Beloved, a review

Beloved
by Toni Morrison

A book review

Beloved is an award-winning novel by American Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. It is based on the true story of Margaret Gardner, an escaped slave, who killed her own infant daughter to prevent her from being returned to slavery.  The novel attempts to recreate her story in fictional form, making it the central event in a novel that explores the minds and feelings of African slaves and former slaves.

 Set in the 1870's, shortly after the end of slavery in North America, the story revolves around five main characters: Sethe, her daughter Denver, Paul D., another escaped slave like Sethe, Baby Suggs (Sethe's mother-in-law) and Beloved (believed to be the incarnation of Sethe's murdered daughter). Beloved is not narrated in chronological order but is composed of flashbacks, memories, and nightmares, making it very challenging for a reader not familiar with such literary devices.

Chronologically, the story begins before slaves were emancipated, with thirteen-year-old Sethe, a  slave with unnamed parents, arriving at Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky, which belongs to a white family. When Sethe is 14, she marries fellow slave Halle Suggs. Seth longs for a proper wedding ceremony with a clergyman to solemnise her marriage, a white wedding dress and even a feast. This part is narrated at length in the novel. However, there is none of the above for Sethe's wedding.

The novel shows us how African slaves in America during that period were regarded by their owners almost like animals and as such did not receive moral and religious teaching as human beings should. Toni Morrison has used the fact of the  absence of a proper ceremony in Sethe’s marriage, to tell the reader how slavery has robbed the slaves of their sense of self and humanity. Besides, we are shown how slave mothers could not nurture their own children which explains why Sethe says her milk was stolen from her. Their children were forcefully taken from them and sold to other plantation masters like any other merchandise. 

As the story unfolds in the flashbacks, Sethe escapes with her unborn child (Denver) from Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky to Cincinnatti, Ohio. At that time, Ohio was considered a free state where there was no slavery. She has sent her three older children, Howard, Buglar and an unnamed two-year-old daughter ahead of her to join her mother-in-law in Cincinnati.  She gives birth on the way to Denver, aided by a kind white woman. When she arrives in Ohio,she and her family have only 28 days of freedom. By a cruel twist of fate, their plantation master finds them. The plantation master has the right to take them back again since the Fugitive Slave Act allows him to do so. Sethe's two boys manage to escape, but Sethe's two-year-old cannot. In utter desperation and hopelessness, Sethe kills her daughter rather than have her taken back to be enslaved.

Later, what is thought to be the ghost of her dead daughter, comes back into Sethe's household, first as an unseen supernatural being and then as a young woman living in the house and exerting her power over Paul D. and Denver. She introduces herself as Beloved, which is the inscription on the grave of Sethe’s unnamed murdered daughter. Sethe's mother-in-law, baby Suggs has died and Sethe’s two sons have left home. At first, all seem rosy with Beloved, Denver and Paul D. getting along with one another. Little by little, however, Beloved becomes more possesive of Sethe, forcing Paul D. out of the house. She also succeeds in seducing him so that he become estranged from Sethe. Beloved wanted Sethe for herself. The author has skillfully portrayed the maternal bond shared by Sethe and her dead daughter.  Sethe, in trying to compensate for her past misdeeds towards Beloved bends over backwards in acceding to most of Beloved's demands. In this part of the novel, the reader is gripped by fear and curiosity as to what Beloved can be up to now that she has Sethe to herself.

 This is not a ghost story. The ghost of Beloved haunting her mother is a metaphor for how escaped slaves are still haunted by their past.  The psychological impact of slavery as depicted by the main characters in the novel makes the reader realise how much suffering, horror and brutality slaves had to endure while they were slaves and how the nightmare haunts them still even when they are free.

As the plot thickens leading to the end, the reader’s mind is likely to be full of questions, such as:  “Will Sethe accept Paul D. back"?, "How will Paul D. react when he finds out that Sethe actually murdered her daughter?”, "Will Beloved leave them in peace"?. Toni Morrison's clever use of dialogues, flashbacks and memories provides the answers to the above questions. This is what makes the novel intriguing even though the text is difficult to read.

This novel is a must read for literary buffs and it has been subjected to discourse analysis countless times. However, the most compelling message of this novel, about the nightmare that was slavery and the endurance of the human spirit, we can all relate to.