Loss Of Identity In Beloved

In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison writes in both the past and the present. When in the present, the characters constantly encounter the events of their past. Memories of their past are always painful, disturbing, and involve the horrors of slavery. Although the characters hope to live peacefully in the present, their past haunts them and, ultimately, it is what defines and constructs their identities. In the novel, the characters, Sethe, Paul D, and Baby Suggs were all slaves that experienced the dehumanizing acts of slavery. In many instances, we see them trying to avoid anything involving their past because of its unsettling nature. However, all attempt to confront it. For instance, Baby Suggs faces her past by hosting religious gatherings with the black community in order to find the love of voices and bodies. Sethe copes with the past by fighting her obsession with her past life and the sudden appearance of the ghost of her dead daughter. Paul D comes to terms with his manhood and searches for a brighter future. Even though memories of the past are overpowering and destructive to the character’s identity, by confronting the past, each character is able to move forward from the painful memories and heal.

Throughout, the main character Sethe nearly loses her identity due to her fixation on her past life in slavery. Due to the traumatizing impact of slavery, the only hope that Sethe has left is to protect her children from any encounters of slavery. To do so, Sethe brings her
In Beloved, each character’s memories continue to live on in the present, almost to the point that they are unavoidable. However, Sethe, Paul D., and Baby Suggs confront their past in order to recover from the damage caused from their painful, destructive, and overpowering