tinestime

[tinestime]

Beloved by Toni Morrison

“Denver picked at her fingernails. ‘If it’s still there, waiting, that must mean that nothing ever dies.’

Sethe looked right in Denver’s face. ‘Nothing ever does,’ she said.” (44)

Toni Morrison’s Beloved rewrites the almost forgotten story of Margaret Garner, a woman who escaped slavery with her two-year-old daughter. Before she could be captured and brought back into slavery, Margaret Garner killed her daughter as a way of obtaining “the necessity of freedom” (Foreword xvii). Morrison’s masterpiece achieves the retelling of Margaret Garner’s story by depicting a world where protagonists Sethe and her daughter Denver live in a haunted home, haunted by the child Sethe killed in an attempt to save from the horrors of slavery; the child known as Beloved. Morrison’s narrative humanizes the actions of Sethe, and Margaret Garner, while profoundly detailing the horrors and detrimental effects of slavery, both psychology and physically. 

I chose this quote because it incorporates a multitude of themes we see throughout the novel, as well as provides an early insight into the characterizations of Sethe and Denver. Initially, we are struck by the “smallness” of Denver and her child-like persona: “Denver picked at her fingernails”. Once Denver opens her mouth, however, we see that behind Denver’s shy and quiet demeanor lies a young woman who deeply feels and ponders the world around her, qualities that Denver solidifies by the novel’s end. In Sethe’s response we see the strength and pain that co-inhabit Denver’s mother: “Sethe looked right in Denver’s face” and her solemn yet firm affirmation of her daughter’s words “that nothing ever dies”. 

The theme of “nothing ever dies” remains ever-present as memories constantly resurface and the ghost of Beloved takes human form. Throughout the novel, Sethe, amongst other characters such as Denver and Paul D, recount memories of life before the present day in which the novel takes place. These memories haunt the characters and affect their everyday lives, showing how “nothing ever dies”. In a more tangible way, 124’s ghost takes the form of a young women named Beloved, further reinforcing that the memory and of Sethe’s unnamed child lives within her. The guilt surrounding Sethe for the murder of her child consumes her to the point of physical torture. Whether or not Beloved is real or not, or even in relation to Sethe’s dead child, Sethe believes her presence is a way for her to repent and make up for her daughter’s death. 

This quote also speaks to Morrison’s writing style in general. Beloved consists of dream-like narration that jumps from the present to the past, diving deep into the memories and thoughts of all the characters, especially Sethe’s trauma both while enslaved and the personal entrapment Sethe feels caused by the murder she committed on her own daughter. This effective style of prose fits within this story so well because the story deals with the supernatural. It is difficult to know whether or not Beloved is actually real because a great portion of the novel takes place within nightmarish reverie. Ultimately, Morrison provides us with a story that illustrates real trauma and pain and the ever-present fight to subdue, or accept, that pain. 

#toni morrison #beloved #books #books reviewed

[tinestime]

Starting somewhere...

Hi Tumblr - it's been awhile. 10 years, actually. I'm back because, if I'm being honest with myself, I want to be a creative. And what I mean by that is I want to write. Why is it so hard to admit I want to be a writer?

Writers have a funny thing about them. Arrogant? Cheesy? Kind of cringe? Writers I know, above all, are really fucking smart. Smarter than me - which is why I've had the idea that I can't be one.

But I want to write. I love to write. So that is what I'm doing here. Thank you Tumblr for making it so easy to come back.

Tumblr was such a haven ages 12 to 14 for me. I loved the quotes and the pictures and the ability to curate my own page. The best part about Tumblr was that you don't have to "follow" people you know. I started using Tumblr around the same time Instagram launched. On Instagram one is tasked with projecting a curated version of one's life to a specific audience (or absorbing said curated version of other's lives) whereas one's Tumblr page(s) is a curation of one's thoughts, feelings, visions - anything! for oneself. I'm back here 1. because it's free and 2. because this is a page for myself to hold myself accountable to write and get better at it.

I'm having a few thoughts on where to take my first post - from here on out I'll draft/ edit these but right now, I'm eager to get the first one out there. I want to start.

A content creator (turned published author recently!) made a TikTok about her journey from college senior in 2020 pandemic quarantine, turned viral TikToker, to published author. The advice she left was to "just keep going. Throw shit at the goddamn wall. Take no as a re-routing to your next step. Don't let it deter you from chasing those dreams. If you want it, it can happen for you." (Shoutout Eli Rallo!) So this is me, coming out of my locked notes app titled "my brain." Happy New Year's Eve - I'm excited to see where this goes in 2024 :)

#writer