Sethe In Beloved And Orleanna Chapter 1 Summary

Rachel De Smith’s sample essay from Chapter 12 “Sethe in Beloved and Orleanna in Bible: Isolation, Children, and Getting Out” had some a solid balance of insightful analysis, but fell short on the some of the more technical aspects of the piece. This paper will critique what the author did well, and what may have been improved upon to enhance its overall effectiveness. First of all, the author struck a strong balance between each of her points of comparisons. One way she made sure to hit every point for each subject was to condense the main comparison for each subject into a clear, and concise topic sentence. For example, “Both Sethe and Orleanna endure grueling journeys of escape, though the journeys begin very differently” (185). Another technique she used was
separating each point into a paragraph for each character.
The first two body paragraphs do exactly this starting with “Sethe lives in the house number 124, a house generally believed to be haunted, “full of baby’s venom”,” (184) and continuing in the next paragraph with “Orleanna lives in a less malignant but equally isolated situation,” (184). Employing these structures helps ensure that the points brought up for each character are then specifically compared to one another, as well as not derailing the piece’s overall focus. However, while these techniques made sure every point was given some attention, the piece started to lose its focus toward the final comparison. The first 2 points, the characters’ isolation and pasts, are both in a whole-by-whole format. While completely valid, and effective in a relatively short piece, totaling only 5 sentences, the third point (journeys and “Getting Out”) is hindered by its structure. The first paragraph for this point feels short and feels somewhat like a summary, without expounding on what the examples it brings up. For instance, the paragraph ends informing the reader how “even after Sethe leaves jail and begins a life free from the degradation of
the plantation, she cannot escape the stigma of her past, particularly Beloved’s violent death” (185). In contrast, Orleanna’s “journey” paragraph ends with “they have escaped the devastation of their lives in the Congo, or at least their lives under Nathan Pierce, and that is— or must be—enough for her” (186). While it is not the author’s responsibility to provide a sense of closure where the source material, in Sethe’s case, has none, it is their responsibility to make sure the reader is following a clear flow and able to identify the intended similarities or differences for that particular point. However, the last body paragraph tries to combine both the illustration of Orleanna’s journey with the explicit drawing of comparisons to Sethe’s journey, all while incorporating the missing links and elaboration that would have better belonged in Sethe’s “journey” paragraph. In the same vein, the conclusion struggles to end the piece as it blurs the line between restating all of the previous points made, and potentially introducing a new “mini” point plunked in the middle after the conclusion could have been considered wrapped up. After a strong first half of the piece, it risks disengaging the reader, which would be a shame since the characters in questions do have some fascinating parallels. In conclusion, this analysis essay examined how Rachel De Smith has some well-crafted, balanced comparisons between her two chosen literary characters and a sound first half of her essay. Although, she could have benefited from some restructuring and revising her last two body paragraphs and her conclusion paragraphs in order to increase the clarity and efficacy of her essay overall.