Thursday, November 12, 2015

Our Brains Store Memories: Traitorous or Signs of an Ally?

Beloved by Toni Morrison so far hits the mark for eloquent yet clear language, complex ideas, an intriguing story line, emotion, United States history, and more. One of the reoccurring ideas of the book I have noticed is conscious memory, or when people actively try to remember something. Although Morrison mostly paints a picture in Sethe's and Paul D's lives that rarely include conscious memory, the times where conscious memories are included, can highlight moments of humanity of slaves and ex-slaves.

In light of many dark realities characters in the book face, Morrison exposes readers to a dimension of slavery that can be lost in translation: the part of Benjamin's mutual recognition where individuals acknowledge themselves as individuals.

"The closed portion of his head opened like a greased lock" (49)
"She shook her head side to side, resigned to her rebellious brain" (83)

Although many involuntary memories experienced by Sethe and Paul D are related to the horrors of slavery such as the iron bit, Sweet Home, or labor camps, other separate memories are positive. After learning that Halle had been watching her milk get stolen, Sethe thinks about when she first arrived at 124, when Baby Suggs was the glue that held the house and the community together. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the passage about the Clearing and Baby Suggs's role as a preacher, a source of encouragement, and a realist. Men, women, and children use the safe space to laugh, cry, and dance. I think Morrison tries to break traditional gender roles in that crying is not specific to women, and the way she rotates the words men, women, and children in the passage made it feel like a true community that supported one another in the wake of bondage.

I think our brain's holding capacity for any thought, conscious or otherwise, is amazing. Traumatic events can lead to the opposite reaction and I can see why. Memories of the past have held back many characters in the book from taking the present day with both hands.

Do you think actively remembering a positive memory can alleviate the painful, triggered memories of harder times? Or maybe it is not that simple.

2 comments:

  1. I think this is an amazing to reaction to the beginning of Beloved so far. The story has been clear, yet complex. You mention the reoccurring idea of conscious memory, which I thought was interesting. So far, I've noticed that Beloved has been marked by unconscious memory. My favorite part of the book so far has been the fluid stream of thoughts and memories of each of the main characters.

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  2. I think that Baby Suggs was able to heal some people temporarily, but the pain of their memories will stick with them forever. Sethe described the transformative process of the forest "prayer" but still lives in the past. It may be harder for Sethe because she hasn't had many positive memories to replace the negative ones, but I think the trauma of negative experiences can never be fully forgotten. I really like the stream of thought style as well and think it adds to the fluidity of the past and present in the storyline.

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