Family is among society’s social pillars that play a vital role in strengthening intimacy bonds and providing a sense of belonging among individuals. The aspects of love, sacrifice and care strengthen family bonds and serve as the main building blocks for strong ties in a family. Toni depicts the theme of family and its role in an individual by expounding its intricate dynamics. Through the characters, scenes and various literary devices, the author crafts a powerful flow of ideas that illuminates the importance and value of family. The author powerfully portrays the dangerous effects of slavery towards families as the characters struggle to reconstruct and fight to make new families. Slavery was a major cause of family breakdown as individuals were sold to wealthy merchants hence being separated from the close ones. Moreover, the novel reveals that family is not only a blood-related relationship but a complex phenomenon which can stem from love, care and sacrifice. This essay will dive deeply into exploring family dimensions through love, care and sacrifice in the ‘’Beloved’’ novel by Toni Morrison while highlighting the breakdown and reconstruction of families through the slavery era based on different characters, scenes and literary devices.
The author explores the family on two sides; the breakdown of families through the separation of family members who were taken for slavery and the reconstruction of families as the characters try to break away from slavery pits and reconnect with their families. These sides are explained in the past and present dimensions. The past constitutes the traumatic events and memories that show the family breakdown. In contrast, the present shows the struggles and efforts the characters put in to connect and establish new families.
Paul D is a character in the novel which was an enslaved person with Sethe at Sweet Home. He is the epitome and a catalyst of family reconstruction and redemption as she develops intimacy with Sethe and provides protective instincts to her and Denver. Paul D helps eradicate the ghost that haunted the house when he arrives at 123, providing security for the family. Consequently, the scene portrays the family as a source of security and protection as he becomes a guardian figure devoting himself to confronting anything threatening the family’s wellbeing. His presence at 124 brings stability and a sense of companionship to Sethe since the community shuns Sethe’s house, leaving the family in isolation. Paul D revives Sethe’s spirit and boosts her motivation to live, giving her the strength to reconnect with the family. Paul D and Halle show the dominant gender roles of men caring for women in ancient society. After he escapes from his sweet home, the red roses along the path he follows indicate the new and promising family life of him, Denver and Sethe.
Together, they grow a romantic relationship, bringing stability to both Paul D and Sethe, and they seem to have a promising future (Madhavi et al., 9). Through his success in establishing a good relationship with Sethe and reviving the family’s hope, Paul D plays a vital role in the novel as he symbolises new beginnings, including a new family unit and provides support and company, which are crucial elements in a family. Moreover, he showcases the aspects of devotion and loyalty that exist between members of the same family. Moreover, Paul D adores every black family he sees as he spends his time wandering without a family and notices the domination of slavery in such families (Dayab et al., 6)
Sethe, the protagonist in the ”Beloved” novel, sheds light on the complications of family bonds and ties throughout her journey in the novel. Her unwavering efforts, actions and experiences portray the sacrifices and love she has towards her family as she tries to be free from the chains of slavery. Sethe as a mother is used in the novel to express women’s maternal love towards their children. Her maternal love is deep-rooted to the extent that she makes unimaginable sacrifices, like the controversial killing of her child, Beloved, to shield her from the pawns of slavery. However, this act prevents her from creating stable relationships and hence nearly killing her dream of making a family with Paul D (Madhavi et al., 8) ‘’Beloved’’ is a metaphor to indicate the strong love bond between Sethe and her child despite killing her. Moreover, she tries to kill Mr Bodwin, Denver’s employer, after she mistakes him for Schoolteacher who thinks that he had come to take Denver as an enslaved person. These scenes testify to the devotion and the miles she is willing to travel to ensure her generation is free from slavery.
Sethe symbolises maternal love accompanied by a sacrificial nature and pays the unimaginable price for protecting one’s family, revealing the selflessness and deep ties embedded in the family. In another scene, pregnant Sethe escapes Sweet Home to find her family and have a safe delivery. Though brutally injured, alone and pregnant, she manoeuvres alone in an attempt to make sure her unborn baby is safe. Through this scene, the author employs biblical allusion based on exodus and liberation, similar to the biblical story of the Israelites from Egypt looking for a safe environment. Additionally, the relationship between Sethe and her children Denver and the ‘spirit’ Beloved at 124 is so strong that on losing Beloved, Sethe is shocked and tells Paul D that Beloved was her favourite being when she said, ”she was my best thing.” Among the most powerful family bond exists between Denver and her sister’s ghost, Beloved. The bond is so strong that Denver resents the idea of Paul D chasing away the ghost. Sethe believes that Beloved is her daughter, who is trying to return, giving her unconditional love (Dayab, 5). Denver feels alone when the ghost disappears, showcasing the power of familial bonds.
Similarly, the theme of motherhood and mother-child bonds is shown through Baby Suggs and her son Halle. Halle puts her mother first, born in slavery, as he goes the extra mile and works extra time to buy her mother’s freedom before freeing himself. It is through this act of responsibility and cares for his mother that Halle gets to marry Sethe. Moreover, Sethe sends her children to her mother-in-law’s house in Cincinnati, Baby Suggs, who receives them warmly and is ready to live with them. She demonstrates deep familial bonds as the children are her grandsons, bringing the aspect of a family. Baby Sugar also gave birth to nine enslaved children and remained with Halle, to whom she devoted all her love and energy, showcasing the family she had created and taken away. Although slavery conflict and disrupts the blossoming of motherhood through the separation of mothers and their children, the characters in the novel powerfully showcase the importance of family through maternal love and motherhood. Motherhood serves a great purpose in revealing the theme of family in the novel. In particular, the conflict between motherhood and slavery seems to be the primary and most apparent idea revolving in the novel.
After the death of Mr Garner, Sweet Home is left with Mrs Garner alone to run and continue acquiring slaves at Sweet Home. Mrs Garner sees that the work would be too much for her and asks her brother-in-law, commonly known as the school teacher by the slaves, to help her run the home. The school teacher is a threat to the family as he intensifies slavery and offers severe punishment to Sethe (Amjad, 5). The scene showcases the importance of family in providing support during times of need. In contrast, Halle’s failure to protect Sethe, her pregnant wife, while being raped by the Schoolteacher’s nephews showcases the limitations of family in proving support in times of need.
Conventionally, home is always associated with people with strong ties or similarities living together as a family and is supposed to be a place of peace and create a sense of belonging. However, Sweet Home in the novel is an irony as it contradicts the typical aspects of what a home should have. A sweet home is a place owned by the Garner family used for keeping slaves and making them work for them. The family created in this place is not living in harmony as the enslaved people undergo various torments, including Sethe being raped despite being pregnant. Moreover, she is punished heavily for reporting the people who raped her. Paul D has no family and, therefore, no sense of belonging, as depicted by spending too many years wandering around until she finds Sethe in Ohio. Traditionally, people go home whenever they are tired or hurt to find relaxation and comfort. In the controversy, members of Sweet Home are trying to run away from it, including Sethe, who is trying to escape slavery and the torments at Sweet Home. Paul D says in the novel, ” True, true. [Denver’s] right, Sethe. It wasn’t sweet, and it sure wasn’t home”, signifying the miserable life there. Sweet Home, It is ironic that the place is referred to as ”Sweet Home” yet it is a place where slavery is practised, and there is no love nor care as is the case in any home.
Many families living in a particular area make a community. People living in a specific community can develop deep bonds like those in a family. The Black community in Cincinnati, where Baby Suggs worked as a preacher, creates a family for the enslaved people. The community, together with the white abolitionists, helped in freeing enslaved people and provided support to runaway slaves to travel to freed states. On arriving in Cincinnati, the community embraces and welcomes Sethe with her children, providing a sense of family and home to Sethe and her children. However, despite the Black Community supporting the enslaved people, the word ‘Black’ is a metaphor the author used to describe the nature of the community’s individuals. Despite the work that Baby Suggs offers them, they envy her claiming that she is being extravagant for the feast she invited them while celebrating Sethe’s arrival. The community was jealous of Baby Sugg’s riches, through their jealousy. They do not inform Baby Sugg about the Schoolteacher who was looking for Sethe, who is captured and taken to Sweet Home.
On the negative side, family separation is evident in the story through various scenes. As the author explores family development, reunion, love and support, he also reveals several family separation scenes, mainly due to slavery. Baby Suggs is separated from her eight children, Sethe from her children, Mrs Garner from her husband through death, Sethe from her Beloved and Paul D from Sethe family due to Beloved coming between his relationships with Sethe. Moreover, Sethe is longing for the relationship she had with the community family and Baby Saggs, ‘ the twenty-eight days of having women friends, a mother in law, and all children together; of being a part of a neighbourhood; of, in fact, having neighbours at all to call her own – all that was long gone and would never come back.” (pg. 204)… the quote indicates how family provides a sense of belonging and the effects resulting from the separation. The killing also showcases Seth’s efforts to end free slavery and guarantee freedom to the family. (Amjad, 7)
Family is very crucial to any individual as it provides a sense of belonging where one can get support, company, love and care. Despite the novel disclosing the detrimental effects slavery had on families, it deeply exposes the importance of family as a source of love and care that play an essential role in establishing and maintaining a stronger bond.
Works Cited
Amjad, Fazel Asadi. “BEYOND SUBJECTIVE VIOLENCE: A ZIZEKIAN READING OF TONI MORISON’S BELOVED.” PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 17.5 (2020): 1254-1261.
Deyab, Mohammad Shaaban Ahmad, and Mohammad Shaaban. “Cultural Hauntings in Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987).” English Language, Literature & Culture 1.3 (2016): 13-20.
MADHAVI, BOLLA, and KONDA NAGESWAR RAO. “A POSTCOLONIALISM STUDY IN TONI MORRISON’S ‘BELOVED’.”
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