The Importance of Possessing a Sense of Self in "Beloved" - Kayleigh Becker

In Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, many complex issues are explored. Issues such as race, gender, sin, forgiveness, and morality. From these issues, many interpretations of the theme or “hidden meaning” of Beloved can be drawn. When read through a psychoanalytic lens, one main theme stands out as impactful, and is also presented in the article, “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's Beloved”, by Barbara Schapiro. Through the novel, especially the characters Sethe and Denver, Morrison communicates the message that possessing a sense of self is liberating and empowering, and without it a person can feel sad, lost, and trapped.

In Beloved, through the character of Sethe, Morrison reveals the message that possessing a sense of self gives a person freedom and power, but without it a person can feel sad, lost, and trapped. Schapiro talks about the theme of owning one’s self and the importance of that action in her analysis article of Beloved. She writes that, “The major characters in the novel are all working out of a deep loss to the self, a profound narcissistic wound that results from a breakdown and distortion of the earliest relations between self and other” (Schapiro 197). Many of the characters in Beloved are African Americans who struggle with their painful pasts filled with regret, and as stated by Schapiro, are “working out of a deep loss to the self”. The psychoanalytic lens shows how this “self” is often pushed away into the Id (subconscious) mind, along with the hidden desires and and fears. The horrors of slavery are still fresh in the minds of the characters in Beloved, the last generation of U.S. slaves, and Morrison describes the many atrocities committed against Sethe, her friend Paul D., Baby Suggs, and Sethe’s mother. Through these scenes, she conveys a theme that one is not truly free until they know who they are and claims their freedom for themselves.

Gaining a sense of self is liberating and empowering, and this is shown in Beloved when at last Denver finds hers. Finally escaping from under the shadow of Beloved, Denver searches for a job to support her mother, Sethe, who is wasting away. She gets one from the kindly Mrs. Jones, who addresses Denver and sees her as a woman. Denver begins to feel empowered because of this recognition, and “for the first time begins to experience the contours of her own separate self” (Schapiro 206). Finally on her way to being secure in who she is as strong a woman of color, Denver helps her mother and stands up to Beloved. The subconscious and hidden fears and desires break free and Denver is able to live into who she truly is. Having a sense of self empowers and frees Denver, and others also notice the changes in her.

On the other hand, a person without a sense of self feels sad, lost, and even trapped by their own selves. After becoming free from the slavery she was born into, Baby Suggs still struggles with what she has been through. During the years that the ghost of Beloved haunts house number 124, Sethe exclaims that she wants to move. Baby Suggs replies by saying, “Not a house in the country ain't packed to its rafters with some dead Negro's grief” (Morrison 6), her husband being one of them. Till her dying breath, Baby Suggs continues to struggle with her grief and pain. Schapiro makes an interesting point by writing, “Thus Baby Suggs, finally freed from slavery, expresses not the elation of freedom but the deep sadness of not knowing herself, of not being able to read her own story: ‘The sadness was at her center, the desolated center where the self that was no self made its home…’ ” (209. This supports the theme of the importance of finding and owning one’s self in the book Beloved because of how Baby Suggs’ “deep sadness” is caused by the fact that she is subconsciously still a slave trapped by fear who does not know who she is at her center. Similarly, Sethe struggles with knowing herself, placing her identity in her daughter Beloved and her role as a mother instead of looking into herself to find her hidden desires and goals. Without a sense of self, both characters are trapped, depressed, and have lost sight of who they are.

Through the novel, especially by the character of Sethe, Morrison communicates the message that possessing a sense of self is liberating and empowering, and without it a person can feel sad, lost, and trapped. Reading Beloved through a psychoanalytic lens, a reader notices the important differences between what a character does and says consciously and what they actually think and feel subconsciously. The subconscious and conscious mind determines what people do, think, and want. As Toni Morrison says in Beloved, “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another” (111-112).

Why I Chose This Lens - Isaac Barrios Perez

I chose to read Beloved through the psychoanalytic lens.  First of what are psychoanalytic lens?  The psychoanalytic lens is a way to view a piece of literature with the specific reason.  In this case the psychoanalytic lens focuses on the subconscious mind of a character.  You look at the emotions and inner conflicts the character is having and derive your own meaning from it.  The brain to this day is still a mystery that we are constantly asking questions about.  Trying to understand how the brain works and why has always been one of my fascination.  Although we are far from fully grasping the knowledge of the brain, there a few stuff we speculate happens within our brain.

Dr. Freud, to me at least, is the founder of the psycho lens.  An Australian neurologist, Dr. Freud, theorized three part to a human personality: Id, ego, and superego.  This was a surprise to me knowing that subconsciously we have three types of personalities.  So I began to research on his theory.  The Id I found was was the instant desire to have something.  If you don't meet this desire you become anxious and act without thinking.  After I read this, I had a "yeah I know that feeling" moment.  Looking back, there were a lot of times where I did something without really thinking of about the consequences of my actions.  Following up, ego is mostly about thinking about your consequences.  You think about the consequences before you decide to engage in any action.  Like Id, I noticed ego in my decisions and actions.  I noticed that ego kicked in in higher stake scenarios.  Where, there are two outcomes and you have to decide which is better.  Sometimes from there, you consult your morals, whether your actions is either good or bad.  Adding morals takes ego to the next level which is superego.  All in all, It will be interesting diving into the mind of Toni Morrison.

Rape and Trauma in Beloved - Elias Acosta

The scholarly article, “Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved” takes an in depth analysis of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. The articles claims that rape was a large part of the trauma of the novel since many of the characters have been raped in the past. The articles also claims that Beloved is a supernatural creature hungry for Sethe’s attention. It also calls for attention on rape and claims that it is not only an issue between a male perpetrator and a female victim. In my opinion I believe that the article does a great job of looking into the issue and I mostly agree with the points it makes of the book.

When looking at the novel, Beloved, it is clear that rape encompasses the lives of most of the characters in the book. Particularly the slaves and people of color are the victims of this terrible deed. The perpetrators of rape are the white people of the novel, especially Schoolteacher, a sadistic man in charge of the Sweet Home Plantation. The ex-slaves have endured through a lifetime of abuse under cruel slave owners. Rape is an issue that comes out throughout the novel. There are many types of rape in the novel. The article shows examples of rape through the perspectives of Sethe and Paul D. Sethe has endured rape since she was living in Sweet Home. She was sexually assaulted by the boys who “took her milk,” meaning that they not only physically abused her, but left a mental scar that refuses to heal. Sethe fears over the white men because she feels as if they are coming to take her children or rape her. This defense mode is an effect of years of suffering in the novel. The novel also shows how rape and abuse has traumatized Paul D. While he was imprisoned, the guards would force them to commit sexual acts beyond their will. Thue leaving Paul D in a sense of trauma due to the things he endured while in the chain gang. This is further proven by Morrison’s use of term “Red Heart. Red heart. Red heart” (138). This could mean the Beloved somehow has the power to seduce Paul D and open that metaphoric tin box he carries with the memories of, “Alfred, Georgia, Sixo, schoolteacher, Halle, his brothers, Sethe, Mister, the taste of iron, the sight of butter, the smell of hickory, notebook paper, one by one,” that he keeps, “lodged in his chest”, and “by the time he got to 124 nothing in this world could pry it open”(133). The tin box serves to be like a recollection of memories of the past that seem to follow Paul D. The article points out that Beloved serves as a “catalyst for Paul D's recollection of his past” (Barnett). In chemistry a catalyst is a substance that reduces the energy needed for a reaction to happen. Therefore this can mean that Beloved stirs up the past to inflict pain on her victims. It is interesting to see how at first Paul D claims that nothing can pry open his tin box, however through Beloved’s seduction she is able to achieve it. When he says Red heart it reminds me of rawness and it could mean that Paul D has fully opened up and is feeling the emotions of the past in the flesh. Red has the connotation of power, love, and desire, since blood is red this term reminded me of a bleeding heart. This shows that Paul D is vulnerable to the pain of the past.


Through an in depth analysis of Beloved and Sethe’s relationship, it is clear that Beloved is trying to consume Sethe as an act of revenge for killing her as a child. The article portrays Beloved as a succubus, a mythical creature filled with sexual desire, that is out to seduce men and fill in the void left in from the pasts of the characters of 124 (Barnett). Beloved shows up as 124 as a weak woman, after Sethe and Denver nurse her back to health, she becomes close to them almost like a sister. Beloved seems to really like Sethe, she knows things about her and asks her questions like about her earrings and other things of Sethe’s past. It isn’t until Sethe finds Beloved singing a familiar song that Sethe made up and sang it to her children, that she realizes that Beloved is in fact her deceased daughter. After a series of events Beloved soon begins to suck in the life of Sethe, making her weaker, “The bigger Beloved got, the smaller Sethe became. She sat in the chair licking her lips like a chastised child while Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it. And the older woman yielded it up without a murmur” (294-295). In this quote we see that Beloved is taking up the energy of Sethe. This symbolic leaching of life can be compared to that of a pest the feeds on the host. I agree with the article’s interpretation of Beloved as a character that is spiteful and wants to seek revenge on Sethe since she killed her as a child. I also see that Beloved is like a reminder of everyone's own faults and the fact that one day they have to own up to it. This is further reassured when Sethe goes after whom she believes is Schoolteacher. Once she did the right thing then Beloved disappeared thus meaning that Sethe has come to terms with her past. It is also interesting to see that all the characters seem to forget beloved as if she was a “bad dream” (323). That meant that this was some form of psychological trauma left from years of oppression as slaves. Through the psychoanalytical lens we can infer that maybe Beloved was an ominous spirit created by the characters in 124 since they all come to terms with their life and grow throughout the book.


While rape can be commonly asserted to a male perpetrator and a female victim, in the book Beloved, that is not the case. Morrison decides to include multiple forms of rape including homosexual rape. The article affirms that the characters were raped on multiple occasions however we get a glimpse of homosexual rape when Paul D is in the chain gang. Morrison chooses to show this aspect to make us realize that women were not the only victims of rape. The whole experience with the chain gang in the south made Paul D traumatized since it was something that he did not want to do, he was forced or death was the punishment. It is interesting to see that Paul D did not chose death over this treatment as Sethe deemed right when she killed her children. It shows us that both characters have different perspectives on life based on what happened in their lives. This can also explain why Paul D is terrified of Sethe's actions on killing her children. He seems to have the drive to persevere in his life. Throughout the book we see that he has this perseverance but after he moves out of Sethe’s house it all goes downhill. Once he is able to come back, is when things are reasonably better for him.