Beloved

I wanted to analyze the psychology behind the presence of the character Beloved in the novel 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison. This novel is a bit different than short stories such as 'The Fall of the House of Usher' or 'The Yellow Wallpaper', as the character Beloved is an actual physical manifestation of a ghost.

Let's pretend for a moment that she's not. Instead, she is something along the lines of a mass hallucination. This will allow me to look at her from a different perspective, and analyze what she is to Sethe.

Sethe had managed to escape slavery, which was a trauma that would always be with her in scars, both physical and mental. She was treated like an animal, and when the schoolteacher showed up to try and reclaim her children, he even discussed her as if she were an animal. And in that situation, Sethe acted like an animal, allowing herself to fall victim to primal instincts. It is human nature to think ourselves different than animals, above them. Although we are, technically, animals, we try to separate ourselves from them.

Sethe, upon realizing the schoolteacher had come to reclaim her children as well as herself to be slaves, rushed her children out of the house and into a shed where she attempted to kill them, because she thought death would be better than slavery. Perhaps it would have been. But in allowing herself to become an animal, instead of throwing away her life and trying to escape elsewhere with her children, Sethe causes scars to herself, which she cannot escape. Schoolteacher, in the same passage, refers to Sethe in such a way that he believes she is no better than an animal. His speech refers to her as livestock, property to be owned and treated no better than the other animals i his possession, who just happens to help take care of his family. He reprimands his nephews for treating her so terribly-- after all, if you abuse an animal it won't be loyal to you. This situation reduces Sethe to that. She falls into the role Schoolteacher has set for her, rather than breaking free from it. And, in that way, she also fails to become completely free, despite no longer living as a slave.

Beloved is a manifestation of Sethe's guilt. Her existence, or perceived existence, is purely a way for Sethe to express her guilt, and, in the end, move toward life rather than dwelling on the past. Beloved's presence provokes many memories in Sethe, some of which she'd chosen to forget, and forces her to confront the past, rather than ignoring it. When Sethe begins to become overly attached to Beloved, it is her way of succumbing to the guilt which has finally overwhelmed her, brought on by the abandonment of her two sons who left in fear that Sethe may once again attempt to kill them. Beloved becomes a parasite to Sethe's psyche, letting Sethe finally mourn and lament her past actions. And, in the end, Beloved becomes the gateway for Sethe to abandon the past in favor of the here and now and protecting what she has, Denver.

Although Beloved is portrayed as a physical character that can interact with others aside from Sethe, her presence is focused on allowing Sethe's mind to heal itself, and allowing Sethe to move on with her life.