What picture of racial violence do you find in Beloved?

Racial violence  in Beloved

"Beloved" is one of the famous novels of slavery by Tony Morrison. She was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1993 for her immense contribution to American literature. This American novelist was also awarded Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She was born in 1931 and still now she writes novels and short stories. She is now a professor of literature of Princeton University in the U.S.A. "Beloved" deals with racial violence in America. She is an anti-racist novelist. She thinks that racism is a big threat to the development of a country. She portrays the real picture of the then racism through some characters. This novel also deals with the negative effects of slavery. Tony Morrison is against slavery. She is a follower of 16th American President Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Junior and African President Nelson Mandela. Slavery is an inhuman practice. Lincoln abolished this heinous slavery from the soil of America in 1863. Sethe is the protagonist of "Beloved". She was a victim of racial violence. She was sold as a slave when she was 13 years old. Later on, she suffered a lot. Her misery knew no bound. She was a mother of four children. She killed one of them with her own hand. The picture of racial violence is discussed below.

Before the American Civil War, racism was very acute in America. The black Americans were the victims of injustice, oppression, corruption, suppression and inequality of the white people. The white Americans considered them as beasts. The blacks did not dare to protest against their injustice and oppression. They were deprived of all kinds of civil rights. They were sold in market as slaves. They were sold according to auction. The life of the black Americans was very miserable. The white people behave as if the black people were dogs. Abraham Lincoln realized and saw the suffering of the black Americans. After becoming the President of America, he was determined to abolish slavery from America. Eventually, he was successful in his mission. But he was killed by an actor named Booth in 1865 for abolishing this system. He will never be forgotten for his immense achievement. He delivered his famous 2 minutes’ speech "Gettysburg Address" in 1863 where he said something against racism. In this speech, he said, "Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people." Martin Luther King Junior was firm against racism. He was a Negro leader. He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1965 for his fight against racism. He delivered his notable speech "I Have a Dream" in 1963 against racism. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years for his battle against racism. So, we see that many great people fought against racism. Still now Tony Morrison is fighting against racism through her writing.

Sethe was sold as a slave to the plantation of Mr. Garner. The name of this plantation was Sweet Home. She was the only female slave in this plantation. Other male slaves are Sixo, Paul D, Paul F, Paul A, Halle. Paul A, Paul S and Paul were brothers. She had to face the lusty violence from her male slaves. She fell in love with Halle. He was a kind and good male slave. He also loved her deeply. Later on, they married each other. She became a mother of three children by Halle. Her sons were Howard and Buglar and only daughter was unnamed. It must be mentioned that her master Mr. Garner and Mrs. Garner were very kind and affectionate. They had humanity. When Mr. Garner died, a school teacher became the owner of the plantation. The school teacher was a deadly racist. He tortured the slaves. The slaves were extremely dissatisfied with his behaviour. He was a racist like Mary Turner of "The Grass is Singing" by Doris Lessing. Sethe and other slaves planned to escape from the plantation. They tried but some of them were captured. Sethe was captured but she was pregnant that time. The nephews of the school teacher violated her physically. Later, the school teacher whipped her severely. Her husband Halle was also captured and he was tortured cruelly. To see the painful condition of his wife Sethe, he became mad. The school teacher killed Sixo, a good slave. Regarding slavery, Paul D tells Sethe,

"We got more yesterday than anybody We need some kind of tomorrow."

Sethe escaped from the plantation somehow. Before that, she sent her three children to her mother-in-law named Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs was also a slave. Sethe became senseless in a forest. Later on, a white girl named Amy Denver saved and took care of her. With the help of Amy Denver, Sethe gave birth to a daughter in the boat. Since Amy Denver helped her a lot, she named her newly born child Denver. Later, she went to her own house at 124 with her new daughter. She passed 28 days in her house with Baby Suggs. The school teacher went to her house to capture her and her children. She fled from her house with her children. She wanted to kill all her children because she did not want to see them as slaves. She killed her eldest daughter with her knife. This daughter is none but Beloved. That is, we can say that Beloved is the spirit of her dead daughter.

In fine, we can say that "Beloved" is a real picture of racism in contemporary society. Tony Morrison expresses her hatred against racism and slavery in her novel. She requests her readers to hate racism. Many writers wrote novels and poems against racism. We cannot say that racism has been removed from this world. Still, now, racism is prevalent in our society. It is our sacred duty to hate racism and racists. Tony Morrison deserves our love and appreciation for her fight against racism.