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Example research essay topic: Toni Morrison African Americans - 1,634 words

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BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON Toni Morrison, in a skillful use of both verse and stream of consciousness writing masterfully wields her pen to come up with a novel of such intense drama and force that captures the sentiments of a slave people, their lives, tragedies and their struggles to piece together their past to reconcile themselves to their present. The experimental style of writing utilized by Morrison serves to highlight the themes of the novel on true freedom, family and moral ambiguity. This paper examines the different ways the characters are woven together to allude to an objective cor relativism to Biblical symbolisms that serve to highlight the core theme of freedom from slavery. Early on the novel begins with the present conditions of Sethe in her house which the author describes as " 124 was spiteful.

Full of a baby's venom. With just this first line Morrison delivers the punch that sets the pace for the tone of the rest of the novel. One immediately wonders what kind of characters would be interacting. If the house was portrayed as having venom, the slyness and latent anger of the idea says it all. As the novel unfolds, the tragedies of the lives of the characters are revealed one by one. For example, we learn that the house belongs to Sethe after settling there in escaping from slavery.

Yet though she transfers dwelling physical, her past haunts her. And though she stops running, she cannot leave her past behind. Consumed by the memories of the past, she seems tired of running, "No more running-from nothing. I will never run from another thing on this earth. I took one journey and I paid for the ticket, but let me tell you something, Paul D Garner: it cost too much!" This is reinforced as she, herself, sums up her condition, "It's so hard for me to believe in [time].

Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I used to think it was my re memory. But it's not.

Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it's gone, but the place-the picture of it-stays, and not just in my re memory, but out there, in the world." (p. 36). The house is spiteful because the spirit of Sethe's one-year-old-baby, who died 18 years ago still haunts her. The baby is buried in a tombstone with the BELOVED engraved in it. Sethe and the ghost still lives in that house. Sethe's youngest daughter lives with her there.

Beloved cannot allow a closure of the past. Until Sethe wallows in the past, Beloved is real and ever present in that home. Thus, there is this interdependency present between the two and on which the story unfolds. Allusions to Biblical events are present in Chapter 16 as we note that the point of view is from the four horsemen. Morrison manages to present the biases of the white men into the light, The schoolteacher realizes that Seth's actions are a testimony to the results of a little so-called freedom imposed on people who needed every care and guidance in the world to keep them from the cannibal life they preferred. Here we seem how these white men views the slaves something like than of animals.

In looking at this novel, we have to see the context from where Sethe, the ex-slave is coming from. First off, we see that Sethe dwells on the past and serves as the motivating force for her to leave behind her past and run away from the place of her captivity. She is disturbed by the spirit of her child whose death, she is does not regret and whose presence in the house as a spirit, she does not mind because it belongs to her 1 year old child who died many years ago. Paul arrives at the scene and his presence as someone who would rescue Sethe from the captivity of her thoughts From the Bible, we know that Paul was first Saul, also like Sethe, was a captive of his own demons. Paul is a tireless evangelist who proclaims a theology of salvation through faith: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous will live by faith.

Simple as it may seem, people really saw Paul at that time to have a complete turnaround from Saul, the ruthless tyrant who killed people of a different set of beliefs from him and what he transformed himself. Pauls heresy at that time is centered on four major premises, the latter three of which are not found in the New Testament: (1) There is salvation in Jesus; (2) This salvation comes via the intangible expression of faith; (3) Faith is a product of God's grace, not human performance. ; and (4) As newcomers to the faith like Paul, we also can be apostles with Christ. Paul's view explains that anyone can experience the godhead acting not from motives of "payback" but acceptance. Like children, we are becoming "joint heirs" with Christ as members of the household of God. (Paul the Apostle and Salvation thru Faith). Just as in the novel, opening scenes reveal a house 124 was spiteful, full of a babys venom. Even if it now belongs to Sethe, the house was still full of venom and resentment, hate and powerlessness.

The house is termed spiteful because it is enveloped by the spirit of Sethe's baby who died 18 years ago. Thus, the house is full of ghosts both literally and figuratively. It is not a comfortable place to be in. These scenes are part of Sethe's past but she still carries it till the present time when she is living in a house far away from the trauma of the past. This was the life of Sethes a poor slave. At that time, all slaves lived without freedom, but not all slaves lived under the same conditions.

The daily lives of slaves depended on the size of plantation they worked, the kind of work assigned to them, and the treatment they received. Most slaves lived in drafty, one-room cabins with dirt floors. Many times, two or more families would live together in one cabin. They slept on the ground on mattresses filled with cornhusks.

Some describes their bed as a plank 12 inches wide and 10 feet long. His pillow was a stick. Slaves wore shabby cotton or wool clothing, which was provided by the master twice a year. They ate pork fat, molasses and cornmeal.

Sometimes, they would raise vegetables. But often the food did not have important nutrients. Indeed, they valued their family for it was the only thing left of their self-dignity (Wikipedia). Another literary criticism by editors Nellie McKay and William Andrews in their casebook, Toni Morrisons Beloved: A Casebook (Casebook in Contemporary Fiction) state that each casebook reprints documents relating to the historical context and reception. The editors provide a forum where the readers can understand this literary masterpiece and the unique aspects of Americas racial and cultural experiences. They note that Morrisons Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a well-crafted novel that is excellent in spinning the literary web together by alternating between the past and the present.

Indeed, this is Morrisons forte. Most slaves worked in the fields, but few had other jobs. House slaves cleaned, cooked, washed, sewed and took care of children in the big house or plantation mansion. Their jobs were easier than working in the cotton or rice fields, but many were house slaves who suffered constant criticism from their watchful owners. Some slaves were skilled craft workers. These slaves worked as blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, and ironworkers.

A few slaves worked in factories or on the docks in cities such as Charleston and Savannah. These slaves sometimes felt lucky because their work was not as hard as the work of field slaves (Wikipedia). The history of the long years in striving for opportunities and access to social services are seen to have played significant role in their self-determination. For example, they came to the country initially as slaves and with onset of the Civil War, their cause of emancipation has been evident as statesmen began lobbying for their cause, foremost to which is the freedom from servitude.

As the United States started to consolidate itself into a nation, it has to accommodate the interests of minority groups, which included African Americans and incorporate them as stakeholders in its political and social process. As the years progressed African Americans have enjoyed significant roles and contributions in shaping American society in general. Their participation in the dynamics of American society is largely based on the liberal and democratic setting operating in the country. However, there are still some instances wherein, African Americans still experience some degree of marginalization because they are still perceived as minorities in a predominantly white society (Latin, Allen, 2002). This was the backdrop of the novela time of slavery and abuse.

In the novel, Garner or Paul D. is known as the last of the Sweet Home men. It is only at this point where we learn about Sethe's past. Distinctive to the Garners were their compassionate away of treating their slaves. Seth remembers the day she flees from Sweet Home but is held captive by two white men who takes her milk which would have been for Beloved. Sethe narrates her past to Paul D.

She complains that she can no longer stay in that house. She complains that she is not liked by the people around her. Paul listens and this ends...


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Research essay sample on Toni Morrison African Americans

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