Jealousy and Guilt Distressing the Individual and the Community
Jealousy and Guilt Distressing the Individual and the Community In the novel, “Beloved,” Toni Morrison explores how human attributes of jealousy and guilt overcome individuals in the novel, ultimately leading to the contamination of an entire community. One can observe such idiosyncrasies from the beginning of the novel with Denver, an adolescent girl who quietly grows up in a spiteful home filled with sadness, guilt, and jealousy:
Hot, shy, now Denver was lonely. All that leaving: first her brothers, then her grandmother—serious losses since there were no children willing to circle her in a game or hang by their knees from her porch railing. None of that had mattered as long as her mother did not look away as she was doing now, making Denver long, downright long, for a sign of spite from the baby ghost (12).
Adjusted to having Sethe’s undivided attention in their home, Denver becomes jealous of the baby ghost that haunts the home as her mother begins to have a certain fascination with this ever-present spirit. The ghost represents the daughter that Sethe kills and thus, Sethe is incredibly aware of her company due to her inability to escape her guilt of violently murdering her own kin. In Beloved, Denver’s innate fear of loneliness arouses feelings of jealousy and Sethe’s shame ultimately destroys her life. These traits function as two of the most fundamental organizing impulses of human beings, thus playing a primary role in Beloved’s relation to one’s existence. In this tragic novel, some of the characters are deeply shattered due to feelings of jealousy while others are inwardly damaged due to their inability to escape the guilt of their past.
Having experienced the brutality of living in slavery, Sethe truly believes that death is a better alternative; therefore, the bloodshed of her own daughter is justified through powerful motherly love. As a result, this decision will forever influence the trajectory of her life. One day, Sethe tells Denver,
Hot, shy, now Denver was lonely. All that leaving: first her brothers, then her grandmother—serious losses since there were no children willing to circle her in a game or hang by their knees from her porch railing. None of that had mattered as long as her mother did not look away as she was doing now, making Denver long, downright long, for a sign of spite from the baby ghost (12).
Adjusted to having Sethe’s undivided attention in their home, Denver becomes jealous of the baby ghost that haunts the home as her mother begins to have a certain fascination with this ever-present spirit. The ghost represents the daughter that Sethe kills and thus, Sethe is incredibly aware of her company due to her inability to escape her guilt of violently murdering her own kin. In Beloved, Denver’s innate fear of loneliness arouses feelings of jealousy and Sethe’s shame ultimately destroys her life. These traits function as two of the most fundamental organizing impulses of human beings, thus playing a primary role in Beloved’s relation to one’s existence. In this tragic novel, some of the characters are deeply shattered due to feelings of jealousy while others are inwardly damaged due to their inability to escape the guilt of their past.
Having experienced the brutality of living in slavery, Sethe truly believes that death is a better alternative; therefore, the bloodshed of her own daughter is justified through powerful motherly love. As a result, this decision will forever influence the trajectory of her life. One day, Sethe tells Denver,