Focus: Investigating Beloved's assault on/seduction of/rape of Paul D
1. Announcements!
2. Watching an interview with Toni Morrison: What does she reveal that sheds light on your reading on Beloved?
3. Investigating how the opening and closing lines of the first twelve chapters prepare us for the "red heart" scene
4. Socratic seminar: Chapters 9-12 of Beloved
HW:
1. Work on your critical review. Just kidding! You're already done!
2. Begin reading for Wednesday's Socratic seminar, which will cover chapters 13-15.
Socratic Seminar 9-12
ReplyDeleteP 105. “Her faith her love…” 28 days specific number. Only numbers we see are 124, why is 28 a significant number? Could be February.
28 days could be menstrual cycle. Cycle of woman also cycle of moon. 28 days after they arrived at 124, is when bad stuff happened.
Interesting that Beloved came before Amy Denver, Amy means Beloved
P 119, Denver says, “I fixed it didn’t i…” What is the significance of choking Sethe then fixing it?
Weird love where she chokes her out then fixes it, could be vampirism, power over the other characters. Circle of iron confusing.
Sethe thinks of beloved as a positive part of her life, and then it quickly turns into choking. There is something insidious about Beloved.
Denver is still idolizing Beloved, sister relationship
Relationship between Sethe and Denver is falling apart. Denver needs to love Beloved, why doesn’t she love her mother, who has been a solid figure for her?
Denver transitions into loneliness once Baby Suggs dies and her brothers leave, then when Beloved comes, she attaches to her.
Everyone is attached to one another. Beloved to Sethe, Denver to Beloved, Sethe to Denver.
Denver associates the pain of her family leaving with Sethe, so she attaches to Beloved.
What do you think about Baby Suggs in the field? P. 104
Dancing reminded us about Native Americans.
What is the better way to live? Letting loose or do things to prevent yourself from loving other things. Where does Sethe fit into that?
They claim themselves as free people in this section. Bottom of 103, “in this here place…” So much dismantling of the human body in slavery, Baby Suggs ability to empower others, to reassemble themselves.
ReplyDeleteJuxtaposition between this scene and the one where Paul D talks about his tobacco tin heart.
P 137, “So while she hoisted her skirts…” Significance of Turtle imagery. Literally the turtles are mating before, and that’s what this current scene is. Turtles have shells, what’s Beloved’s shell?
Why do think there is so much emphasis on moving Paul D out of the house?
Shows her power over him, forced him into this situation.
Why does she have such a strong presence outside of the house? What is the significance of the cold room?
She is trying to distance herself and Paul D from Sethe
Beloved is almost a sadistic mother figure to Sethe
From Foster, sex scenes are never really about sex, what is this sex scene really about? Why does he say “red heart, red heart” at the end? Was this Paul D’s breaking point?
Why is Beloved the one who releases this in Paul D, why wasn’t it Sethe?
Emphasis on word red, is like Baby Suggs requesting that color is brought to her.
Beloved is the only one who can do it because she was dead and came back to life, and can bring Paul D’s dead heart back to life.
Beloved forces the others to retell stories from the past, only person who can do that.
Beloved is a living embodiment of their memories, reemergence of things that they tried to put behind them.
P 86 “its lids rested…” Repetition of Red Heart
Jake, What is the meaning of the pennies?
Tanner, Flakes of rust during sex scene, Red Heart means that Paul D is becoming more human
Kailee, liked the quote, “only grace…”
Joy is confused about the sex scene
Zac, Baby Suggs in the field is similar to Invisible Man, rebirth scene
Jessica, Trying to find Beloved in the dark.
Evelyn, was it Beloved’s intention to have Denver obsessed with her?
Kyle, why didn’t they name the crawling baby?
Nate, confused about cellar scene.
Emily, why Morrison adds part about not looking back in sex scene?
Eric, Interesting image of him waking up, Like Inception, had to kill themselves to wake up. Painful jolt to wake Paul D up.
Ariel, wondering about scene where Paul D flashes back to cages.
Cayla, Beloved feeds off of other people
Mrs. Leclaire, About Paul D’s flashback, “They talked through that…” major rebirth scene
David, p 146, Word choice is interesting, Beloved is the house, she is
Kara, Sex scene shows the control Beloved has over everyone
Margot, Beloved gets power from recognizing weakness
Emily, the Cherokee and buffalo men
Katy, why there is a change in verb tense?
Anna, wondering about the hi man
Britt, liked quote on top of page 133, tree imagery