While reading Beloved I couldn't help but notice how much setting is involved in the story. Because point of view differs constantly and there are many flashbacks, the setting is changing very often throughout the story.
For one the setting of the house has a huge impact on the plot. This house is a character of its own, being haunted by Sethe's daughter that died. This house is located at the end of the road, very isolated from the rest of Cincinnati. This leads Denver to feel completely isolated from anyone and everything and this causes her stress. Denver often feels alone because she realizes that they don't leave the house often and no one typically shows up at the house. Additionally, Morrison uses personification of the house very often to give the home a strong personality.
Another setting that is constantly visited is Sweet Home. There are two emotions that are exemplified when this setting is discussed; either hatred toward it and the awful memories that come with it, or a feeling of nostalgia because all of the slaves were pretty close. They all seem to have some awful memories of them oppressed as slaves, but also some sweet memories of them and the beauty the home had.
Overall the main connection to be made is that there are two states that the story goes between. Kentucky, where Sweet Home was and also a slave state and Ohio, where 124 is and a free state. The novel covers all of this ground including portions of the journey between the two. Setting is a strong component of the story because it is constantly changing according to where the character was/is when she is recalling certain memories or in the present.
Great post! I agree that location plays a great role in Beloved. One of the locations that was important was Sweet Home like you said. I also thought that Sweet Home was always hauntingly beautiful to Sethe and Paul D. One of the things that stuck out in my mind was Sethe's memory about how she could only clearly remember the beautiful trees in Sweet Home rather than the dead bodies hanging from it. Nice post again!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the house is an important character. While I was reading there were times that I felt like the house was a person interacting with the other characters. That shows how powerful the use of personification was in the book. Great post!
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