Heritage, Past, and Identity

As we've talked about in class, Sethe has throughout the book tried to block out her past and all that she has gone throughout because of the tremendous suffering it has brought her. However, Beloved leads Sethe to tell her story and all that she has gone through, and Sethe does not struggle about thinking about the past as much as she usually does because she feels open sharing her past with Beloved. I think that as Sethe's character progresses through the book, we come to see that although her past was full of extreme hardships and suffering, her past is a huge part of who she is. I think that the more Sethe tries to ignore and put aside her past, the more she struggles with her identity. As we've mention in class, sharing a cultural history with others is extremely important and uniting, and most of all, it plays an extremely important role in shaping Sethe's identity. I think one of Beloved's roles in the book is to bring Sethe to confront her past and history, which truly does form her identity. The whole idea of oral tradition shows how the past is carried onto the present, as people tell the stories of their ancestors that influence their lives at that moment; In a similar way, Beloved brings Sethe closer to her past, which helps Sethe understand herself and her present life more.