I think racism is portrayed in a pretty distinctly different way in Beloved in contrast to the other novels we've read this semester. I think this has a lot to do with the time period and specific situation of the main characters of the novel. They experienced the extreme racism of slavery firsthand. Other characters such as Bigger, the Narrator, and especially Gunnar, experience a more nuanced prejudice. However it's not quite clear which type of racism results in more pain for each protagonist. Although Sethe had highly traumatic experiences (arguably greater than any events that other protagonists experienced in this class), they occurred in the past; her daily experience with racism seems to be nonexistent. Instead, she has been scarred, forced to relive her pain through re-memory. Yet Sethe has found a state of being that could be called peace; she acknowledges the impossibility of a future, and is satisfied with living a quiet life in the past. She allows the past to haunt her, yet she also takes comfort in it. The writing style of the author intentionally tries to pull the reader into that same psyche that the characters in this world share. For them the past is real, physical.
Characters like Bigger who experience daily oppression also have no future, but Bigger comes to terms with his fate in a very different way than Sethe does. I think a key part of this is the fact that Bigger wasn't able to physically escape racism in the same way that Sethe did. It was only after Sethe no longer had experiences to add to her stack of re-memories that she could find mental closure. At the same time, I have trouble envisioning Bigger escaping Chicago and venturing out into the country to live a humble life with his family. Beloved introduces another distinct character in Sethe who is unique in that ability to live without living. For Bigger, it seemed that death was the only escape from racism.
I don't think that you mentioned this, but the portrayal of racism in _Beloved_ is very similar to its portrayal in _Their Eyes were Watching God_. In both of the novels, racism plays a background role in the characters lives. It is still crucial to the stories, however, as much of Beloved is based of Sethes traumatic past and Janie in TEWWG lives her life trying to distance herself from her grandmother's racist, feminist definition of African American women.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because I was going to bring up TEWWG also, but I was going to say sort of the opposite of this... I think that Janie's experience with racism is much subtler than Sethe's, mostly because of the time period. I see Sethe's experience as very similar to what we know of Nanny's, mostly because they were both slaves and each escaped that life in order to raise her family in freedom. Nanny does everything that she can to protect Janie from the racism and sexism that she has encountered, where as Sethe has no one looking out for her, especially after Baby Suggs' death, so she is more vulnerable to it.
DeleteI don't think that Sethe has reached acceptance (yet) in the way that Bigger does or the denial/acceptance hybrid that the narrator does, either. Rather, Sethe feels a duty to look for a way for her and her children to escape the racism that surrounds them. Like Bigger, she saw death as the only escape from the racism pervading their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Sethe doesn't seem to have found complete peace with the racism she has experienced, but I would say that she is much closer to it than Bigger is. Bigger is pushed to do what he does by emotions, while Sethe attempts to kill her kids out of love, and very notably logic. This use of logic and emotion rather than relying on just emotions like Bigger does I feel like shows that she is much closer to coming to terms with the racism she has seen in her life than Bigger was.
DeleteSethe seems to feel racism as long as the memories of it are still alive, even if it's not directly affecting her on a day to day basis. That very much reminds me of the modern day, in a way. Racism is only perpetuated in contemporary society because of the vivid memories of it in the past, and the book Beloved puts an interesting spin on this idea.
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