Redemption And Community: Sethe's Search For Salvation In Beloved
The theme of religion and community is not foreign to Toni Morrison. In several of her novels, she has treated themes of God and humanity. Indeed, spirituality is a common thread woven through many of her characters. Morrison has a sharp insight into people as they relate to their Maker and each other. She clearly understands that everyone must achieve salvation in her own way and in her own time. However, it is not until Beloved, her Nobel-prize winning novel about slavery, that Morrison truly examines the relationship of the community and redemption. Through the gut-wrenching story of Sethe, a former slave living with terrifying memories, Morrison shows us the powerful role that community can play in the individual’s redemption. Morrison opens Beloved with two very powerful statements. Before the story even begins, there is a page with only the words “Sixty Million and more”: she is referring to the sixty million people who died as a result of slavery. This figure has been much speculated upon, and when questioned about it, Morrison says, “Some historians told me that two hundred million died. The smallest number I got from anybody was sixty million.” One might think from this staggering dedication that
“A woman dropped on her knees. Half of the others did likewise. Denver saw lowered heads but could not hear the lead prayer- only the earnest syllable of agreement that backed it: Yes, yes, yes, yes, oh yes. Hear me. Hear me. Do it, Maker, do it. Yes.” “opened the door and reached for Beloved’s hand. Together they stood in the doorway. For Sethe it was as though the Clearing had come to her with all its heat and simmering leaves, where the voices of women searched for the right combination, the key, the code, the sounds that broke the back of words. Building voice upon voice until they found it, and when they did it was a wave of sound wide enough to sound deep water and knock the pods off chestnut trees. It broke over Sethe and she trembled like the baptized in its wash. Ella gathers the women, who pray for guidance, and they walk towards 124 where Denver is sitting, waiting for her new white employer to pick her up. The women begin chanting, singing, praying- putting all of their collective spirit together to save Sethe and 124 from the hell that is going on inside of them. Denver watched as the thirty women begin to pray for the exorcism, reverently.
Some topics in this essay:
Baby Suggs,
Sethe Denver,
S” Morrison,
Sethe Maybe,
Lady Jones,
Sethe Ella,
Sethe Clearing,
Nonono Simple,
Toni Morrison,
Bluestone Road,
baby suggs,
community sethe,
baby’s ghost,
sethe denver,
twenty-eight days,
yes yes,
romans 925 “i,
sethe 124,
women begin,
ghost sethe’s,
yes yes yes,
role community,
“i call people,
925 “i call,
people people beloved,
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Approximate Word count = 3712
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)
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