfalls [to] announce her, but there she is, standing where before there was nobody when Denver looked” (Morrison 145). This strange vanishing act is an inhuman ability that is a hallmark ghostly act. When Beloved is with Paul D, he notices that he cannot notice her presence audibly: “He should have been able to hear her breathing...She moved closer with a footfall he didn't hear...” (Morrison 137).
Although she looks human and can interact with the characters, they point out strange aspects of her presence that don’t match the typical human; disappearing and walking around without making sound are ghostly qualities. The image displays this hybridity of human and a ghostlike creature with the human body shape most clearly visible near the subject’s legs and feet, and the top half of the subject as a nonhuman component that makes the viewer question whether or not the subject is really a person. The reader does the same with the way Morrison presents Beloved: what exactly is she?
The image causes us to reflect on what a being requires for us to consider them human and real. We must confront the inhuman elements in Beloved and use these to determine for ourselves what Beloved is. The fact that the image contains clear human qualities yet isn’t really human makes it seem as though the subject of the image can be anything that the viewer decides to interpret it as; the same can be said for Beloved. Morrison doesn’t make this easy for the reader, as she seems determined to develop the ambiguity and never clarify what Beloved is. Osagie notices this “reluctance of the author to draw a line between inside and outside, visible and invisible, image and reality” (426). Morrison continually blurs lines between what is real and not real, leaving the question of Beloved unanswered.
Vicky, a very interesting artifact, and interpretation of Beloved. It is interesting that she can be read as real, or as a ghost. This goes with our interpretation of Magical Realism, and it begs the question - what is Morrison trying to convey? This ambiguity of whether Beloved is real, or she is not - makes the reader want to come back to the text, and I think Morrison uses the magical to her advantage. Perhaps this ambiguity is Morrison's way of saying that what Beloved is does not matter, but what she is doing, or what she represents is what should be focused on. I think Beloved stands for many symbols: the past, pain, etc. This is why she is so ambiguous and ghostly because she is the character's emotions, fears, and anxieties reflected outward. For instance, for Paul D, Beloved reflects his inner fear of being as helpless as a child. This is why when he comes into the house, she uses such excessive force, and prompts him to become ultra-aggressive. I think Morrison blurs these lines intentionally, what is real and what is not, so that any reader can take their own version from it. Their own story. I definitely believe that how one interprets Beloved determines the entire story for them.
ReplyDeleteVicki,
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the artifact to Beloved by saying that the figure appears human, but lacks distinctive human characteristics. Because Beloved’s true nature is ambiguous, she exists outside the binary of human and not-human. At times, she is corporeal, and at times she, like you mention, vanishes like a ghost. I see Beloved as the physical “rememory” that has haunted Sethe since she killed her baby.
Readers of Beloved may raise the question, “Is Beloved real?” when they actually want to ask if the character is human or otherworldly, but I think the concept of realness applies to Beloved, regardless of her humanity. Like Kenneth above said, the truth behind Beloved’s existence doesn’t matter—what matters is how her presence affects all the characters, but Sethe in particular. Sethe and the other inhabitants of 124 believe Beloved is real, therefore she is real. She becomes what Sethe needs in that moment, and forces Sethe to accept her past and take control of the “rememory” rather than let it control her. Everyone eventually forgets about Beloved’s presence because they no longer need to dwell on the events churning in their minds like the river from whence she came. Instead, Morrison says that all that remains is “not the breath of the disremembered and unaccounted for, but wind in the eaves, or spring ice thawing too quickly. Just weather” (Morrison 524). Beloved fades into a ghostly presence much like this artifact, where all that remains are whispers in the trees and faded memories.
This is a wonderful artifact Vicki. Readers of the novel are stuck on the question of whether or not Beloved was a ghost or not, but I believe there's something bigger at stake. What makes Beloved so interesting is that she could be whether human or ghost but in the end her presence is important. What's important here is the interactions Beloved as with the different characters in the novel. It's fascinating to see how Beloved affects each character. Through her interactions, we see characters develop as well as see a deeper look into their being. Whether or not Beloved is "real", we see the psychological affects left behind from slavery. We see the pain and suffering they endured and Beloved's presence has a huge impact on this.
ReplyDeleteYour artifact is great in the way that it represent both ghost and human, but it is still something very "real".