Beloved and Citizen both provide insightful accounts of perspective on the black experience. In both stories, perspective provides validation and confirmation of the reality of one's troubling experiences. In Beloved, the act of seeing and being seen frees Sethe and Paul D from the dehumanization and trauma they experienced in the past. We see this in the scene where Paul D tells Sethe about the humiliation he felt when Mister, the rooster, seemed to look at him mockingly while he had the bit in his mouth. He is freed from the dehumanization of Mister's gaze when Sethe looks at him and sees the humanity in his eyes and recognizes his vulnerability. Through this experience, Paul D regains his humanity by being seen as a human through Sethe's eyes.
Meanwhile, Citizen tells many accounts of fleeting everyday moments of discrimination. Although these moments are painful and significant to the one experiencing them, they are presented as though they were so normal that it's hard to tell if they even happened at all. Questions such as, "Did you just see that?" "What did you say?" "Did that just happen?" all serve to seek validation that microaggressions aren't something to simply forget about or pretend never happened. By seeking the confirmation of another's perspective, the protagonist reassures herself that the experiences she is having are significant and noticeable.
What do you guys think? Are there other examples of perspective in Beloved and Citizen? What other meanings could it have as a motif?
This is a really cool connection I hadn't thought about, but it makes a lot of sense. Surviving oppression requires the oppression to be recognized. I had always took the questions to be a reminder to the reader that they should be appalled (if they weren't already) but I definitely think you're right that they also serve as a confirmation for the speaker that they really were just the subject of a racist comment.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about this until I read your article and I couldn't agree more. recognition is so important in self no matter how cliche that sounds I thought this was a really good interpretation and I agree whole heartedly. Even though you shouldn't have to seek recognition to validate your ideas it is often instrumental in ones belief that they are actually right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments above, I hadn't really thought about all of the connections between Citizen and Beloved before. I always thought that the part about Paul D, the rooster, and the bit in his mouth was so powerful, and your connection with it to Citizen was really cool. Citizen definitely provided a more day to day experience than Beloved, also helped by the time they are set. I really liked your analysis!
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