BELOVED

The slavery, oppression, lifestyle, and torment of the characters in Beloved is far over my head in terms of relation and comprehension. What these characters go through seems to be a roller coaster of emotions and the differences in the types of relationships and how they have come about is unfatheomable in my eyes.pg 156 the chapter is ended with, "Paul D's chest rose and fell, rose and fell under her hand." I see this quote not as the physical interpretation of the moment being spoken of, but in my stretched opinion, an interpretation of what the novel is and what the characters go through. Throughout the novel there is always a false sense of hope; something prosperous that could be just around the corner. In terms of my life and what I consider to be hope and prosperity, this novel does not relate to. Obviously not,because of the grim reality of the situation that these characters have gone through, and the truly horrid tribulations the characters have faced throughout their lives. Anyways, back to what I was saying about hope, or hope as far as this novel goes, it is always just around the corner. Whether it be the hope of Paul D and Sethe at the carnival of finally coming to happiness, and that hope being broken by Beloved; or the hope when Sethe and Paul D come frollicking home like little kids only to the dismay of Paul D, to be welcomed by his favorite obstacle, Beloved. My point being that hope seems to be an intangible throughout this novel. Whether it be the hope that Sethe is finally free, only to be found by schoolteacher, and questionably attempt to murder her children to save them; or the hope for Denver that Beloved is finally someone Denver can rely on in her life, only to realize that Beloved is completely intent on stealing every bit of Sethe's attention as possible. It is a grim outlook on this captivating story, yet very true in my mind when I look back on the novel. Hope is around every corner only to be shattered around every corner. Something I can only reflect on, but not relate to.

Beloved

I love books that I can start and absolutely can not put down. However, with Beloved, after the first 30 pages thats all I wanted to do was put the book down. I was utterly confused at the beginning of this novel, just because of the language and sensual confusing explanations of things and the ambiguity of setting, plot, and characters made for mass confusion for me anyways. This, much to my satisfaction, was just a hill that I needed to get over before the book started to uncover itself.
The way that pain and past are slowly uncovered continually adds new aspects to the relationships that are being formed throughout. It seems that hope is something that is always just around the corner but is slightly hindered by a new up and coming twist or revealed information about the past at Sweet Home. Paul D's arrival into Denver and Sethe's life seems to be something much needed for Sethe and her way of life. When they go to the carnival there seems to be hope, " They were not holding hands but their shadows were. Sethe looked to her left and all three of them were gliding over the dust holding hands. Maybe he was right. A life."(56) Maybe he was right; or was he? it seems that with the arrival of Beloved, she is beginning to act as a wedge between the two, at least in Paul D's mind, "i can't place it. It's a feeling in me."(80) This of course regarding his feelings towards Beloved. For me this quote acts as a foreshadowing of what is to come. With the spiritual ambiguity with the baby ghost and the mystery behind Beloved I can only attempt to forsee what Beloved is going to bring onto this household especially with her seemingly knowledgable questions regarding the past of Sethe and her tribulations at Sweet Home.
The color aspect of the home is something that I found to be most interesting and I believe it to be a motif that will appear later in the novel. This color that is described as dull and only being in two orange squares on the quilt, I feel is a represenation of the sadness that needs to be overcome by the cast of characters. Each character is dealing with their own colorless life, whether it be Denver's lonliness, Paul D's search for something more, or Sethe dealing with repressed memories and a life which she ultimately wishes to repress but obviously cannot. As far as I have read, Beloved seems to be somewhat of a color for Denver and somewhat of an outlet for Sether (an unbiased yet somehow extremely knowing listener). We shall see what Beloved has to offer and how these themes come into play later in this intriguing novel.