Haunted by the Past

Beloved is a novel in which the past is inextricably intertwined with the present and the future. Some say in metaphorically that “your past may come back to haunt you,” but in Beloved this metaphor is brought into physical terms. When an escaped slave named Sethe must murder her infant daughter to keep her from the clutches of slavery, that baby comes back with a vengeance: “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom” (1). These intriguingly confusing opening lines depict the physical phantasm of the tale. However, there is yet another ghost: the memory of slavery. Slavery’s lingering effects can be seen in how each occupant of the town is said to be broken in some way. Sethe’s experiences, however horrible, are the norm there.  

For Sethe, that past acts like an anchor, weighing her down so she is stuck in stagnation. For her one act of love for her children and defiance toward slavery, the community ostracizes her. While the others in that community too have experienced the horrors of slavery, they shun Sethe for killing her daughter to keep that child from what Sethe believed to be a worse fate than death. She is stuck in this miserable situation with no one but her daughter and the ghost of her baby, almost reminiscent of Sweet Home, in which at least they were all together.

When Paul D, who represents the future, appears in front of Sethe, she is shocked. Soon she is happy, for she is with someone who has experienced what she has, so they have an understanding without Sethe needing to explain anything. Paul D believes that he Sethe, and Denver can start anew and become a family. But Denver does not not want this, as she is as stuck in the past as Sethe is.

Eventually, Denver accepts Paul D, and thus metaphorically accepts that there may be a future for her and her family. She is even to become the “project” of a rich white family. However, looking to the further here, although rose tinted, is speckled with problematic holes. That white family, while said to be a progressive one, has a coin bank reminiscent of the one we see in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Therefore, everything is not as perfect as it seems.

Poetry's Pointless

            Although the ending of Paul Beatty’s White Boy Shuffle was revealed in the beginning of the novel, I was not ready for it. All the hilarious jokes took a terribly bitter turn, and while there were still points that could be laughed at, mainly I was struck dumb by the horrors. The question I asked myself is what is the author doing by depicting the events in this way? I couldn’t answer this at first, so I found myself disliking the ending with a passion. Our discussions in class, however, enlightened me about the terrible ending’s purpose. At first glance, the hopelessness of the White Boy Shuffle’s end could causes blindness of the important and cutting criticisms that it entails.

            When I read of Nicholas’ suicide, I was left numb. I did not know what to feel. This is Beatty’s intent: while depression that can be seen through Gunnar’s actions, that sadness is never vocalized because it cannot be. I would like nothing more than for Nicholas to come back and for the happy trio of Gunnar, Nicholas and Yoshiko to be reunited. In class we pondered the question why does their death mean so much to us? It is because Gunnar and his friends were our entertainment. Sure, we may feel something for them, but that is really just another part of being entertained. In the book, the words and actions of even unrealistically brilliant poets are simply enjoyed, but not acted on. Could it be the same in our world? In this way, Beatty intertwines racial commentary with self reflection and ideas about the point of poetry and written word in general.

            So, if a poet whose book is clutched by every American can’t make any change, what is the point in continuing to thrash around uselessly? We might as well go out with what little honor we have left. Did you guys have any different thoughts? I'd be glad to hear them. 

Hurston, a Pale Poet?

When a writer creates a world that mirrors our own, they usually attempt to shed light on a larger truth about reality. Hurston’s Their eyes were watching god has clear parallels with our world: the dialect spoken by the people has accuracy that stems from Hurston’s extensive anthropological work. Even the locations in the novel have their counterparts in the reality, as Eatonville is an actual place in Florida. Primarily, Their eyes were watching god attempts to convey the then revolutionary idea that in the south and the “muck” there is a vast amount of beautiful African American culture. While this depiction may be realistic, however, Hurston’s Their eyes were watching god may have negative consequences regarding the advancement of racial equality.

Hurston's novel depicts the African Americans’ experience in the south and the 'muck' as pleasurable, so the the white reader may think that there is no need for to promote social change. When working on bean fields, ostensibly under the oversight and pay of white owners, Jamie and Teacake have great fun. This may be shocking for some readers to hear and cause them to label Hurston as a ‘pale poet’, because the then ‘non-pale’ view is that the work of those migrant African American workers is backbreaking and horrible. Therefore, it is very revolutionary that Hurston depicts that life as enjoyable. This depiction may lead some white readers to think that there is no reason for aid, which is the very opposite of the effect needed for any improvement. Hurston, however, would have thought of the lack of necessity of white aid as fine because of her intense pride in African Americans. While Hurston strongly supports equality, she thinks that African Americans can find a way out of the systematic racism themselves. In the documentary on Hurston, when segregation was abolished by the government, Hurston disparages the ruling in her writing, calling it an insult to African Americans. Hurston’s personal actions are an example of the problems that could be caused by such a belief.

Basically, Hurston’s novel and her beliefs could have consequences that are contrary to those necessary to create equality and end the oppression of African Americans. However, this suggests that African Americans writers should only depict African American experience as terrible—an idea which I find repulsive. But, shedding emotions and viewing this subject through the lens of pure logic, could this disgusting idea have some basis in reality? Is Hurston a pale poet? Even if she is a pale poet, is there a problem with that? Tell me what you think.