responding and reflecting

"Windows suddenly had view. And wouldn't you know he'd be a singing man." (48) Paul D began to sing while working in the house. During the time in American history, slaves would often sing during there hard labor for multiple reasons. The slaves originally sang to boost moral of the other slaves, but later used there songs to send hidden codes. For example, one song, Follow the Drinking Gourd, "when the sun comes up and the first quail calls, follow the drinking gourd. for the old man is a-waiting to carry you to freedom, if you follow the drinking gourd." The song, when decoded, said to escape in winter and head north to Canada, which was slave-free, where they would find a guide. The guide being represented by the old man. there were two kinds of coded songs were signal and map songs. in a signal song, the singer or group of singers communicated in code about a certain event, like an escape. A map song, lyrics would contain elements of a map in order to direct slaves to the underground railroad in order to escape. An example of a map song would be Follow the Drinking Gourd. Since slaves couldn't read or write, songs were the perfect way to secretly pass information without being noticed. slave owners interpreted the songs on a literal level, while slaves understood the secret meanings behind the words. With the increasing use of the railroad, slaves had an easier time escaping, and could spread coded messages much farther. Originally, I believed that slaves only sang to boost moral. At the time, singing actually had more uses besides boosting moral. slave songs help the slaves survive both emotionally due to moral and often times physically through hidden messages, and all under the noses of the slave owners.


                                              

critical lens

In Truth in Timbre, written by Peter J Capuano, he talks about how Toni Morrison describes slavery in Beloved, and compares her writing to Frederick Douglass's 1845 Narrative. He describes how Narrative relies heavily on facts due to the year it was published. Morrison's Beloved was published much later, which meant that Morrison could focus more on the emotional aspect than Narrative. He compares how Douglass portrays slave songs to how Morrison does, saying how Douglass establishes the relationship between slaves and there songs, while Morrison goes into deeper detail about this relationship. Capuano further explains how Morrison's book depicts slave songs as a way for slaves to assert there humanity.

In 1845, Frederick Douglass's narrative was to show people how slavery was like. In his book, he describes both his life as a slave and his escape. however, he left out the specific locations he was in during his escape. this was because in 1845, slavery was still legal. if he exposed how he escaped, he could be captured and brought back into slavery due to the fugitive slave act. Toni Morrison's Beloved was written in 1987, long after slavery was abolished. this allowed Morrison to give more detail in her book than Douglass. at this point, the civil rights movement during the 60's, and even though there was still signs of racism, African Americans have equal rights.

Capuano's article on Beloved describes how Morrison uses songs to show the constant struggle and hardships slaves had to endure. Capuano described Beloved as "tak[ing] the reader beyond the horrifying facts of Douglass's Narrative and into the more profoundly emotional turmoil of a post-emancipation community." I agree, as Morrison's Beloved has much more emphasis on the emotional side of slavery. "Morrison shows how song defines and affirms slave 'personhood' in a world where slave humanity is constantly challenged and denied" Morrison shows how slaves can still hold on to something that reminds them that they are not merely slaves to be bought.

                                                  

Close reading

Our own self interest...

“Think about it,” he said. And suddenly it was a solution, a way to hold on to her, document his manhood and break out a girls spell-all in one. He put the tips of sethe's fingers on his cheek. Laughing, she pulled them away, lest somebody passing the alley, and see them misbehaving in public in Daylight, in the wind. Still he'd gotten a little more time, bought it, a fact and hoped the price would wreck him. Like paying for an afternoon in the coin of life to come.”(151)

In the beginning of the novel Pauly D shows his discontent with Sethe and his poor choice for sticking with her and making her fall in love with him. He lost his attraction to her. But he can't run away now. So he decided to stick around and rekindle the fire he had for her. By taking her out and having a good time, “misbehaving in public” and in a sense being young again. Paul D refers to this evening out as a, “coin” to a life that will come. He calls it this because after the day out with Sethe he's happy and he's seeing things better. This evening out Paul D notices that he's still very fond of her and still has these emotional feelings to her. He feels hopeful now, and with this hope he is seeing a better future for him. He just wants to be happy at the end of it all without having to change his current situation. They both feel young again, because it wasn't really the idea of living the rest of his life with Sethe's but actually the idea that their life would become boring. Paul D notices that he and Sethe's are in the same page when it comes to making their relationship better and you see this occur in future events of Beloved. As long as both of them are trying, things have the possibility of working out good, and Pauly D has just found that out. This is the , “solution” to his problem, and although it is a selfish thing that he has been feeling like this and has not talked to Sethe's about how she's feeling instead of just worrying about himself. He has the right to find his own happiness and that's how life works. Many people do things because it's in their own self interest.


Paul D is going back and forth about his relationship with Sethe because he believes that Sethe isn't the same women as she was before. H e wants to feel excitement, happiness, passion, and that seems to have run out in their relationship. Yet he doesnt know anyone else he can find that with. Hes in a way clinched to Sethe due to all the things that they have been through. Staying with her is the only possible choice in his head . So he might as well make it better. Taking her to an exiting place and allowing everything else to fall into its place

Responding and reflecting #2

Jealousy game

Jealousy is everywhere, it haunts us and sometimes even controls our actions. Jealousy comes from not receiving enough attention or desiring the attention of someone else. Its a strange feeling that everyone has experienced in their lives In the book we see jealousy play out as Beloved asked Denver to drive away Paul D because she doesn't like him. In reality Beloved is jealous of Paul D and all the attention he receives from Sethe. Beloved desires that attention from Sethe because she feels like she loves her more and deserves her more. She craves this attention  because she never got in through the 18 years she was left alone and motherless. She is trying to make up for lost time. This is the reason why she can't stand him. Beloved wants him out of the picture, as she can possibly plan for something sinister in the future. For a while Beloved gets what she wants, Pauly D leaves once he finds out that Sethe had killed her baby, words that Paul D couldn't believe and comprehend. Beloved won Sethe, but not for too long

In addition ,beloved is not the only character that shows jealousy, Denver also somehow wanders into that category. As beloved becomes closer with Sethe, she is also becoming closer to Denver. Something Denver loves. She sees Beloved as a sister she never wants to lose. So far that, "she keeps beloved by her side," (142) from the moment Sethe leaves to work and comes back. Denver has no control of being able to hang out with beloved when Sethe comes back from work because Beloved is all around her.(143) Denver enjoys being seen be beloved, she loves it, because she is also receiving the attention she believes she needs. The attention from the sister she never had. In a way she is completely obsessed with Beloved, making that relationship unhealthy, and denver seem more like a lunatic. Denver hopes to be with Beloved forever, regardless of anything else, thats her plan. Shes in love with beloved.

Being jealous makes you angry and i know exactly how that feels. When i was smaller my little brother Alexis was born and my mom of course gave him all the attention. This made me angry because i was a spoiled little kid and my mom used to give me all the attention. I loved her attention. With my little brother in the picture that was going away. I wanted him gone, but i wasn't evil, so i wasn't going to cause anything. I just got closer to my mom by giving her my time . She responded negatively and told me to stop being annoying and to grow up. Even though at the time it was cruel to hear that i learned later that she was right. Its not okay to have jealous. It destroys you inside, and makes you do things you would never imagine yourself doing. That's precisely what's occurring in Beloved, this jealousy this is going to end up driving her crazy.

Responding and reflecting

Reflecting on desires

The novel Beloved holds many themes and events that jump out of you. Its such a deep and graphic novel that reading it is truly an adventure in its own.  One of the things that i learned came right after chapter 1, where we see Paul D try his best to win the heart of Sethe, and he does. But after years of staying with her and dealing with her he sees her as a disappointment and grows tired of her. Her beautiful scars that he used to kiss so tenderly are no longer beautiful, he sees her as a burden, and ugly. It was funny to think that he used to have so much motivation to see Sethe and care for her. Where has it gone? Or was there other hidden intentions behind Paul D’s conquest of her. Paul D didn't really actually love Sethe or care for her, he wanted her for what she could offer him. (Her body) He didn't really want her, he wanted to use her, and now that he has her, he's no longer contempt he wants more, and something different. Paul D is the type of person who thinks he likes something but in reality he does not. He is a confused person, and is now enrolled with a person that he sees in disgust. So now he's stuck and well see this situation play out throughout the novel. In addition, he even ends up cheating on sethe with beloved, "she moved him"(134) and not in a good way. She changed him and ends up regretting sleeping with her. Even after that he still portrays Beloved as his mysterious lover. So obviously hes confused, yet that confusion is what draws him to her.  

With this in mind I open my eyes and see that things in life are temporary if you don't really actually push for it, or truly want it. Its confusing figuring out what you desire when a person changes themselves everyday. I see that just because you think you desire something doesn't mean you should go out and get it, because more than likely that desire is gonna go away. Which will not turn out well for me if i spent so much time and effort focusing on the thing I'm not passionate about. For example, i may want to study engineering, but years later want to try out a job in business. It would be really difficult for me to change that if i had already spent money and time on it, yet i can switch but there's always that thought that it might not work out. But at the same time I've seen that change can be a good thing, because change can make you happy, even if it's temporary it will make you happy and happiness is key to life. That's how i see it.