Throughout the reading of Beloved,
I have noticed a trend in the relationship between Sethe and Denver. Denver always
seems slightly tentative towards Sethe and we know why. She is scared that her
mother might kill her just like she did with Beloved. For instance, on page 206
(according to my version of the book), Denver states, “When she finishes the
combing and starts the braiding, I get sleepy. I want to go to sleep but I know
If I do I won’t wake up“. It is disturbing
to see the distrust Denver has for her mom, despite no ill intent from Sethe.
The animosity between them, however, hasn’t always existed.
There is a point
in time where Denver is clueless of Sethe’s past. It’s probable that their relationship
might have actually been a normal mother and daughter relationship. The truth comes
out after Denver’s incident with the bullies at her school. The effect of the
truth impacts Denver so much to the point where she is unable to speak for a
few years. Furthermore, her only two brothers left the family because they are afraid
of Sethe.
For me personally,
it felt heartwarming when Denver decides to protect Beloved from Sethe. She is
showing a deep bond with another “person”, in which we have not seen much of.
However, it is even more satisfying when Denver finally begins showing
affection for her own mother (it might have been too late, but it still
counts). As shown on page 243, “The job she started out with, protecting
Beloved from Sethe, changed to protecting her mother from Beloved.” Who would
have thought that Denver would want to protect Sethe from Beloved?
I just think that there are a lot of
significance in the ever-changing relationship between Denver and Sethe. What do
you guys think are some of those significances?
I agree that their relationship is significant. Often, we think of Sethe's actions from her perspective, like, her love for her children is so deep. But we kind of overlook the impact it would actually have on her children. I also thought it was weird that her sons were barely mentioned. She can be so attached to Denver and later Beloved, but I guess her deep love only extends to them? Also, before doing the math in class, I assumed Denver to be much younger than she really was, due to her initial distrust jealousy of Paul D. Like you said it was satisfying when she later protected Sethe from Beloved, seeing their relationship grow but also seeing Denver grow and move on in general.
ReplyDeleteSethe and Denver's relationship gives me the chills. The fact that Denver is afraid to sleep at night for fear that her mother won't let her wake up puts a horrifying twist on Sethe's character. However, I feel that Denver's beliefs are far too critical of her mother. Its as if she doesn't realize the pain that Sethe went through to do something like that. It completely rids the reader of Sethe's perspective and gives us no choice but to fear her. Reminds me of the Native Son trial. If I wasn't the reader, but the audience of Bigger's trial, I would no doubt be afraid of him and label him a criminal. Context is super important so I'm glad that Morrison incorporates what actually happened into the novel.
ReplyDeleteDenver and Sethe's relationship is surely distinct and one that is deeply tainted by the past. For the majority of the novel, Denver didn't seem to like anything Sethe did, and tried to drive Paul D from her. She, being born into freedom, didn't like anything that recounted Sethe's past life, it seemed, and she was of course deathly frightened of her mother's capabilities. But towards the end, something must have changed in Denver to lead the expedition to rid 124 of Beloved's spirit, and I'm not sure what that was.
ReplyDeleteDenver and Sethe have a unique relationship. Sethe cares for Denver, but I feel like it is more of a protective nature than a motherly nature after the murder of her third child. Sethe wants to protect Denver from her own past, Sweet Home and slavery. Denver has basically lived her whole life inside 124. In this relationship, Sethe treasures her daughter too much to allow her to grow up and become independent, also Denver relies too much on her mother to become an individual and act like a woman.
ReplyDeleteIt's not even clear to me that Sethe is necessarily *aware* that Denver is afraid of her--or that she earlier grasped that Howard and Buglar aren't only afraid of the ghost when they run off. We could view this as one of many manifestations of Sethe's refusal or failure to really confront and emotionally deal with the repercussions of her extreme act in the woodshed: she is unrepentant and unapologetic and even defiant, and this reflects her strength (her "iron backbone" as she sits straight up in the wagon when she's taken to jail). But among the fallout she's not reckoning with is the psychological toll this will take on her own children. She can explain away Howard and Buglar leaving as them being afraid of the ghost, and Denver being so close to the ghost as evidence of her loneliness. But in both cases she's failing to grasp, essentially, what the ghost represents, and how her own children are (understandably) haunted by what she's shown she is capable of.
ReplyDeleteOnce we discover what Sethe did that day in the shed of 124, no one is able to look at her the same. In my case, I was permanently a little afraid of Sethe once I found out what she was capable of. This must have also been the case for Denver, as her eyes were opened to the horrors of her mother's past.
ReplyDeleteThat could partially explain why Denver only wants to hear the stories about her own birth and not of what Sethe had to go through. In this story we see how much Sethe went through to save Denver and it seems that Denver looks up to Sethe in a way. We also can tell that she is in fact scared of her mother, but she also wants it to be only her, her mother, and the ghost. She doesn't like it when Paul D arrives and it shows that the bond between her and the "ghost" was the strongest bond she had. That is why she was enjoying spending time with Beloved, but then we see that she does want to protect her mom and doesn't like her punishing herself. In a way, while this book is about the effects of slavery, it could also be seen as a coming-of-age novel for Denver.
ReplyDeleteI found it significant when Denver has to protect Sethe from Beloved because of the close relationship she felt to Beloved when she was just a ghost. I felt like Denver had idealized her "perfect sister" in the ghost of Beloved and this false reality was shattered when Beloved manifested. Beloved obsession with Sethe is one of the reasons that stands out to me on why Denver loses that close connection with her sister.
ReplyDelete