Thematic Evaluation

Background Information

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Annotated Bibliography

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Millions Died

As one reads Beloved he will notice at the beginning of the novel a page that contains only the words, "Sixty Million and more," which will immediately raise a question as the reading continues. This "Sixty Million and more," will slowly begin to take meaning as the reader continues. The massive numbers can be recognized as the estimated number of Africans who died during the Middle Passage between Africa and North America as the import of slaves to the western world was carried out in earnest. 

Along the lines of the millions who died, Baby Suggs says to Sethe, "Don't Box with me.  There's more of us they drowned than there is all of them ever lived from the start of time.  Lay down your sword.  This ain't a battle; it's a rout" (Morrison, 244).  In this passage it becomes clear that one theme in Beloved is the theme of all the millions lost (Morrison, epigraph).

Love

Morrison writes, "Risky, thought Paul D., very risky.  For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love" (45). We can imagine that the slaves needed to protect themselves by not attaching themselves to their own children, due to the fact that they might be separated at anytime at the whim of their owners.

Loneliness

"There is a loneliness that can be rocked.  Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker.  It's an inside kind--wrapped tight like skin.  Then there is a loneliness that roams.  No rocking can hold it down.  It is alive, on its own.  A dry and spreading thing that makes the sound of one's own feet going seem to come from a far-off place" (Morrison, 274).  The first type of loneliness could be Sethe's and the second type Beloved's.

Furthermore, in Denver's voice Morrison writes, "Rebuked, Lonely, and rebuked,"  which may refer to the idea that during and after slavery the African American still suffers (13). It may also refer to the characters ever present battle with their memories of time spent in slavery.  Paul D. and Denver are discussing their ideas about the ghost's anger or sadness. This anger or sadness could refer to the Black American's feelings toward slavery. 

The Angry Dead

"The day Stamp Paid saw the two backs through the window and then hurried down the steps, he believed the undecipherable language clamoring around the house was the mumbling of the black and angry dead.  Very few had died in bed, like Baby Suggs, and none that he knew of, including Baby, had lived a livable life... Meantime, the secret spread of this new kind of whitefolks' jungle was hidden, silent, except once in a while when you could hear its mumbling in places like 124" (198-199).  This passage speaks to the fact that Africans who were stolen from their homeland and put into slavery have a right to be angry.

Community

Community is a sub-theme in Beloved, and it can be seen in this passage describing the escape of the prisoners in the chain gang:  "Down through the mud under the bars, blind, groping.  Some had sense enough to wrap their heads in their shits, cover their faces with rags, put on their shoes.  Others just plunged, simply ducked down and pushed out, fighting up, reaching for air.  Some lost direction and their neighbors, feeling the confused pull of the chain snatched them around.  For one lost, all lost.  The chain that held them would save all or none, and Hi Man was the Delivery" (110).  The only way for the men on the chain gang to achieve success in their effort to gain freedom was to work together. 

Remember

An interesting point to consider is how Morrison details the characters and their continued struggle with memories of their sufferings during their captivity as slaves. Beloved herself might give a clue to how these fictional characters might deal with their "re-memories." Beloved says, "In the dark my name is Beloved" (75). Beloved's use of the word dark may refer to memory, and  her name could be stated as "be loved." As the implied reader seeks meaning in the text, the idea of loneliness is a continued theme. The "dark" referred to could also represent the loneliness felt by the slaves, or it could represent the darkness endured by those who took part in the Middle Passage in the deep recesses of the holds of the ships.