Beloved by Toni Morrison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Beloved by Toni Morrison - Essay Example Years later, Beloved, literally believed to be Sethe’s daughter returns to haunt her home in Cincinnati. One major theme of the novel is the mother-daughter relationships. Sethe and her children share strong maternal bonds that prevent her development by inhibiting her individuation. This strong bond is the one that pushes her to kill her own daughter rather than let her go into slavery (Bloom 58). Sethe and Beloved are both emotionally impaired due to Sethe’s enslavement that separates them and makes Sethe not to provide maternal care for her, thus loses her sense as a mother, while Beloved lacks familial identity. The other theme is the impact of slavery, which is mainly psychological. The experiences of slaves cause them to repress the bad memories in trying to forget the past, a repression that causes a fragmentation of their personalities thus loss of their real identities. This is the case with Denver, Paul D, and Sethe, who experience the loss of identities but B eloved makes them accept their past memories and helps them reintegrate their original selves. The relationship between the slaves and white people in the Beloved is not one that augurs too well. This is because the whites use the black people as slaves, and make them feel inferior to them. For instance, Sethe’s memories of her oppression by the whites are what make her prefer to see her children dead rather than go to suffer at the brutal hands of the masters. The white looks down on the slaves, and treat them inhumanely without minding their lives. This reveals when Seethe’s breast milk is stolen from her, denying her child her right. However, some whites treat their slaves better such as Mr. and Mrs. Garner, and do not oppress them at all. This results in some slaves hating and rebelling against the whites while those treated well love their masters. From the moment Beloved re-appears in Sethe’s life, her life begins to change. She first looks at her daughter as just that; her long dead daughter who has come back, but she later comes to realize that she is more than that. One, her coming back arouses painful memories such as her milk being taken away from her, plus when Nan nursed her daughter together with white babies. Second, she comes to realize that Beloved represents her African mother, and is a reminder of what a mother should be. This is because she realizes that her mother was hanged because she could not run away without her (Grade Saver). Denver easily recognizes her sister because they had an intimate oneness, and Denver had even drank her blood, making them one flesh. The Beloved has a structure that is largely loose in that it does not proceed continuously in one line but employs the use of much storytelling and flashbacks. Paul D is the one who introduces most of the flashbacks such as his life in Kentucky, Delaware, and the Ohio River. When it is not flashbacks, the author uses different characters to narrate stories and keep the plot going. There are narrations by Paul D, Denver, Sethe, Beloved, and other characters. Morrison assumingly employs the variation in structure to accommodate various characters to capture more experiences so the learner is exposed to more of what slaves endure. Memory has two functions in the Beloved novel. One, the author uses re-memory, which is

A Study on the Self-Perception of Young Female and Male Students from Literature review

A Study on the Self-Perception of Young Female and Male Students from Somali Ethinic Group in Britain Today - Literature review Example It will attempt to unravel current and pressing issues and problems of the Somali youths and delve into potential recommendations to improve their situations. a. Rationale Caught in unending violence and conflict situations which victimized thousands of Somali from their original home of abode, thousands of them immigrated to Britain to liberate themselves from seemingly unending atrocities and economic decadence. Such diasporas to better their lives and from wanton discriminatory chaotic situation of the past unfortunately resulted to identity confusion as new generation now lacked appreciation of their cultural and original identities. This is illustrated in the absence of direct and contextual experience in their homeland after years of enjoying relative peace as an asylum in Britain. Long detachment of these naturalized Somalis from their original homeland introduced young generation to British culture although there is no explicit claim of such identity as Brits are prominently known of their milky white skin, quite a contrast of Somali’s black skin-tone. Neither do they identify themselves with African lineage. As a consequence, there is a need to bridge intergenerational cultural gaps of adults and of the new generation, where the latter struggle to integrate themselves within British community. Youths and children felt that they are discriminated, as there is apparent perception of dearth of support to mainstream or socially accept them. To cite an example, youths and children felt that there is lack of educational support for them to learn English as language and they felt they are unfairly prejudiced in their daily affairs with other people. b. Significance This study is significant because it will empirically contribute to existing literatures and researches relating to the condition and perception of Somali youths as migrants within United Kingdom. It will also serve as evidence how conflict-situations compromised the identities of people and lost their very selves in a social quagmire and in an unending quest for peace. As part of the outcome of the study, researcher will attempt to make recommendations for policy advocacy and social action. It will also motivate government to look into the plight of Somali youths, prominently tagged as asylum seeker, to respond on their urgent concerns and problems. c. Motivation Youths are said to be the future of the world. There education and value formation are crucial to make themselves complete, instead of being fragmented due to confusion of identities while and at the same time marginalized by the system where it seek protection. Such dilemma will have serious implication to their worldviews, may frustrate them, and if not seriously dealt with will impact to desired societal interaction and to social fabric in the nearest future. Even in the simplest humanitarian consideration, language is important to communicate and to nurture mutual understanding. Hence, efforts should be m ade to bridge understanding, to educate them of their roots to inculcate better understanding of their identities, and to holistically develop them while in the process of integrating themselves in the British society. d. Potential Users This research study will be useful for the following: a. Professionals who are interested to know young Somali’s self-perceptions; b. Researchers and policy makers of the