When Beloved enters Sethe and Denver's life, she messes up the dynamic even more than when Paul D did. Many readers in my class at least, believed that she was the living form of the dead baby that had haunted 124. On page 89 we get confirmation. Denver figures it out, and Beloved admits it. But when Denver tells Beloved not to tell Sethe about who she is, Beloved snaps, saying, "Don't tell me what to do. Don't you never never tell me what to do" (89). Beloved goes on to say, "She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have" (89). I was surprised by both characters reactions, but I didn't think much of it until later when they go to the clearing Baby Suggs used to preach at. Denver believes Beloved caused Sethe to choke, and Beloved's only response is, "Look out, girl" (119). This left me wondering why Denver doesn't immediately run and tell Sethe. Beloved appears violent towards the one thing she wants, Sethe, so there's no telling what she'll do to someone like Paul D. Instead, Denver chases after Beloved to try to make up. She seems to care more about continuing a new friendship than protecting her mother, and sole companion of ten years.
This issue of loyalty has become somewhat of a theme throughout Beloved so far. When Paul D first arrives, Sethe must pick, does she remain loyally alone, in solidarity with Denver's perpetual loneliness, or does she welcome this man from her past. She must then completely abandon her loyalty to Halle, when she invites Paul D to stay a while. I didn't find either of these decisions to override total loyalty too strange. When she decides to show more love attention towards Beloved than Denver, I was a little more surprised. Denver has been the loyal daughter towards Sethe, she hasn't run away like her brothers, nor does she make trouble, she's just is a constant in Sethe's life. But as soon as Beloved comes, Sethe begins to open up to the stranger more so than she ever did with Denver. Maybe Sethe has figured out who Beloved is, she surely must have her suspicions, and that's why she is so openly loving towards Beloved, versus her normal shortness with Denver. Whatever her motives, it's clear that Sethe is no longer as loyal towards Denver as she once was, and in that context, Denver's lack of loyalty towards Sethe is much more understandable.
One thing I keep wondering about is where Beloved's loyalties lie. She is pathetically obsessed with Sethe, but I wouldn't say she loves Sethe. She never shows Sethe any kindness, just a doglike devotion and a greed to keep Sethe to herself. Even when she walks down the road to meet Sethe, she is not showing love as much as obsession. In fact, Beloved doesn't really show love to anyone. Mr Mitchell pointed out in our class that Beloved means "one who is loved" and doesn't necessarily mean she loves back. I think this is a very apt description of Beloved.
ReplyDeleteThe "doglike devotion" Jonny describes might just be another way of saying that Beloved loves Sethe in the way that a very young child loves his or her mother--it is a needy, parasitic, moment-to-moment kind of love, but at the early stage it doesn't entail empathy, compassion, or any awareness of the mother as an independent, discrete person. It's uncanny to encounter this love in a 19-year-old-looking person, but in many ways her mentality is infantile. She desires Sethe and her attention (and her earrings)--and this hunger is only strengthened when she is "separated" from Sethe by the events at the center of the novel. (We get some insight into this in Beloved's "unspeakable thoughts unspoken" chapter.)
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