The Importance of Story Telling

Throughout Beloved the importance of storytelling is a key aspect of the novel. Specifically in this novel Toni Morrison shows the true pain that the stories can have on the individual especially when reflecting on the past. The most important struggle with story telling in this novel is the reflection on the hard stories of Sethe and Paul D's slavery experience. These experiences are there to show the destruction of identity within the characters and slaves as a whole. One story in particular was the description of Paul D's iron bit that was put in his mouth. He states that he was most upset with the fact the rooster has more control over himself and freedom than he does. Along with this we can see what the repeated story telling of painful events has on Sethe and we can see this today in our modern world today. The struggle that most Veterans have today is dealing with post traumatic stress disorder and the struggle that comes with recounting past events. These stories are important and are great for others to learn the tough experiences of these men and women. The problem lies with the storyteller. With such difficult events it is hard for these stories, that lead us to gain more perspective and learn important lessons, and for these storytellers to share the events that lead to more pain and suffering for the storyteller. It is important to me to realize that with every great story we receive especially about times of severe pain and struggle there was a brave storyteller that decided to share this experience and open themselves up to the vulnerability of not just the public but the story itself.