As we reach the conclusion of part one of the novel in our reading, the reader is left with what is most nearly, a meditative reflectiveness. Beloved, thus far has transcended a binary reading; it is a layered and polished work that retains meaning yet to be discovered after even the fourth or fifth readthrough. Morrison is rather admirable at her craft because she has thus-far presented a skillfully woven reading in slave-era America literature that deviates from more-or-less linear and recycled theme that we've seen in other slave narratives throughout our academic careers.
As much as it may be present throughout the telling of the novel, the derived themes surrounding the cruelty of the white man and the extortion of the black man/woman was hardly a central focus. As effective and as powerful as the message is in highlighting the oppression and racism can be in the traditional slave narrative, the trials of the Sethe's, Paul D's, Baby Sugg's, and Stamp Paid's past, in Beloved, serves as just one of many vehicle used to convey the true meaning of the work. Morrison's characters are complex and thoughtful, genuine and in fact, very human. Morrison humanizes them -portraying them as so much more than the pitiable victims of slavery's oppression. With this in mind, it becomes clear to me that this is quite intentional and that Morrison doesn't want us to linger in the unfairness and cruelty of our characters' past. Morrison builds her characters and presents them to the reader through emotions and interactions, and not through the futility of the white man's iron grip. The excerpts of Sethe and Paul D in their slaving days were just a few of many catalysts to the characters' complex and emotional present.
It is within those raw interactions that the reader comes to understand and empathize with the main character on a more layered and profound level. While the traditional slave novel can serve its purpose to unbridled success, Morrison's Beloved is unlike anything I have ever read because of how daring it defers from tropes and expectedness of the genre.
I agree, Beloved is sprinkled with various hints and allusions to history, religion, and parts of the book itself. Morrison's ability to build and construct unconventional characters while also introducing them in an unconventional way gives the reader a different way into analyzing the novel. While this novel can sometimes come across as a dense read, it has become one of my favorite novels I have read.
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