Apr 09, 2002 10:55 AM
9892 Views
(Updated Oct 22, 2002 01:42 PM)
This book takes you into the heart of black slavery in Ohio, Cincinatti. The star of the book is Sethe a black slave woman who escapes her owners with her children.
It all begins with a ghost haunting the grounds of 124, a house in an area where the free blacks live.The ghost is the murdered child of Sethe who cannot rest in peace and will not leave the residents of 124 alone.
The ghost has managed to drive away her two brothers and sealed her sister, Denver, in the house.Their father is nowhere to be seen and has been missing for most of their lives.
Although the story mainly involves Sethe, there are other characters who deserve a mention and play a major role in the development of this book.
Baby Suggs - the mother-in-law of Sethe. She was freed from the slavery of the Garners by her son. She moves into the black town and takes up residence in 124 and waits for the rest of her family to escape and return to her. She is also referred to as Baby Suggs, holy and brings joy to many a family in the little town until the murder of her granddaughter drives her to bed and a life full of color until the day she dies.
Paul D. - One of the slaves with Sethe and Baby Suggs of the Garners at Sweet Home. Hes lived through plenty. Been starved and had a bit in his mouth and deprived and imprisoned and tortured. But he has made it through all that and finds his way to Sethes home where he is made unwelcome by the ghost.
Things take on a turn for the worse when, one day, at their doorstep, they find a beautiful girl who calls herself Beloved.She appropriates all Sethes attention to the point of distraction.
When Paul D. begins to take over Sethes household and bed, an unknown force drives him from the house and ultimately breaks his resolve as a man. Beloved has come back from the dead. It takes a while for Sethe and Denver to understand this but when they do, Sethe loses her job as a cook and stays indoors looking after Beloved.
The book is very well written. Toni Morrisons style of writing is charming and can be quite cryptic at times. Toni has used the language efficiently and in a most unique way. For example, she claims that Sethe has a tree on her back and that its a cherrychoke tree. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Its the scars from the whipping Sethe received during her slavery! That and other such comparisons fill the book and make you turn each page eagerly.
