Saturday, March 18, 2017
Spirits
The voices that Stamp Paid here's when he tries to knock on Sethe's door represent all of the dead blacks who have suffered and were not permitted to have livable lives because of slavery. Stamp Paid remarks how Baby Suggs is a rarity because she dies in bed and was free, but she did not even have a livable life due to Halle's disappearance and Sethe's somewhat successful murder of her own children. Even the most educated, well-mannerred blacks suffered the same fate in the long run. This is the same way that Baby Suggs felt after she tried her hardest, but the whites still came into her yard.
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4 comments:
Baby Suggs was successful for herself, but not for Sethe and Halle. She tried to give them a better life by become free, but failed. I think she lived with this guilt all her life. Even though she was physically free, her mind was trapped in guilt.
I think the fact that the spirits are heard at this specific location points to the significance of 124. For some reason, the spirits are drawn to it. This could be because of the events that occurred when Sethe killed Beloved, but I think it is more likely due to the house being the place that Baby Suggs died. Baby Suggs was a great spiritual leader in the community and, as such, the place where she died could likely attract spirits.
It also may have to do with the community in general. Baby Suggs died free, but beloved died because the black community did not warn sethe about he four horseman. Maybe the voices come from the community and from other freed slaves who died due to the community not caring for one another and looking out for each other.
This is also why Morrison says the jungle spreads throughout the community. Even to the blacks that are educated and free. They still have the jungle inside them because this is a shared pain that everyone in the community feels. Even if they were "free" and educated and well off, there was still extreme racism and turmoil.
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