Throughout Beloved, there are multiple references to Sethe’s back resembling a tree. For example, “It’s a tree, Lu. A chokecherry tree. See, here’s the trunk--it’s red and split wide open, full of sap, and this here’s the parting for the branches,” (Morrison 93). This quote from Amy is one of the first that paints an image of a tree on Sethe’s back. This is during Sethe’s escape from Sweet Home, and after she was brutally beat and abused by Schoolteacher’s nephews. The ‘tree’ in this case is describing the open wounds and lacerations on Sethe’s back from her recent experience with the nephews, and there are likely other scars on her back from her time as a slave as well. This tree on Sethe’s back was formed by slavery, which makes me think that it represents her past. Specifically, I think that her wounds are there to serve as a constant reminder of the dark side of Sweet Home. Along with this meaning, the vivid description of Sethe’s wounds give readers a better picture of the immense pain she had to go through along her journey to 124, which paints her to be an even more powerful and awe-inspiring character.
The other side of the tree is the fact that they are generally seen as beautiful parts of nature. Obviously, this is not what one would attribute towards Sethe’s time as a slave. Morrison chose a tree to represent the pain Sethe endured because it looks pretty on the outside. This is similar to Sweet Home because even though it seemed like a great place on the surface, it was filled with suffering, especially once Schoolteacher arrived. Even before Schoolteacher, however, it was still slavery and far from ideal. This is seen when Halle compares schoolteacher and Garner, “What they say is the same. Loud or soft,” (Morrison 231). Even though Garner may speak softer than schoolteacher and appear nicer, he is still a slave owner, which is a horrible trait no matter who you are.
The extra fact that I wanted to share is something I found very interesting, but wasn’t sure if it deserved a blog post of its own. When reading about what inspired Morrison to write Beloved, I found that it was actually based on a true story. There was an African American woman named Margaret Garner who escaped slavery but, similar to Sethe, killed her child in order to prevent her from returning to slavery. I was wondering if any of you find it shocking that the story of Sethe killing her child is based in reality? I think it adds an aspect of realism to Beloved because many readers likely pass the premise of a mother murdering her own daughter off as something that is completely absurd, but it was actually based in truth. This makes the novel just that much more potent because readers suddenly see this truly horrible and disturbing scene of Sethe in the woodshed as something more than just fiction.
Morrison mentions coming across this account of a former slave killing her baby to avoid having it brought back into slavery in her preface to _Beloved_--she doesn't know much about the story, as not a lot of detail is available, but she took this central fact or set of events and built all these characters around it. In real life, as in the novel, the abolitionist movement seized on the headline to make a case against slavery, whose logic isn't too far from Wright's in _Native Son_: the unnatural environment of slavery has put these people in a position where they are forced to do unconscionable things, so therefore this horrific infanticide is a moral indictment of slavery. Indeed, in the novel, we hear that Bodwin and his associates have done precisely this with Sethe's story--it's largely what gets her acquitted, and they "used" her to make a case for abolition.
ReplyDeleteIt's noteworthy that Hurston is using the story in no such way--there's no simple "argument" for or against slavery in this novel, and she's delving more deeply into the experience of the people who lived under such conditions, and the effects on their psychology and emotional life.
I find your reasoning for the description of the tree works well. If viewed at a distance, it might be as something pleasant. True, someone looking at the tree on her back would understand that there has been a mark left on her, but it doesn't seem too extreme, just like the slavery at Sweet Home was thought as. However, on closer inspection, the wounds are horrifying, just like Sweet Home. When confronted with this idea of Sweet Home being "better" it just makes the horror of it that much worse. Sweet Home seems anything but "sweet."
ReplyDeleteI believe that the scar on her back from her time at Sweet Home represents that the past never dies. As you explained, the tree is a permanent symbol of her time at Sweet Home, never disappearing in from her life. It is a permanent symbol of the suffering at Sweet Home, whether from Mr. Garner or schoolteacher. This forever symbol of slavery shows that the remnants of a period long ago (in Sethe's case about 20 years) are still inscribed onto Sethe's body and soul.
ReplyDeleteYour reasoning makes a lot of sense in terms of the symbolism of the tree and its permanence. Another way to see it could be like her connection to her family tree and love for her children. I found it really interesting how the story was based off a real person. It makes the story a lot more real and frightening, and puts into perspective the horrors that real people had to go through.
ReplyDeleteI wasshockedd to find out the story is based off a real expereince. I can't imagine that it had the same arc in real life, but it certainly had it's own comlicated chocies. There is an enormous pain with the loss of a child, but it's hard to compare that to the pain of an enslaved life. It's impossible to make a judgemnt call as modern reader, we can only speculate.
ReplyDeletethe tree is interesting because while it seems symbolic it's so graphically brutal. the scene where baby suggs is cleaning it and it still bleeds onto the clothing is really sad to read.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the idea of trees as beautiful parts of Nature, it is also interesting to compare Sethe's "tree" to the idea of a family tree. Family trees are often viewed positively, with the idea of one being completely aware of their ancestry. In the context of slavery, however, a family tree can be a lot uglier. Contained within it is the immense history of suffering and, when in the context of the ideas of "rememory" in Beloved, it can be seen as pulling this history into a person, burdening them with these memories of slavery.
ReplyDeleteWow. The fact that Beloved was based off of a real woman's experience just further proves the realism that this book has if that makes sense. I also wonder about the connotations of trees with lynching? Trees, like you said, are usually such a positive thing-full of life. So I find the constant mentioning of trees with these horrible events to serve as irony or a metaphor or something like that, to show the awful "nature" of them.
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