Human child (novel)

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Human Child ( Beloved ) is the 5th published novel by the American writer Toni Morrison , published in September 1987 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 . The main theme of the novel is the physical and psychological consequences of slavery and their possible cure.

Narrative perspective

The novel is not structured chronologically and is primarily told by an unknown and omniscient narrator. This is also taken over in individual chapters, such as Chapter 20, from monologues of individual characters. Often memories or flashbacks are inserted to reflect events that have happened. From the moment Paul D. and Sethe meet, the plot develops on two temporary levels: the memory of the plantation in Kentucky, where Sethe had to work as a slave, and the current life in her house as a physically free person.

Summary

The novel begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, where the former slave Sethe lives with her 18-year-old daughter Denver at 124 Bluestone Road. Her two sons ran away from home just before Set's mother-in-law, Baby Sugg's, who lived with them, died. Sethe suspects that her sons ran away due to a year long haunted ghost in her home.

With the arrival of Paul D, who previously worked with Sethe and her partner on Mrs. Garner's Sweet Home Plantation in Kentucky, Sethe recalls painful memories from almost 20 years ago, which she has since tried to suppress.

At the age of 13, Sethe was sold to the Garners, who practiced a comparatively mild form of slavery. There she met Sixo, Paul D, Paul A, Paul F and Halle. She chose Halle as the man who works on his weekends to buy freedom for his family and mother. With him she has two sons, Howard and Bugler, and a daughter. After Mr. Garner's death, “Schoolteacher”, Mrs. Garner's brother-in-law, runs the plantation, which makes the conditions even more unbearable. Sixo dies on the run. Paul D has to carry an iron bar in his mouth as a punishment. Sethe is sexually harassed and whipped, although she is pregnant with her 4th child, causing Halle to go crazy. She had already sent her children on the run to her free mother-in-law Baby Suggs and since Halle does not show up at the agreed meeting point, Sethe flees heavily pregnant and alone.

On the run, she collapses in the forest, but is found by a girl named Amy Denver, who also helps her give birth to her second daughter (Denver). Stamp Paid helps her on the way to her escape and brings her to Baby Suggs and her children. Sethe spends 28 days with her children in Cincinnati before Schoolteacher, the slave owner, tracks them down and tries to take them back into custody. Seth has no other advice than to try to kill her children in the shed to protect them from re-enslavement. Ultimately, she kills her older daughter with a handsaw and is arrested along with the newborn Denver. However, a group of white anti-slavery opponents campaigns for their release, so Sethe and Denver return to house number 124. Baby Suggs has become depressed from all of these circumstances and society eschews the house so they live in isolation. Soon after, the first signs of a ghost are haunting the house.

Sethe builds a stable life with the help of Mr. Boldwin, a white abolitionist who calls for the abolition of slavery. Her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, withdraws completely from African-American culture and her sons leave the house annoyed by the presence of the ghost. After Baby Suggs dies, Sethe is left alone with her daughter Denver.

One day Paul D. arrives at Sethe's house, whom she had not seen since working together on Mr. Garner's Sweet Home plantation. Paul D. and Sethe get together again and the ghost in the house disappears. Shortly thereafter, their relationship is interrupted by a young woman who calls herself Beloved, who is sitting on the stairs one day when Sethe, Paul D., and Denver arrive home. From then on she lives at 124 Bluestone Road, and begins to seduce Paul D., even if he doesn't really like her, as he is being ordered around by her. Eventually he leaves the house and Denver and Sethe are completely absorbed in the care and welfare of Beloved, as they perceive her as the reincarnation of the slain daughter / sister.

Beloved keeps getting stronger and terrorizes Seth and Denver, while Sethe gives up on himself and withdraws completely into the house. Denver, on the other hand, manages to re-establish contact with the community, with whose help everyone survives. At the end of the novel, Sethe experiences a déjà-vu in which she assumes that the slave driver's carriage will come again to fetch her children. But this time she does not use violence against her daughters, but dares to attack the actual enemy who, as it turns out, is not a slave driver, but only Mr. Bodwin. The women in the community who are present prevent bloodshed again and thus also work on their failure to provide assistance when the schoolteacher actually visited in the past. In this situation, Beloved also disappears. Paul D. returns to Sethe as a friend and helps her to recognize the value of life and to regain her self-esteem.

Characters

Beloved's identity is never explicitly stated. Most likely she is Sethe's daughter, who is only two years old when Sethe kills her to protect her from enslavement. At the same time, the book gives indications that Beloved is a young woman traumatized by captivity, whose mother committed suicide during the Middle Passage (the journey from Africa to America on the slave ship). More broadly, Beloved can be said to represent the horrific past in slavery that is catching up with Sethe in the present.

Denver , Set's youngest child, is traumatized by the family's past and grew up in isolation in fear. She sees Beloved as the lost sister and friend for whom she would give anything until she understands that Beloved's unbridled needs will ruin everyone. Denver learns to overcome fear and seek help from the African-American community.

Sethe is the protagonist who takes great care of her children because of her maternal instincts. Trying to kill her children can also be described as a kind of maternal instinct, as she wants to protect her children and does not want them to go through the same torments as she herself in the slavery on the plantation. At the same time, her actions are shaped by her socialization on the plantation, and she seems to see her children as property. After her escape, Sethe is physically free from the brutal torments, but internally she remains stuck with the experiences of slavery for a long time.

Buglar and Howard are the sons of Sethe and Halle, who are afraid of the ghost of Beloved and, shortly after the death of Baby Suggs, leave home and never come back.

Paul D., Paul A., Paul F. are slaves who worked with Sethe on the Sweet Home plantation. Because of the inhuman treatment during slavery, Paul D. decides to lock up his feelings in a "tabacco tin". When he arrives at Sethe in Cincinnati, he builds a relationship with them and allows feelings again, but he still suffers from the consequences of slavery.

Paul A. and Paul F. are brothers of Paul D. Paul A. dies while trying to escape from Sweet Home.

Baby Suggs (Jenny Whitlow) is Set's mother-in-law. She is a spiritual asset to the African-American community in Cincinnati after her son Halle ransomed her. She gives speeches in a place called Clearing, where she encourages her listeners to love their voices, body, and spirit. After Sethe tries to kill her children, Baby Suggs withdraws completely from society and dies as a result.

Joshua (Stamp Paid) is seen as a salvation by African-American society, just like Baby Suggs. He is a former slave who helped Sethe and Denver escape across the Ohio River and later saved Denver's life.

Schoolteacher is a sadistic slave driver who takes over Sweet Home Ranch after Mr. Garner's death. He found Mr. Garner's form of slavery too mild and made the conditions on the ranch even more unbearable than they already are because of slavery. He dehumanizes slaves and punishes them with corporal punishment and execution. Some examples are the execution of Sixo D, the dehumanization of Paul D. when he has to carry an iron rod in his mouth and the flogging of Sethe even though she is pregnant. He sees the measurement of body parts of slaves as a kind of science to work out their animal characteristics.

Halle Suggs is Baby Suggs' eldest son and Set's husband. In addition to his work as a slave on Sweet Home, he also works on the side to buy his mother's freedom. His own escape attempt is prevented by Schoolteacher and he goes crazy because of the slavery and violence against his wife.

Mr. and Mrs. Garner are the owners of the Sweet Home cotton plantation. Mr Garner tries to treat some of his enslaved workers as employees.

Amy Denver is a young white girl who helps Sethe to give birth to her fourth child, Denver, on the run.

Lady Jones is a light-skinned African-American who can't stand her blonde hair and a neighbor of Baby Suggs. She is committed to her Afro-American society and teaches socially retarded children in her home. She doesn't believe in the supernatural, but she supports Sethe anyway.

Ella is a neighbor of Baby Suggs in Cincinnati. When Denver and Sethe arrive on the run, she accompanies them from the river to Baby Sugg's house. She worked with Stamp Paid on the "Underground Railroad". Due to traumatic events from the past, she too tries to leave them behind.

Mr. and Mrs. Bodwin are twins and advocates for the abolition of slavery who help sethe free . They believe that human life is sacred.

Vashti is Stamp Paid's mother who was forced as a slave to be the slave owner's mistress.

Sixo is a slave on the Sweet Home plantation. He is caught while trying to escape with Paul A. and Paul F. and burned alive.

Slave narratives and neo-slave narratives

Slave narratives are characterized in the narrative by the following features and are similar to biographies according to James Olny:

  • like autobiographies begin with: "I was born in ...".
  • have patchy parental involvement, often including a white father.
  • Description of a cruel master or supervisor, a detailed description of the first flogging and other subliminal flogging in which women are often the victims.
  • Describing a hard-working slave as "pure African" (working animals) who refuses to be flogged
  • The remark of the barrier to the education of slaves and the associated difficulties of writing and reading.
  • Description of a Christian slave owner who is described as worse than the no-denominational slave owner.
  • Description of the contributions and types of food and clothing received by the slaves, the work required of them, the pattern of a day, a week, a year.
  • Reports of slave auctions, destroyed families, disturbed mothers clinging to their children, being dragged away from them, slave trains to the south of America.
  • Description of patrols, failed escape attempts and persecutions with men and dogs.
  • Descriptions of successful escape attempts, waiting during the day and following the North Star during the night.
  • Adoption of a new last name to meet social norms, but keeping the first name for individual identity
  • Reflection of slavery.

In view of the social circumstances in the 19th century in the USA, slave narratives had to be reproduced differently so it is possible today. Back then, the slave traders, slave owners, etc. could not be portrayed as bad people, since the salve narratives were written for a white audience. Hence, slave narratives tend to criticize the system behind the slave trade; the dehumanization was a consequence of the system.

While a slave narrative is presented in a more descriptive and objective manner, it differs from a neo-slave narrative in that the traumatic experiences and their consequences as well as the behavior of the slave owners could be presented in all their breadth and brutality.

Slave narratives are written in the first person perspective due to the autobiographical spelling and are therefore limited to the point of view of this person, while neo slave narratives have the freedom to be written in the third person and therefore do not have to be limited to one point of view. thus are also much more objective. An example of a slave narrative is the book " Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl " by Harriet Jacobs , in which she has to adapt the role of women in the 19th century in order to be able to publish her book. Issues such as sexuality could not be freely addressed at this time.

This is not a story to pass on

At the end of the novel you can find the phrases: "It was not a story to pass on" and "This is not a story to pass on", which refer to the past and present of Afro-American culture. Toni Morrison brings the past back up to help, to leave it behind / to process it and to help to go further, but not to suppress the past. The protagonists are physically free but not mentally. In the novel, Baby Suggs challenges slowly to get used to freedom and to recognize and love oneself:

“Here,” she said, “in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don't love your eyes; they'd just as soon pick em out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face 'cause they don't love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain't in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it again. "

Abiku

The legends of the Abiku are mainly known from the Yoruba people from West Africa. The assumption is as follows:

An Abiku is a child who dies several times and is reborn, so their life expectancy is relatively low. This is repeated until these children are able to live outside the spirit world. The rebirth can take place with the same mother, but also with a different mother. An Abiku leaves the parents depressed.

The Yoruba consider an abiku to be a form of mind. These ghosts show up shortly before sunset and on dark nights. When a pregnant woman encounters these spirits, the ghost follows her home and takes the place of the unborn child. Furthermore, the parents never know when the child's life will end. Many Abikus are physically very attractive. Parents often give the child a name that encourages them to remain among people (Beloved). Abikus often take the wounds from her previous life with them into her new life, for example in the form of scars. Etc.

These assumptions suggest that approaches of this abicus can also be found in the plot. While Set's murder of her youngest baby is not a typical death in the sense of Abiku children, there are some parallels. Beloved seems attractive and seduces Sethe's lover Paul D, while she continues to drain Sethe mentally. Their skin is described as soft, their language skills as limited and emotionally unstable. The first time Sethe sees Beloved, she sits drenched on the stairs as if she had been reborn. Also, your addiction to Sethe like a newborn baby suggests that Beloved is not as old as it seems. Their sudden disappearance at the end also shows that no one knows when the end will be reached; also her name, which is clear, should probably persuade Beloved to stay, which has not yet been successful and again allows conclusions to be drawn about the emotional state (see "this is not a story to pass on"). Of course, it cannot be absolutely proven that it is an Abiku, but there are some indications that indicate this.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade - Middle Passage

In the dedication of your book Beloved, Tony Morrison uses the phrase "Sixty Million and more" to refer to slavery and the related transatlantic slave trade, also known as "Middle Passage". To this extent the slave trade is unique in the history of the world. It lasted from the 15th to the 19th century, before slavery was also banned in the United States of America on 1865.

The transatlantic slave trade took place in three stages. Ships left Europe with goods such as weapons, gunpowder and alcohol but also textiles, pearls and other goods in order to exchange them for people in Africa. There were free people, women, children, men who were simply abducted and enslaved. These Africans were then traded in North and South America for goods such as sugar, cotton, tobacco and coffee before the boats sailed back to Europe. The whole trip lasted around 18 months.

"Sixty Million and More" compares it to one of the greatest crimes of humanity, the murder of approximately 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The sixty million deported Africans mentioned by Toni Morrison is of course not historically accurate. Over centuries, 12 to 15 million Africans were abducted via the transatlantic slave trade. These statistics did not include the murders, killings, etc. of the slaves on the way, on the plantations, etc. Obviously, it was not the intention of the author to give a historically correct number, rather it gives the impression to rethink, to think about what you consider to be the greatest crime in humanity.

Not only was the Holocaust a terrible crime against millions of Jews, but also the transatlantic slave trade that claimed millions of victims, which dragged on over four centuries of humanity, but is currently receiving much less attention. While z. B. National Socialism in World War II and the associated murder of millions of Jews fills a separate field of content in the core curriculum for high schools and comprehensive schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, there is no share of the transatlantic slave trade in these content fields, although this for Europeans from 15 . played a significant economic role up to the 19th century.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pulitzer Prize | Literature Prize Winner. Retrieved June 24, 2020 .
  2. ^ Morrison, Toni: Beloved. Picador, 1988, ISBN 0-330-30537-9 , pp. 72/73.
  3. ↑ Olney, James: “I was born”; Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as Literature. In: Callaloo. No. 20, 1984, pp. 46-73
  4. ↑ Swagata Biswas: Toni Morrison's Beloved: A Reconstruction of the Slave Narrative Genre. In: International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanaties, Vol. 4, Issue 5, May 2016, p. 705
  5. ↑ Swagata Biswas: Toni Morrison's Beloved: A Reconstruction of the Slave Narrative Genre. In: International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanaties, Vol. 4, Issue 5, May 2016, pp. 706–708
  6. ↑ Swagata Biswas: Toni Morrison's Beloved: A Reconstruction of the Slave Narrative Genre. In: International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanaties, Vol. 4, Issue 5, May 2016, pp. 708-711
  7. ^ Morrison, Toni: Beloved. Picador, 1988, ISBN 0-330-30537-9 , pp. 274/275
  8. ^ Morrison, Toni: Beloved. Picador, 1988, ISBN 0-330-30537-9 , pp. 88/98
  9. ↑ Timothy Mobolade: The Concept of Abiku. In: African Arts, Vol. 7, No. 1, Autumn 1973, p. 62
  10. ↑ Timothy Mobolade: The Concept of Abiku. In: African Arts, Vol. 7, No. 1, Autumn 1973, pp. 62,63
  11. ^ Federal Agency for Civic Education: International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. In: bpb.de. Retrieved June 24, 2020 .
  12. ↑ a b The transatlantic slave trade: introduction. In: understandingslavery.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020 .
  13. ^ Morrison, Toni: Beloved. Picador, 1988, ISBN 0-330-30537-9 , pp. 274/275
  14. ↑ https://www.schulentwicklung.nrw.de/lehrplaene/upload/lehrplaene_download/gymnasium_g8/gym8_geschichte.pdf . Core curriculum for grammar school - secondary level 1 (G8) in North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on July 1, 2019