Patrick Steadman
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Binaries in Beloved
by Patrick
Steadman
Dualities are central to every aspect of Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Throughout
the novel, many things are set up in opposition to each other:
characters, concepts of gender, ideas of time. Morrison
sets up binaries for the purpose of displaying the complexity
of not only the antebellum African-American experience, but
also of life in general. For example, the title character
can be viewed in a variety of ways when compared to another
singular character. Beloved is in opposition to nearly
every other character in the novel, including Sethe, Denver,
Paul D, and even herself. The reactions and interactions
of these characters with Beloved each reveal a different aspect
of her identity. When analyzing Beloved from the perspective
of Paul D, for example, the reader sees a hostile little girl. However,
when analyzing Beloved from Sethe’s point of view, one
sees Beloved a sympathetic, confused character. Still,
when analyzing Beloved through Denver’s eyes, Beloved
seems to be a jealous, childish character. Along the
way, Morrison sets up other binaries as a byproduct of these
character binaries: male and female, and past and present. By
analyzing these binaries and the ways they work against each
other, one can see Beloved as a novel of great complexity
trying to explain the great complexity of the American experience. Beloved,
to Morrison, is an expression of the complexity of the African-American
life in post-Civil War America.
The complexity of life in America is exemplified by the character
Beloved because she represents something different to the reader
when set up as a binary against another character. For
example, Beloved appears to be a spoiled brat when situated
against Paul D. His first reaction or thought to Beloved
is indicative of this: “Paul D wondered at the newness
of her shoes” (Morrison 53). This first reaction
to the appearance of this strange new character is telling
of Paul D’s skepticism at the girl. Again, Paul
D’s reaction appears to be hostile and portrays Beloved
in a negative light: “Paul D said it made him sick to
his stomach” (Morrison 55). Beloved challenges
Paul D’s position as “man of the house.” Knowledgeable
about Beloved’s past, Paul D is threatened by Beloved
because she is a part of Sethe’s past as a mother: “In Beloved,
however, motherhood or matriarchy tears down the negative,
only to build a more positive black male image. In other
words, the presence of mother hood and images related to it
constitute rebirth for the black male figure” (Watson
162). Watson’s use of the word “rebirth” is
interesting; Paul D is threatened by Beloved not only because
of his fear of Sethe’s past, but also because of the
way it changes his status in the household. His rebirth
is under Sethe’s lead; in other words, he becomes “below” Sethe
because he is essentially turned into one of her children. Consequently,
Paul D’s attitude toward Beloved is hostile and he portrays
her negatively. Beloved also challenges Paul D’s
identity as a male when he sees her displaying fawning attention,
but not toward him: “Beloved was shining and Paul D didn’t
like it” (Morrison 64). Paul D does not comprehend
why a girl would be “shining” but not toward him. Not
only does he not understand it, but it calls into question
his manhood (being the only man present in the house). As
Corey intuits, “For Sethe and Paul D, Beloved serves
as a catalyst to awaken their emotions and memories, but she
also arouses their fears” (39). Paul D’s
portrayal of Beloved as an unwelcome addition to the house
is a result of her threatening his role as a male.
Paul D’s and Sethe’s burgeoning relationship is
quickly halted as soon as Beloved returns to the house. However,
whereas Paul D reacts negatively toward Beloved, Sethe attempts
to win the love of the child and the child is portrayed as
a nice, albeit obsessive child. One of the first instances
of an interaction between the two characters portrays her in
this light: “Rain water held on to pine needles for dear
life and Beloved could not take her eyes off Sethe” (Morrison
57). This metaphor is appropriate for their relationship:
rain (Beloved) needs to serve the pine needles (Sethe). In Circles
of Sorrow, Lines of Struggle, Grewal says, “Infanticide,
Sethe’s raw act of defiance, runs counter to the slave
community’s response of resistance, namely their determined
effort to keep family ties alive despite the master’s
attempt to sunder them” (97). In a way, Beloved
is part of this community. She desires to understand
the actions of her mother, and Sethe knows this. “…their
two shadows clashed and crossed on the ceiling like black swords” (Morriosn
57). Beloved and Sethe both have a desire to reconcile
the past that connects them, and the image of the two shadows
clashing exemplifies their relationship. Each appears
to be kind to the other, but out of a desire to simply understand. Later
in the novel, the narrator says:
It
became a way to feed her. Just as Denver discovered and
relied on the delightful effect sweet things had on Beloved,
Sethe learned the profound
satisfaction Beloved got from storytelling. It amazed
Sethe (as much
as it pleased Beloved) because every mention of her past life
hurt. Everything
in it was painful or lost. (Morrison 58)
Beloved and Sethe
desire to be at peace with each other, which casts Beloved
in a sympathetic light. As Betty Jane Powell
says, “Beloved engages in a never-ending struggle to
attain cohesion” (144). Beloved, when analyzed
under the guise of Sethe, is a sweet child who needs to understand.
Along with Sethe and Paul D, Morrison also sets up Beloved’s
character in opposition to her sister, Denver. The purpose
in doing this is to portray Beloved on the same level as Denver—that
is, as someone who rightfully desires attention. Their
interactions together are similar to Beloved and Sethe’s,
but Denver acts in Beloved’s role, asking Beloved questions
and trying to understand her. Denver says, “What’s
it like over there, where you were before? Can you tell
me?” (Morrison 75). This question implies not only
a desire to understand where Beloved came from, but also to
understand the nature of their relationship. In his essay,
Rafael Perez-Torres says, “The relastion of Sethe’s
story opens between her, Beloved and Denver channels of exchange
(aesthetic, social, personal” (95). Beloved and
Denver both desire to understand their mother and bond over
this. This is also exemplified in Denver’s chapter
toward the end of the novel: “Beloved is my sister. I
swallowed her blood right along with my mother’s milk” (Morrison
205). This is important because it symbolically explains
the bond Denver and Beloved have. Denver’s nourishment
was accompanied with the sorrow of the loss of her sister. Denver
is also similar to Beloved in that she attempts to, but cannot,
understand her mother’s actions: “I love my mother
but I know she killed one of her own daughters, and tender
as she is with me, I’m scared of her because of it” (205). Denver
feels not only for Beloved, but also is afraid of Sethe because
of Beloved and what happened to her. Beloved is portrayed
as similar to Denver when set up in opposition to her, which
adds further complexity to her character.
In such a complex novel as Beloved, it is possible
for a character to be set up in opposition to herself. Of
course, the character to do this would be Beloved. Beloved
is simultaneously an individual character, representing whatever
actions or events are happening to her in the present, and
also a representation of the slave experience. Beloved’s
binary is set up in the final part of the book, in the chapters
beginning with “I am Beloved…”. The
first chapter portrays Beloved as the representative for the
entire slave experience. Beloved says, “there will
never be a time when I am not crouching and watching others
who are crouching too I am always crouching the
man on my face is dead” (Morrison 211). This is
clearly a depiction of a slave experience, and Beloved is describing
it through her point of view. Again in this section: “I
do not eat the men without skin bring
us their morning water to drink” (Morrison 211). The “men
without skin” are the white masters, and Beloved depicts
them from the point of view of all slaves. In reading
Morrison’s novels, Karla Holloway says, “A part
of me knows them well, not simply through having heard them
before, but through some type of familial memory that allows
all women to share” (149). This is the same concept
at work with Beloved representing the slave experience; she
represents all of them. In the next chapter, however,
Beloved narrates from her present perspective (her desire to
reconcile her and Sethe’s past). Beloved says, “I
lost her again, but I found the house she whispered to me and
there she was, smiling at last” (Morrison 214). This
is clearly discussing the events that are happening to Beloved
and Sethe in the beginning. How is it possible for Beloved
to be a living character dealing with present issues and simultaneously
represent the pasts of millions? This binary is set up
by Morrison to prove the complexity of the slave experience,
and its affect on the present. Symbolically, Beloved
represents a thematic binary of Beloved: the bridge
between past and present.
Beloved is not the only character who is set up as a binary
to other characters. Paul D and Denver also represent
a binary in the novel: they representative of the past-present
binary to Sethe. Paul D, to Sethe, represents the past. Perhaps
this is why Sethe and Paul D have so much trouble in their
relationship. The narrator says, “To Sethe, the
future was a matter of keeping the past at bay” (Morrison
42). How can she have a relationship with someone who
epitomizes the aspect of her life she desires to forget? In
the next paragraph, the narrator applies the situation to Denver: “As
for Denver, the job Sethe had of keeping her from the past
that was still waiting for her was all that mattered” (Morrison
42). So, Denver represents the present that she hopes
to keep Paul D (the past) from obtaining. It is impossible
for Sethe to maintain both of these positions (past and present/Paul
D and Denver), so tension arises between the two. Caroline
Rody says, “Together, Sethe and Paul D begin a mutual
talking cure that promises a mutual future” (91). Where
does this leave, Denver, then? Denver suspects this dilemma
and reacts violently toward Paul D: “Denver ran a mighty
interference and on the third day flat-out asked Paul D how
long he was going to hang around” (Morrison 43). This
is indicative of the past-present binary represented by the
two characters: the present asks the past how long it intends
to “hang around.” Sethe, who is somewhere
in between past and present, lashes out on Denver: “Hush! You make
tracks. Go somewhere and sit down” (Morrison 43). It
is easy to understand Denver’s frustration. She
is set aside the moment that Paul D enters back into Sethe’s
life. Paul D also feels neglected because of Denver’s
reaction to his arrival: “Maybe I should make tracks” (Morrison
43). Paul D and Denver, the past and the present, struggle
to get along with each other and reconcile themselves with
Sethe.
Along with Denver and Paul D being representative binaries,
there is a thematic binary in Beloved in the form
of female and male. Sethe and Paul D’s relationship
can be used to explore this binary. When Paul D first
arrives at 124, he becomes in command of the household. The
narrator says, “With a table and a loud male voice he
had rid 124 of its claim to local fame” (Morrison 37). The
use of the word “male” as an adjective is an interesting
choice and implies that a male voice was needed to rid the
house of its demons. Again, Sethe is set up as being
weaker than Paul D:
It
became his room and Sethe didn’t object—her bed
for two had been
occupied by one for eighteen years before Paul D came to
call. And
maybe it was better this way, with young girls in the house
and him
not being her true-to-life husband. In any case, since
there was no reduction
in his before-breakfast or after-supper appetites, he never
heard her complain. (Morrison 115)
This is indicative of an
uncommunicative relationship. Consequently,
the binary remains in tact, despite the fact that Paul D and
Sethe are technically in a relationship. The male/female
binary is established by their lack of communication and understanding. Paul
D also views his opposite as other. Early in the novel,
the narrator says, “The jump, thought Paul D, from a
calf to a girl wasn’t all that mighty” (Morrison
26). This sort of rhetoric is indicative of an attitude
dismissive of the second half of the binary. So, when
Paul D is overturned in the house (by the presence of Beloved—a
female), his concept of his manhood is somewhat shattered. Watson
says, “Paul D rides into Sethe’s life on a horse
created by a white man’s version of manhood, so it is
no surprise when Paul comes, metaphorically, tumbling down
from this ‘horse’” (163). Paul D, although
his sense of manhood is broken, attempts to take it back with
his constant battle with Beloved and for Sethe. Watson
says,
At
points Paul D tries to gain and retain some sense of power
over Sethe’s
motherhood, which is symbolized by his attempts to cup Sethe’s
breasts in his hands, breasts that once gave milk to the
vengeful baby
spirit. His feeble attempts come soon after Sethe tells
her story of
how her milk was stolen during rape… (164)
Instead
of trying to help Sethe cope, or reconcile with her past, Paul
D seizes the opportunity to gain ground in the struggle for
power in the house, which further establishes the male/female
binary. Concepts of masculinity and femininity are explored
and set up in opposition to each other in Beloved.
The final binary set up by Morrison in the novel is also thematic
in nature: postive and negative portrayals of the past. Central
to the novel’s concept, the past plays an integral role
in each of the character’s lives. Each of the characters
attempts to understand the nature of time. Sethe seems
to run from the past. The narrator constantly portrays
Sethe as “beating back the past” (Morrison 73). This
attitude is also exemplified when she says,
No
thank you. I don’t want to know or to have to
remember that. I have
other things to do: worry, for example, about tomorrow, about
Denver, about Beloved, about age and sickness not to speak
of love. (Morrison
70).
Sethe does not want to think about the past because it
is a time she would rather forget. Beloved, on the other hand,
is almost obsessed with discovering her (and her mother’s)
past. When Beloved enters 124, Sethe discovers “the
profound satisfaction Beloved got from storytelling” (58). Beloved
constantly inquires about Sethe’s past in order to understand
why her mother killed her. Beloved’s fascination
with the past is set up in opposition to Sethe’s desire
to forget about it. Beloved’s and Sethe’s
problems in their relationship arise from this philosophical
difference. Still, Sethe believes in the past just as
much as Beloved:
I
used to think it was my rememory. You know, Some things
you forget. Other
things you never do. But it’s not. Places,
places are still there. If A
house burns down, it’s gone, but the place—the
picture of it—stays,
and Not
just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. (Morrison
36)
This is why Sethe fears the past; she recognizes that it
has the capability to live in the present. Beloved is
the physical representation of this concept. Beloved
and Sethe represent different attitudes toward the past, and
they attempt to reconcile these concepts throughout the novel.
The binaries mentioned in here are provided to demonstrate
the complexity of Beloved, just as they are provided
in the novel to demonstrate the complexity of the slave experience. What
we learn from Beloved is that present, past, and future
are not separate but that they all bleed into each other. They
are fragments molded together by time. Likewise, it is
possible for characters to represent different things when
they interact with different people. Who Beloved is is
different depending on who she is interacting with: whether
it be Sethe, Paul D, or Denver. This is not to say that
Beloved is a poorly-developed character. Rather, it is
the opposite: Beloved is an accurate depiction of a human life,
for she is incredibly complex. The same is true of the
other characters and concepts in the novel. Beloved uses
binaries to help us attempt to understand the sheer complexity
of our pasts.
Works Cited
Corey, Susan. “Toward the Limits of Mystery: The
Grotesque in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” The
Aesthetics of Toni Morrison: Speaking the Unspeakable. Ed. Marc
C. Conner. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2000. 31-48.
Grewal,
Gurleen. Circles of Sorrow, Lines of Struggle:
The Novels of Toni Morrison. Baton Rouge,
Louisiana State University Press, 1998.
Holloway, Karla F. C. “On
Morrison and Black Female Memory.” New Dimensions
of Spirituality: A Biracial and Bicultural Reading of the Novels
of Toni Morrison. Eds. Stephanie
A. Demetrakopoulous and Karla F. C. Holloway. New York:
Greenwood Press, 1987. 149-156.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New
York: Plume, 1987.
Perez-Torres, Rafael. “Knitting
and Knotting the Narrative Thread—Beloved as
Postmodern Novel.” Toni Morrison: Critical
and Theoretical Approaches. Ed. Nancy J.
Peterson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1997. 91-109.
Powell, Betty Jane. “‘will
the parts hold?’:
The Journey Toward a Coherent Self in Beloved.” Understanding
Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Sula. Eds. Marla
W. Iyasere
and Solomon O. Iyasere. New York: Whitston Publishing
Company, 2000. 143-154.
Rody,
Caroline. “Toni Morrison’s Beloved:
History, ‘Rememory,’ and a ‘Clamor for a
Kiss’.” Understanding
Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Sula. Eds.
Marla W. Iyasere Solomon O. Iyasere. New York: Whitston
Publishing Company, 2000. 83-112.
Watson, Reginald. “The
Power of the ‘Milk’ and
Motherhood: Images of Deconstruction and Reconstruction
in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Alice Walker’s The
Third Life
of Grange Copeland.” CLA Journal Dec.
2004: 156-182.
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