Beloved Short Paper Analysis

Morrison writes these last two pages in such a way that forces the reader to think “outside the box”, and challenge what’s been engrained within their minds. When accomplished, the reader will be fully equipped to make meaning out what’s going on around them and inside of them, not based on what society says and teaches, but by how they feel. This can be a hard task for some. In order for people, in this case African Americans, to know their history and where they come from, they have to be willing to seek out and accept that which they have tried so hard to forget. 

“Everybody knew what she was called, but nobody anywhere knew her name.” (Beloved, Toni Morrison). What I believe the meaning behind the passage to be is this: “She” is a representation of the Motherland, Africa. It is what Beloved, in a way symbolizes. “She” is all of the Africans that came across the Atlantic during the Middle Passage, those who were branded with names that hold no merit, names that have been forgotten. A great example of this from the novel is where Baby Suggs is talking to Mr. Garner. She proposes him with this question: “‘Mr Garner’, she said, ‘why you all call me Jenny?’”. Mr Garner responds by saying, “‘Cause that what’s on your ticket sales, gal. Ain’t that your name? What you call yourself?’”. To this Baby Suggs answers, “‘Nothing. I call myself nothing” (167). Baby Suggs was called and “known” as Jenny by everyone, especially white people, who came in contact with her, simply because they didn’t know who she was; there was no connection there. For those who called her by the name Baby Suggs, they did it in a way that showed connection, they had ties to one another. 

The history of the African culture is foreign to many African Americans not only because it’s been fabricated, but by unwillingness to unearth what is lost for the fear of it being too hard to bear. Earlier in the text, Morrison states that, “You could be lost forever, if there wasn’t nobody to show you the way” (159). There is a starting point for every path taken and in order to know where to go, there has to be direction. We will never know who we are as a people and where we come from if we’re not willing to seek out that information, no matter how how painful the outcome. In contrast to this passage Morrison later writes, “Disremembered and unaccounted for, she cannot be lost because no one is looking for her, and even if they were, how can they call her if they don’t know her name?” Here she is saying that in order for her (Africa/African culture) to be lost, someone has to take notice of her and seek her out. She can't be lost if no one truly knows of her existence. Even if they were to take notice and seek her (Africa/African culture) out, how can they do that if they don’t know where to start? 

In order to find her, we must seek her with their heart. Those who do not belong to her will have a hard time seeking what is not there’s, simply because there is nothing to link them to her. Whether or not she’s lost or found doesn’t mean a thing to those who aren’t connected because they have chosen to disregard everything she is and everything she represents. As painful as it is to remember the things of the past, things that have been pushed away so that they only remain as a memory, it’s the only way to find healing. Pushing aside memories just for the sake of not remembering only creates a deeper void that can only be filled once the experience of our ancestors becomes own personal experience. "I'm trying to make the slave experience intimate... that the order and quietude of everyday life would be violently disrupted by the chaos of the needy dead; that the herculean effort to forget would be threatened by memory desperate to stay alive". In essence, we need to remember, not only out of respect and love for those who came before us, but for ourselves.

Remembering is frightening because its allows room for judgment and vulnerability, but in order to allow freedom to take the place of pain, barriers have to broken down. It’s not easy, remembering. Without "rememory", there would be no room left in our hearts to allow ourselves to love and be loved. Learning to love oneself, even when it’s the most painful, and allowing others to love us is real freedom. A freedom that’s inside of every person who is willing to accept it and own it. It’s easy to say “I’m free”, but what merit does that really hold if it’s all talk? ANYONE can say that they are free, but what really matters is what a person does with that freedom. “Freeing oneself is one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another thing” (112). Freedom means nothing if it’s not utilized, so do something with it.