Beloved

Memory, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms”. Memories provide a source of defining an individual’s life and well as the life of other individuals. In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, memory may as well be a fearful part of the character’s consciousness. The main character Sethe suffers under the hand of her own mental prison that is her memory. She becomes obsessed with her past memories. These memories cause Sethe to dive into a sense of longing for something better for not herself, but for her daughter Beloved. Although Beloved is merely a physical manifestation of her memories, Beloved’s desires
are given life and shape through the thoughts and emotions that Sethe is experiencing. Sethe’s struggle is difficult process in which she is battling her own personal demons that are attached to her memories.
Firstly, from the beginning of the novel, Beloved spotlights on the importance of memory. Each and every day Sethe battles the eerie legacy of slavery, taking form from harsh memories and the forceful ghost that is her daughter. For Sethe, the present is basically a battle to beat back the past, in light of the fact that the recollections of her little girl's death and the encounters at Sweet Home are excessively excruciating for her, making it impossible to recall deliberately. Be that as it may, Sethe's restraint is hazardous, in light of the fact that the nonattendance of history and memory hinders the development of a steady personality. Indeed, even Sethe's hard-won opportunity is undermined by her failure to go up against her earlier life. Paul D's landing gives Sethe the open door and the force to at long last grapple with her difficult life history.
Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from. He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut. (Beloved Chapter 7)
His division from his feelings implies he is estranged from himself, however, Paul D is willing to pay the cost to keep himself from his agonizing and turbulent past. At the point when Paul D is compelled to stand up to the past amid his sexual experience with Beloved, the rusted top of his heart starts to tear open. Toward the novel's end, Paul D uncovers that he is willing at long last to chance enthusiastic security and open himself to someone else, to cherish Sethe. Furthermore, many chapters open up with the same phrase “124 was…” which plays into the reminiscent factor that the novel has. The idea of memory plays a huge role on how the characters develop and grow. Opening various different chapters with that phrase helps the reader understand that the characters are going to be discussing a dark part of their past. “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom” (chapter 1). This quote is discussing the house being haunted by the death of the baby that Sethe gave birth to. The novel starts with a house's depiction, instead of any character, underlines the home's significance to Sethe and her crew. Be that as it may, the frightful vicinity of Sethe's dead child has disturbed any sort of perfect home, bringing about Howard and Buglar to escape their own particular gang. Sethe and Denver's endeavor to talk with the ghost of the child sets the tone for the pervasiveness of haunting in the novel. The ghost is restricted in which Sethe's past proceeds to actually frequent her. As we will later learn, Sethe herself slaughtered the infant, yet "Beloved" on the infant's headstone demands that Sethe still in some way or another tended to the child and was going about as a cherishing mother. Lastly, throughout beloved many of the memories focus on the harsh past, but amidst the rough past there are brief moments of joy and pleasure.
Very rarely are such moments mentioned, although when Sethe and Paul D try to partake in sexual relations the evil spirit of the dead child tries to stop such acts from happening, bringing about rough memories. But, later Sethe and Paul do partake in an act of fornication. Although the sex brought them closer together, there is still a considerable measure of past endeavors they do know and things they do not that remain in between the both of them causing them to shy away from interaction with one another. Sex is the simple piece of the puzzle. Sethe's scar, is a physical token of the difficult past, which causes Paul D to think about his own past. “How fine and loose and free” (Chapter 2). This quote comes from a memory from the past in which Sethe and Paul D recall the moment that Sethe and her husband at the time Halle had sexual relations in the cornfield because there was no place in the house for them to partake in such activities. Although during that time Sethe was not granted an actual marriage to Halle the memory of the consummation of her “marriage” was a wonderful moment in which she had no care in the world for a brief
moment. All in all, memory is a key component to the development in the novel Beloved. Each moment from the past reminds the main character Sethe that although the past was rough better days are ahead. With the help of other character such as Paul D learning about their past helps bring light to the better day that are ahead.