Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Beloved Section II
I personally find it easier to follow first person narratives more because I can pretend I'm the character and try to sympathize with them to have a deeper connection with the story. With Sethe, however, it was going to be difficult to really feel what she was feeling that would ultimately drive her to do the heinous thing that she did. On page 238 I noticed the constant repetition of questions and statements beginning with "Maybe". "Maybe she lasted...Maybe Halle was trying to get to me...Maybe what sounded like shots really was...Maybe." This sense of uncertainty reminded me of what it feels like to have to make these tough decisions that will change your whole life and the tremendous amount of stress it can bring. It's not uncommon for this feeling of mental helplessness to drive people to do the utterly worst things possible.
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I agree that coming to the same conclusion as Sethe would be extremely unlikely for me. If I was faced with the same situation (obviously I cannot fully understand what I would feel) but I would be trying to hide my children the best that I could instead of choosing no life at all for them. It would certainly be hard, but even if School Teacher had taken them there would still be hope in an escape or something close to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lance. The first person narratives kind of get rid of the complications and bias of the previous narration styles and then you are able to connect with the characters on a more personal level as oppose to trying to match how you feel to all these different characters views and what not. The presence of the Maybe definitely shows that there is sense of complication still and that it might be impossible to really make sense of what happened.
ReplyDeleteAll Sethe's maybes do seem like a major player in her justification of everything. She is not willing to admit that she made mistakes, instead justifying them as necessary actions in which all the negative results are "maybe" positive. This shows how she is gripping to her last bit of hope but also that she is unwilling to accept things that have happened and move on. Beloved's arrival justified one of these "maybes", and in the way of partial reinforcement, is leading Sethe to believe she was right all along.
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