Minor Character & Agency Elsewhere (Draft)

Beloved: The Complexity of Agency (3:3)

To recap a little from the Welcome, Sethe, and Denver post's:
1) Morrison creates a parallel between characterization and agency/identity in Beloved.
2) This parallel is also representative of African American agency/identity within history.
So far it as be analyzed and discussed that:
1) Sethe represents both the familial past, and the historical past (slavery, prescribed agency).
2) Denver represents both the familial future, and a historical shift (nearing Civil Rights, creation of self-agency).

Moving right along... Beloved doesn't fit neatly into agency or timeline for many reasons. Perhaps we should dive right into the elephant in this post. Spoiler Alert! Beloved is a ghost! Now... this is perhaps the most interesting facet of Morrison's agency parallel in correlation with the characters. How does being ghostly affect agency? What comment does it make on Beloved's history? Her presence? Her parallel?

There is no doubt that Beloved's presence is disturbing to most... She is violent and brutal with Paul D, and an object of obsession with Denver. She controls and manipulates all those around her, especially Sethe, in an unique and unnerving way. But why?

Beloved is more than a representation of a body, or spirit. She becomes a metaphor about how the past does not remain the past. When Sethe tries to kill all her children, and only Beloved dies... Her ghost represents the part, the spirit, that hasn't died... Almost as if Beloved was refusing to fade. Which of course becomes evident when her presence and obsession begins to kill Sethe toward the end of the book.

So what does it all mean? I think Beloved's presence, in relevance to agency and history, is signifying that the past always weighs in on the present. In this case, her death is on Sethe's hands, and will eventual consume Sethe again. Denver, who spent a great deal of time obsessed with Beloved, can only truly be herself (and free) when she has left her behind. Beloved's departure from the story, and the family is no coincidence... She simply disappears. I think there's a correlation there behind accepting, and carrying the past without letting it be consuming.

To sum it up: I think Beloved's role within the novel is summed up by Sethe's last words "She was my best thing." Here, I have interpreted that to mean that the best thing Sethe could do was kill that sort of presence, so that the future had a different path for Denver.

The last post, the wrap up, will discuss how it all comes together. It was also point to agency in another work of literature that are connect to Beloved. The last posting will be marked (4:3).

Denver: The Transition of Agency (2:3)

As we continue discussing Morrison's parallel between family and history, we move on to the next generation; Denver, Sethe's daughter. Here, we move forward on both the familial and historical timelines. Denver is the second generation, and also one of the children that survived Sethe's attempted murder. Denver represents a future, the next generation, and resilience. 

 

For the historical timeline, she represents the next generation, the post-slavery generation. Denver's relationship to agency is very dynamic. Firstly, there is the repetition of Denver's birth throughout the novel. Every thing is focused on Denver's birth, and survival. In many ways, she can be perceived as hope for the future. However, it is this repetition that Denver is stuck in the past... Denver herself always defines her place in the world, and the family, through her relationship with her mother. in that sense, Morrison is commenting that although Denver is the start of creating a self identity, she is still rooted by the identity of the family's collective past identity. This idea is further proven through Denver's childlike obsession with Beloved, and her need for constant affirmation.  

 

However, by the end of the novel, that notion is also drastically reversed. Denver ventures out into the real world be the end, and become a caretaker for her dying mother and Beloved. At first, it doesn't seem like she has changed much. When Sethe mistakes Mr. Bodwin for being her former, abusive, "Schoolteacher," she runs after him with an ice pick. Denver, in suit, chases after her mother. This is a layering of a metaphor for chasing the past... Sethe is chasing what she perceives to be hers, and Denver is chasing hers by chasing her mother.

 

 Her growth however is exponential. Once she leaves home (her mother, and 124) she begins to find her own path. Working in the community, and close to Mrs. Bodwin, she realizes there is promise and a future by contemplating college. Her maturity is especially noted in Chapter 27, when she interacts with Paul D. Paul D questions Denver about Beloved, and the notion that Beloved is a spirit. While Denver believes it to be true, she also has her own opinions. These last few chapters are where Denver really begins to pull away from her past (Sethe, 124, Beloved) and begins to work on controlling her own future.

 

So what is the representation? To re-cap, Sethe (Denver's mother) represents the prescribed agency of the past. Denver (the next generation in the family) represents a transition period... At first, she represents a holding of the past, but then a shift into creating a new, self identity. This is evident when Denver leaves her past behind by leaving 124, to create her self. It is only when Denver is on her own, away from her binding past, that she truly grows up.

 

  All of this could then also correlate with historical agency, as slavery ends, and Civil Rights begins. It makes a place in history where African Americans strive to create agency for themselves, while trying to leave the prescribed notions of slavery behind. So, as you see the parallel continues: Characters representing agency, agency representing a piece of time in history. But I must admit, curiosity has gotten the best of me. How could the old, cliche sayings of "We become our parents" and "History always repeats" fit in this intricate parallel? In this case, do they say the same thing? 

 

Personally, I can relate to Denver in many ways... I think, in many ways Beloved could have a subset for a coming of age story. I think it is human nature to question what we've been labeled, to rally for or against those labels, and eventually create our own. I think that's what Denver was doing by the end... Creating her own image, becoming her own. I think culturally, we do this to create group agency, but there is also the identity we hold to ourselves.

 

Sethe: Agency and the Historical Past (1:3)

To really convey and discuss my posts, I'd like you all to understand the overarching theme for this blog. So, here's my abstract: Morrison recreates the historical representation of African American agency by creating a parallel to the family of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved. There are going to be THREE (this is 1 of 3) posts the deal with this subject... there is more than enough per each characterization for a whole post. Remembering this will help you navigate my blog, and put together my thesis as a whole.

The history and family parallel begins in a very loose manner. There are many similarities between the two. Both things have a beginning, for the sake of the novel, the beginning is Sethe, the mother. So, how does characterization create the parallel to history? Sethe represents agency during a time of slavery in America.

Sethe's background here says it all...All we know about Sethe's past involves slavery... We can look at her experiences with Schoolteacher (her direct relationship with slavery), her relationship with both Halle and Paul D, and her relationship with her children (Beloved and Denver). Sethe is greatly characterized by her actions, and is also characterized by the people that surround her.

The most prominent point of characterization that directly correlates is her experiences with schoolteacher, and her time spent in slavery. The schoolteacher's lesson on her animal like nature, and the community shunning Sethe tell us a lot about agency during the time of slavery. So? What does it say? What is the point? Here, Morrison is trying to say that African American agency/indenty was not molded by African Americans... Instead, it was prescribed by white slave holders as a means of control and manipulation.

But that wouldn't do, for Sethe. That is clear when Sethe steals food instead of waiting in line, again when she insists on an appropriate dress for her union with Halle, and yet again when she is willing to kill her children. Sethe's willingness to make that sacrifice, an ultimate sacrifice for love, is how Morrison represents the African American response to a lack of agency. It is a way of saying "No future is better than this future." Without children, the familial history dies... Therefore, Sethe's willingness to kill her children, shows the willingness of one to reach an end of slavery, by any (extreme) means necessary.

This is of course, the very beginning of the timeline and metaphor Morrison is making in Beloved. In the next post, we will discuss where and what Denver represents... But before I log off this post, I'd like to add a few notes on why agency, and creating agency for myself, is so important. Historically, agency has been a problem for many people... African Americans, Native Americans, the Jewish, etc. Being part of a minority (Native American, and Western Buddhist) I have been prescribed my agency, instead of letting it speak for itself. I cannot count the number of people who have told me I cannot be Buddhist, because I am American and white... and it that way, I identify greatly with Sethe. However, in contrast, she is being told what she is: an animal, beneath, minor. Historically, I am wondering if we are ever going to get to point where the self defines the self... Meaning, we are who we are... without these prescribed (and often wrong) outside influences.

Welcome!

After many, many attempts, I welcome you to this blog. Wait, no. This blog is more than that. Hopefully, it will do more than just be another place for you to read. Instead, it will be a place where you, and I, can discuss... But what are we discussing? We are going to be discussing idea of agency in American Literature... Specifically, I plan on spending a majority of of this blog dedicated to Toni Morrison's Beloved. 

So what is agency? Why is it so important? New Oxford American Dictionary defines agency as "a department or body providing a specific service for a government..." or "a thing or person that acts to produce a particular result." Here, in this forum, we will being to shape the understanding of agency of African-Americans in the United States. 

Why agency? Why now? Why this blog? As you may have read in my "about me" section, one of my favorite writers is James Baldwin. His literature deals heavily with agency in African American literature... Therefore, naturally, when it came to pick a topic this was already on my mind. On a personal note however, agency affects me a great deal. I am something of a black sheep... A Buddhist in an otherwise Christian family. I also share an interesting heritage with very few, being part Iroquois. 

I should also mention that this blog is a course requirement... Therefore, I'm working with two specific texts... Beloved (Toni Morrison) and Water Ghosts (Shawna Yang Ryan). My goal is to create a substantial analysis within the abstracts of agency among minorities in the United States. 

Lastly, any feed back, additional analysis, and/or commentary is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to speak your mind, this is a completely open space!