A Disarray Beginning for a Clearer End

In reading the first chapter of Beloved by Toni Morrison, I genuinely had a headache. The thoughts "what am I missing", "what index to the book did I miss", and "are we sure the teachers gave us the correct book" were flashing through my mind. The book seemed to start mid sentence, leaving me utterly confused and lost at what was happening in the book. As I continued to read, a few details were clarified, like the fact that the "it" they were talking about that was haunting the house was actually a baby, and that Baby Suggs was the grandmother, not said baby. After reading the whole chapter, most of the details finally made sense, but I was still left confused, and as a result, wanted to read more. The style of this writing, starting the book almost mid-thought, was an intentional effort made by the author. By writing in this manner, the reader is left wanting more. Morrison also makes her writing style very distinct by creating a very realistic introduction to a family. By starting the book off without clarifying every single details that is happening, the reader is left to figure things out on their own, which in turn paints a more accurate family situation that is occurring. Also by not introducing every detail in the book, Morrison can talk about things like hauntings and ghosts without them seeming as unrealistic or not as possible. She introduces the ghost as though its just a typical thing to occur in their house, so the reader doesn't even have room to question it. I found the style that Morrison wrote in to be fascinating and alluring, absolutely pulling me in to want more and have more of a desire to understand and sympathize with the characters because it felt as though I was there with them too.