Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Community in Beloved
After finishing Beloved, I had some questions still left about the ending. I didn't understand why the community singing would get Beloved to leave. As I had some more time to think about this question, I realized that the black community in Cincinnati Ohio was a more powerful part of the story than I thought. Throughout the story the black community in Ohio serves a significant role in the ability to change the character's lives. When Baby Suggs was alive, the community supported and helped her family. After and shortly before the "Misery" however, the community turns their back on Baby Suggs and Sethe, and 124 suffers because of that. In the end however when the community comes once again to help 124 courtesy of Sethe's child, Denver, it is the community that has the power to expel Beloved. Community is a very prominent component of Beloved and I think it is worth it to take note of that.
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I agree. I thought that after all of the time that the community spent hating and disapproving of Sethe and her family, that the power of their reconnection was the reason that Beloved left.
ReplyDeleteI almost entirely agree, with the exception that I don't think the community turned its back on Baby Suggs-- Baby Suggs just didn't know what to do anymore and essentially left the community on her own. Sethe definitely gets shunned, though.
ReplyDeleteI almost entirely agree, with the exception that I don't think the community turned its back on Baby Suggs-- Baby Suggs just didn't know what to do anymore and essentially left the community on her own. Sethe definitely gets shunned, though.
ReplyDeleteThe communal bonds really forced Beloved to leave. I think that although Sethe was hated by the community for most of the time, they finally helped her when she needed it the most.
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