Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Beloved Section II
In Section II of the novel, we are finally given some first person narration from the main characters, giving us insight on their thoughts. The narration I found myself most drawn to was Denver's. Prior to her chapter in the novel, I envisioned her as a child who has been through a lot, but ultimately was just selfish and bratty. Through her first person narration, I now see the scared, isolated little girl that she really is. Living with Sethe has been no easy task for her, as she constantly lives in fear that she will face the fate of her sister one day. She even says that she is afraid to fall asleep while her mother is braiding her hair, but "I know if I do I won't wake up." (244) Her fear of her mother is also shown in her protectiveness of Beloved, and explains why she clings to her so much. I think Morrison's change in perspectives in this section is most effective in Denver's section especially, because I feel as if we knew the least about her prior to this.
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I agree with you interpretation of Denver's character after the shift to first-person narration. It is true; at first it seems like she was just "selfish and bratty" but after she had her chance to "speak" to the readers, she does, as in your words, seem like a "scared, isolated little girl". Your quote and argument about how "Her fear of her mother is also shown in her protectiveness of Beloved" really does explain a lot about her character. Overall, I definitely agree with her views and like how you pointed out Denver's section particularly.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way after reading the chapter about Denver. Before the first person sections we already knew much about Sethe and Beloved, but not much about Denver. Through her narration we come to see the true character that Denver is, a character that I feel becomes the most identifiable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, totally, Aja! When I read Denver's section I was really surprised about her sudden character shift. I thought that she was initially just a selfish child who was scared of the world, and I had no idea that she waited for her father and loved him as much as she does. It's interesting to me how she idolizes her father and how she sees him as her savior, which is ironic because Sethe was her savior and also her protector.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of this. I also originally read her character as selfish and then she totally shifted for me. I felt sorry for her. She is afraid of her mother because she does not want to die is interesting to me. That could explain why she idolizes her father so much. Her father never made her live in this fear because she does not know him. She truly believes that he will save her even though it is Sethe who is caring for her everyday.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read from Denver's perspective and see her actual thoughts and fears. The death of her sister has really made her distrustful of her mother so its easy to understand her feelings and thoughts toward Paul D. who should also distrust
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