At first this book kind of confused me. I didn't really understand how there could be a ghost of a baby in any form of literature, it just doesn't make sense. Why would a baby linger around after death? Perhaps I haven't read far enough to get the answer, but any answer still doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Its a baby, don't they like get a free pass into heaven or something? Like, why does this baby care so much about making everyone miserable? Why is the ghost baby so mean to the dog? Who names their dog Here Boy?
When I started this class, I wasn't expecting to read a book quite like this one. I wasn't ready to suspend my disbelief and accept there were ghosts (although I kind of believe in them... its complicated). This book just uses the paranormal like I use my cellphone, often enough for it to be worrying. In Invisible Man, I didn't know it was even a fiction at the start, then again I don't know a lot of things, I just know enough to survive (and knowing if a book is fiction or not isn't the same as knowing how to breath or filter feed). Invisible Man felt very believable, where as this book seems like it could be real, but likely isn't (if that makes any sense).
I don't know, there's just something about the ghost baby that takes me out of this novel, but at the same time throws me back in. I'm reading the book like, yeah yeah this might be on the test, but then I'm like, WOW, did this baby just throw a dog at a wall!? This book gives me mixed reviews.
When I started this class, I wasn't expecting to read a book quite like this one. I wasn't ready to suspend my disbelief and accept there were ghosts (although I kind of believe in them... its complicated). This book just uses the paranormal like I use my cellphone, often enough for it to be worrying. In Invisible Man, I didn't know it was even a fiction at the start, then again I don't know a lot of things, I just know enough to survive (and knowing if a book is fiction or not isn't the same as knowing how to breath or filter feed). Invisible Man felt very believable, where as this book seems like it could be real, but likely isn't (if that makes any sense).
I don't know, there's just something about the ghost baby that takes me out of this novel, but at the same time throws me back in. I'm reading the book like, yeah yeah this might be on the test, but then I'm like, WOW, did this baby just throw a dog at a wall!? This book gives me mixed reviews.
Good post! I also found myself extremely confused with the ghost baby. I remember there being a comment in class about why the baby would become a ghost. Usually ghosts are a thing because there is something that they still need to do. But what would the baby still have to do? Does she have to heal Sethe (given how close Beloved is with Sethe)? I guess we will have to wait and find out!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I was also really unprepared for this book coming into this class. I was kind of expecting all of them to be some mix of history and realistic fiction like Native Son and Invisible Man and I was not prepared at all for the kind of magic that happens in Beloved. I think it really helps the tone of the novel though and I don't feel like it really takes anything away from the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this book just forces you to accept what you in real life believe to not be real. But it's also very confusing because sometimes I'll read depictions of the horrors of slavery in the novel, and it'll seem almost as unreal as the idea of a ghost baby. Slavery was real though, and I think it's very interesting that the idea of being "haunted" in comparison doesn't even seem that crazy.
ReplyDeleteCool post! I totally agree with you about not expected a ghost story. When I read the first reading I got so confused because I didn't expect a ghost to appear. As for your questions, we now know why the baby is lingering. However, we don't know why the baby hates the dog. My best guess would be that the baby is jealous of the dog.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I really like how Morrison uses an actual ghost to show how Sethe is haunted by the past. Reading your post reminded me of Here Boy, though. I wonder if Beloved hates him for a particular reason and if we'll find out what it is.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I find it kind of charming how Morrison asks, or really requires, us to believe that ghosts are real. It's also really interesting because you'll find supernatural elements in many books very often, but they're not usually mixed in with historically painful and sensitive topics like slavery. I think this is part of the reason the book is so discombobulating-- it oscillates between being a tragically honest portrayal of the transition from slavery to "emancipation" and a completely crazy ghost story. But once you come to terms with the different contexts, I think the book does a really good job at weaving these two things together.
ReplyDelete