Citation Learning Task

This blog is a part of citation learning task assigned by our professor.   


JACK LONDON'S SOME OF THE POPULAR WORKS MENTION BELOW. 

1 - The call of the Wild

2- White Fang

3- Martin Eden

4- To build a Fire

5- The sea Wolf

Here, I took 5 Major Works of Jack London and Relevant Articals upon it. 

JACK LONDON - THE WOLF

The epigraph of the first chapter of American writer Jack London’s The Call of the Wild sets up the story of a dog named Buck quite nicely. It goes: “Old longings nomadic leap". In this adventure tale of human-animal conflict and its consequences in seven chapters, each one’s title is used to take the theme forward.(DATTA) 

"White Fang is a story about a wolf-dog that is rescued from an abusive and horrible owner, Beauty Smith. With the kindness and love he is shown with his new owner, Weedon Scott, he slowly becomes domesticated, or tame, and defends his new family.

This novel was written in 1906 by Jack London and depicts life in 1800s America, with the Gold Rush and Yukon Territory as the background. This story also changes perspective, or point of view, and allows readers to get closer to the minds of humans and wolves".(ARMENDARIZ) 

Martin Eden is an impoverished sailor who pursues, obsessively and aggressively, dreams of education and literary fame.

He educates himself feverishly and becomes a writer, hoping to acquire the respectability sought by his society-girl sweetheart. She spurns him, however, when his writing is rejected by several magazines and even more so when he is falsely accused of being a socialist. After he achieves fame, she tries to win him back but Martin realizes her love is false. Financially successful and robbed of connection to his own class, aware that his quest for bourgeois respectability was hollow, Eden travels to the Pacific as a sailor again (SMOSER). 

In northern Canada, a solitary hiker and his dog depart from the main yukon train. At the end of their day hike, the man will be reunited with his traveling companions, who he refers to as “the boys” at the Henderson Camp. The man is a newcomer to this area and unfamiliar with the extreme cold temperatures. A weather forecast of fifty degrees below zero does not mean much to the man, who is competent but lacks imagination. Such extreme temperatures promise discomfort, but do not cause him to reflect on the risks, his own death, and his role in the natural world.

"A thrilling epic of a sea voyage and a complex novel of ideas, The Sea-Wolf is a standard-bearer of its genre. It is the vivid story of a gentleman scholar, Humphrey Van Weyden, who is rescued by a seal-hunting schooner after a ferryboat accident in San Francisco Bay. London uses Van Weyden’s ordeal at the hands of a schooner’s devious crew to explore powerful themes of ambition, courage, and the innate will to survive. The Sea-Wolf also introduces Jack London’s most memorable, fully realized character, Wolf Larsen, the schooner’s brutal captain, who ruthlessly crushes anyone standing in his way. As Gary Kinder states in his Introduction, "Wolf Larsen is one of the most carefully carved characters in American literature….London, himself, seems as fascinated as the reader with his own creation."(KINDER) 

WORK CITATION

- Ammendariz, Angie, in a Depth Look at 'White Fang', Study.com, 2022.

- Andrea, Smoser, The Happy Hermit, Andreasmoser.Blog, 2016.

- Dutta, Sudipta, 'The Call of Wild', The Hindu.com, 2018.

- Kinder, Gary, The sea Wolf, Panguinerandomhouse.com

- To build a Fire Summary by Lit Charts. 

Afterwards by Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy - Introduction

Thomas Hardy was a notable poet, short story writer, and novelist, born on June 2, 1840, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. The son of a village stonemason, Hardy is associated with the Naturalist literary movement. Initially trained in architecture, he eventually pursued a career in literature, returning to his first love, poetry, later in life. Hardy published seven volumes of verse, beginning with "Wessex Poems" in 1898, a collection that spanned three decades of his work. Despite his significant poetic contributions, he gained greater fame for his novels, many of which were serialized in magazines and set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. His writing often reflected a declining rural society and the harsh realities of life.

Hardy married Emma Gifford in 1874, but after her death in 1912, he wrote a poignant series of poems titled "Poems 1912-1913" in her memory. In 1914, he married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior. Hardy died in 1928 at Max Gate, and his funeral was held at Westminster Abbey.

Hardy was deeply influenced by poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Wordsworth's "The Leechgatherer" being particularly significant to him. His first unpublished novel, "The Poor Man and the Lady," was written in 1867. Some of his well-known poems, such as "Neutral Tones" and "A Broken Appointment," explore themes of disappointment in love and life. Other notable poems include "Ah! Are You Digging on My Grave," "An August Midnight," "The Dynasts," and "The Darkling Thrush." D.H. Lawrence wrote a study on Hardy, and his influence extended to later poets like Philip Larkin. Hardy's extensive body of work and his focus on the struggles of rural life continue to resonate with readers and scholars alike.

Poem - Afterwards

When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,
     And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,
Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,
     "He was a man who used to notice such things"? 

If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink,
     The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight
Upon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think,
     "To him this must have been a familiar sight."

If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,
     When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,
One may say, "He strove that such innocent creatures should
        come to no harm,
     But he could do little for them; and now he is gone."

If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at
        the door,
     Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,
Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,
     "He was one who had an eye for such mysteries"?

And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,
     And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,
Till they rise again, as they were a new bell's boom,
     "He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?"

Poem Analysis 

The poem takes the form of Hardy imagining his own death and what impressions neighbors and observers might have of him afterwards. It is structured into 5 quatrain (4 line) stanzas, with no strict rhyme scheme or meter, though an iambic rhythm is loosely followed. 


Each stanza follows a similar pattern, the first 1-2 lines set up the imagined time and season of Hardy's death "When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay," "If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink" . Hardy then vividly describes details from nature associated with that time of year through rich imagery and word choice "the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings, / Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk," "the dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight / Upon the wind-warped upland thorn"). The stanza closes with Hardy wondering if neighbors will remark on how he was a person attuned to noticing such natural details and sights.


The use of consonance, rhyme, and texture in Hardy's nature descriptions is particularly striking ("glad green leaves...wings...filmed...silk"). His diction creates vivid tactile impressions. The changing tenses, from present to future to past, reflect the eternal cycle of nature juxtaposed with the fleeting nature of an individual human life. Hardy employs the device of personification, wondering if neighbors will refer to him in the past tense as "He" who appreciated nature's mysteries.

Underlying the poem is the idea that while Hardy's contemporaries may only recognize his deep connection to the natural world in a superficial way after his death, he himself experienced and cherished those moments of nature with a transcendent awareness. The poem's form of imagining impressions from after he is gone allows Hardy to elevate the simple glories of the changing seasons as a lasting reminder of how he felt about the world around him.


Thank you. 

I Want to Know Why by Sherwood Anderson

Sherwood Anderson

Sherwood Anderson was an influential American writer, especially known for shaping the short story form between WWI and WWII. He helped launch the careers of Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. His style, influenced by Gertrude Stein, was simple and conversational. Born in Ohio, Anderson did various jobs before turning to writing. After a breakdown in 1912, he left his business career to focus on literature. Back in Chicago, supported by literary figures like Theodore Dreiser, he published early novels and gained fame with "Winesburg, Ohio" (1919). His other notable works include "Many Marriages" (1923) and "Dark Laughter" (1925).

 I want to know why : summary

"I Want to Know Why" by Sherwood Anderson is part of his 1921 book, "The Triumph of the Egg." It draws from Anderson's own experiences with various jobs around horse stables, reflecting his connections with jockeys, grooms, and trainers. The story follows a 15-year-old boy from Kentucky who loves horses and dreams of being a jockey, though he knows he never will be.

The boy and his friends sneak away to Saratoga, New York, to watch a horse race, driven by his deep passion for horses rather than the adventure itself. Guided by a black man named Bildad Johnson, the boy learns about horses and admires their purity and spirit. He particularly idolizes Sunstreak, a racehorse, and Jerry Tillford, Sunstreak's trainer.

After Sunstreak wins a race, the boy's admiration for Tillford turns to disillusionment when he sees the trainer at a brothel, treating a prostitute with the same affection he showed the horse. This betrayal of his ideals leaves the boy confused and disappointed. Despite a year passing, he remains troubled by what he witnessed, struggling to reconcile his love for horses and his disillusionment with the adult world.

Themes of the story

I Want to Know Why” is a story by Sherwood Anderson. The story is about a boy who escapes with his three friends in pursuit of horse-racing adventures. The story does not expand on the adventures of this vacation. Instead, it focuses on an event where the narrator sees Jerry Tillman, a man he had great admiration for, drunk and in the company of a prostitute. Various themes are eminent in the story, and some of them are discussed below.

Passion is the first theme that is clearly evident in the story. The narrator’s passion for horses is on another level. It is for this reason that he and his three friends escape to go experience horse-racing adventures without permission from their parents. Additionally, the narrator indicates that whenever he sees horses running he gets a “lump up into his throat.” This shows that the narrator has an intense passion for horses. The narrator also depicts the inhabitants of Beckersville as passionate about horses. In his words, he states, “every breath of air you breathe in Beckersville is about horses." He also states that “everything talked about in Beckersville is about horses." These two statements indicate that people in Beckersville are very passionate about horses. It is due to his passion for horses that the narrator begins to idolize Jerry Tillford, a successful horse trainer.

Betrayal is another theme that is evident in the story. First, the narrator and his three friends betray their parent's trust by escaping without informing them. In an ideal situation, it is expected that children ask for permission from parents before they can travel anywhere. However, this is not the case for the narrator and his three friends. Another instance of betrayal is evident in the instance where the narrator finds Jerry Tillman drunk and in the company of a prostitute. This is an indicator that reality is far from what he had formerly perceived it to be. The narrator had so much trust in Tillford and had even started to idolize him. It is evident in the story that the narrator had begun to like Tillford more than he even liked his father. However, after the incident at the brothel, the narrator feels betrayed and lost, hence the title of the story: “I Want to Know Why."

The boy-narrator is a young man growing into the adult world, although he would rather, in a sense, remain a child. This idea is suggested by his wish to stunt his growth by eating a cigar. Although he is thinking in terms of staying small enough to be a jockey, in the larger context of the story it is clear that he is unwilling to face the realities of adulthood. The racetrack, with its magical allure, is a perfect fantasy world for the boy.

The boy’s father, the town lawyer, is something of a disappointment to his son. “He’s all right, but don’t make much money and can’t buy me things, and anyway I’m getting so old now I don’t expect it,” the boy says. In comparison to his friends’ fathers one is a professional gambler the narrator’s father seems rather bland, although the boy appreciates his understanding nature. The reader can recognize that the father is, indeed, a good and wise man, but the narrator, at this age, prefers Jerry Tillford. In fact, he substitutes Jerry for his father on the day of the race. Thus, his shock and his disappointment at Jerry’s transgressions are profound: They are a betrayal of the highest order.

The boy’s horror takes on an even greater significance when the reader reconsiders the boy’s attitude toward horses. As an adolescent, unable to sort out his powerfully confused feelings, the boy has sublimated his sexual urges into the beauty and excitement of racing. Sunstreak is described as a girl whom the boy wants to kiss. The ache, the pain he feels at the horse’s running is also vaguely sexual but made acceptable and understandable to the boy because it is pictured in the terms of his childhood world. When Jerry bridges the gap between the spiritual appreciation of the horse and the sexual lust for the woman, he is unknowingly forcing the boy to face the truth about his own feelings and needs. Because the boy has vested Jerry with the role of father, Jerry’s act precipitates a distinctly Oedipal crisis. The boy at first wants to kill his “father,” whose overt sexual needs reflect the boy’s hidden, confused ones. Thereafter, the world is no longer simple; there are no easy, clean answers.

Thank you.

To The Indians Who Died in Africa by T. S. Eliot

 T. S. Eliot 

Thomas Stearns Eliot  was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at Harvard and in Europe. He moved to England, where he worked as a teacher, banker, and later as an editor for Faber & Faber. He founded and edited the influential literary journal Criterion. Eliot was a daring innovator in 20th-century poetry, believing that poetry should reflect the complexities of modern life, even if it meant being difficult to understand. His early work, like "The Waste Land," focused on the despair of modern society, but his later poetry, such as "The Four Quartets," became more hopeful. Although he was a Christian, he didn't want to be labeled as a religious poet. His essays promoted traditionalism in religion, society, and literature, despite his groundbreaking work as a poet. His plays, including "Murder in the Cathedral" and "The Family Reunion," also explore Christian themes. Eliot's work continues to be influential, with his poems and plays published in collected volumes after his death.

To the Indians Who Died in Africa - Analysis

man's destination is his own village, 
His own fire, and his wife's cooking; 
To sit in front of his own door at sunset 
And see his grandson, and his neighbour's grandson 
Playing in the dust together. 

Scarred but secure, he has many memories 
Which return at the hour of conversation, 
(The warm or the cool hour, according to the climate) 
Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places, 
Foreign to each other. 

A man's destination is not his destiny, 
Every country is home to one man 
And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely 
At one with his destiny, that soil is his. 
Let his village remember. 

This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands, 
And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard. 
Let those who go home tell the same story of you: 
Of action with a common purpose, action 
None the less fruitful if neither you nor we 
Know, until the judgement after death, 
What is the fruit of action. 

Eliot's short poem addresses the Indian soldiers who were sent by the British Empire to fight and die in colonial campaigns in Africa during World War I. On the surface, the poem seems to express sympathy for their sacrifice in foreign lands away from their homeland. 

The opening lines establish a universal desire - "A man's destination is his own village", suggesting every person's rightful place is their native home and birthplace. This sets up a contrast with the displacement and exile imposed on the Indian soldiers by being brought to fight in Africa for the British Empire's interests. 

Eliot evokes images of an idealized village life with men sitting peacefully outside their homes at sunset, surrounded by neighbors, family, and tradition. This nostalgic scene represents the life the Indian soldiers were torn away from. Their "many memories" underscore their up rootedness and the trauma of their violent reality clashing with this pastoral vision. The lines "This was not your land, or ours" and "Let those who go home tell the same story of you" highlight how the Indian soldiers were foreigners dying on African soil, exiled from their true homes, for a colonial empire that did not belong to them or the Africans. Eliot seems to critique how the Empire robbed them of their native identities and cultures.

At the same time, ambiguities and paradoxes undercut a singular anti-imperialist reading. Eliot introduces complexities like "a common purpose" uniting the soldiers' "action", which could justify the imperial war effort. His reflections on destiny, bravery, and sacrifice suggest admiration for the soldiers' roles if not the colonial system itself. The poem's contradictions mirror Eliot's own complicated relationship to tradition and cultural identity. As an American-born poet who became a naturalized British citizen, he inhabited an insider or outsider position reminiscent of the colonized soldiers.

From a postcolonial perspective, the critic argues Eliot's versatile poem anticipates some of the themes explored more explicitly by postmodern colonial resistance writers. Its ambivalences capture the paradoxes and psychic dislocations colonialism imposed. While Eliot does not outright condemn the Empire, his evocative language and imagery illuminate the human costs and injustices endured by the colonized Indian subjects forced into the role of imperial foot soldiers. Their sacrifice is inseparable from questions of national belonging, cultural heritage, and the violence of racial oppression.

By contrasting nostalgic memories of idyllic village life with the stark realities of colonial military service, Eliot poignantly depicts the dislocation and fragmentation of identity thrust upon the Indians by the imperial system. Their shared grave in Africa becomes a symbolic site encapsulating the complex legacies and continuities between colonialism and emerging postcolonial nationalisms. The critic posits that revisiting minor works like this poem through a multicultural lens allows us to recover suppressed perspectives that were present even in canonical high modernists like Eliot. Though not overtly political, the poem's nuances reveal an embedded dialogue about place, rootedness, exile and the human impact of the colonial encounter.

Thank you. 

A Prayer for My Daughter by W. B. Yeats

 William Butler Yeats 

William Butler Yeats was an influential Irish poet, playwright, writer, nationalist, and a key figure in 20th-century literature. He contributed to the foundation of the Abbey Theatre with Lady Gregory and led the Irish Literary Revival. Yeats won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 and served as a Senator for the Irish Free State. 

Born in Sandymount, Ireland, Yeats was a Protestant of Anglo-Irish descent. His father was a lawyer and portrait painter. Educated in Dublin and London, he spent holidays in County Sligo. From a young age, he was interested in poetry, Irish legends, and the occult. His early poetry, influenced by John Keats, William Wordsworth, and others, is characterized by slow-paced and lyrical verses, reflecting his early influences and interests.

A Prayer for My Daughter Summary

In "A Prayer for my Daughter," W.B. Yeats worries about raising his daughter in turbulent times after the war, especially in politically unsettled Ireland. He wants her to have a life filled with beauty, innocence, safety, and security. He hopes she'll be polite, humble, and free from strong opinions or intellectual hatred. Ultimately, he wishes for her to marry into a noble family with deep spiritual and traditional values.

Analysis of Poem 

Yeats wrote this poem shortly after the birth of his first daughter in 1919. The poem expresses Yeats' hopes and prayers for the kind of person he wants his daughter to become. He begins by describing a fierce storm raging outside while his newborn daughter sleeps peacefully, suggesting the turbulent world she has been born into.

Yeats hopes his daughter will have beauty, but not a beauty that makes "a stranger's eye distraught".  He wants her to have an inner grace and courtesy along with her outward beauty. He gives examples of beautiful women from mythology like Helen of Troy and Venus who allowed their beauty to make them vain or lead them into trouble. 

Yeats wants his daughter to be free from hatred and the soul to recover its "radical innocence." He hopes she will have a strong, integrated sense of self where her own "sweet will is heaven's will." He wishes her to have wisdom, charm, and courtesy as the highest virtues of a truly beautiful woman. The poem is written in a lyric form with 10 stanzas of 8 lines each in an intricate rhyme scheme. The meter alternates between iambic and trochaic pentameter lines. Yeats employs many poetic devices like symbolism, personification, paradox, and vivid sonic devices like alliteration, sibilance and onomatopoeia.

To conclude, it is a prayer expressing Yeats' highest hopes for his daughter to develop inner beauty, wisdom and self-possession in the face of the troubled, post-war world she was born into. He wants her to avoid the pitfalls that physical beauty alone can bring.

Thank you.

My Grandmother by Elizabeth Jennings

 Elizabeth Jennings 

Elizabeth Jennings was an English poet known for her personal and clear style. Her poetry often reflects her Roman Catholic faith and love for Italy. She studied at Oxford High School and St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Her first collection, poems, was published in 1953. She won a Somerset Maugham Award for A Way of Looking . She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1992.

My Grandmother - Summary 

This poem explores the relationship between the speaker and her dead grandmother. The poem starts with the speaker talking about her grandmother's antique shop, where she used to collect and polish items the speaker didn't find valuable. The speaker remembers refusing an invitation from her grandmother to go shopping, and she still feels guilty about it. As the grandmother gets older and frail, she has to close the shop and move a few items to a small room in her home. After her grandmother dies, the speaker goes through her belongings and reflects on her grandmother's life.

Stanza Wise Analysis 

Stanza One

In the first stanza of 'My Grandmother,' the speaker talks about how the grandmother was defined by her love for her antique shop. The speaker quickly adds that maybe the shop actually "kept" her grandmother. This means the shop might have been so important to her that it gave her purpose and kept her busy every day.

The grandmother had many things in the shop, like heavy furniture. This shows that while the speaker might have respected how much the grandmother cared about the shop, they didn’t really get why she was so attached to what seemed like worthless items. The speaker recalls seeing her grandmother in the shop, looking at her own reflection in the polished brass and silver items. The grandmother was very devoted to taking care of the shop and its contents. The speaker thinks she did this to convince herself that she didn't need anything else in her life, especially not love.

This part of the poem highlights that the grandmother didn't have a loving partner during this time and, even though she acted like she didn't need one, she was actually longing for someone

Stanza Second

In this stanza, the speaker remembers being a child and observing her grandmother's interactions with the items in her shop. Her grandmother's behavior confused and worried her. One particular time stands out when her grandmother asked her to go out, maybe to shop for more items for the store, and the young speaker said no. She was "afraid" and didn't want to be used like the antiques to fill the emptiness in her grandmother's heart, or at least that's what she thought she felt then.

After refusing, she felt guilty for not wanting to spend time with someone who clearly needed companionship. Although her grandmother never said she was hurt by this refusal, the speaker believes she was and still feels the guilt of saying no.

Third Stanza

The third stanza shifts to a time when the grandmother has grown too old and frail to take care of the shop and its many items. She had to close the shop and move a few things she wanted to keep into her home. All her “best things” fit into just one narrow room. Although this line is simple, it is deeply sad. The grandmother’s life had been reduced to a few items in a small room. The speaker also notes that these things didn’t seem particularly valuable. They were smelly and reminded the speaker of "absences where shadows come / That can’t be polished.” The objects only highlighted what was missing from her grandmother’s life and made the speaker think of her grandmother’s loneliness during this time.

The grandmother no longer felt the same comfort from the items she used to polish in her shop. There was nothing in this room that could reflect her image back to her and provide a sense of identity and purpose.

Stanza Fourth

The final stanza jumps to the time after the grandmother has died. Following her death, the speaker doesn’t feel any guilt about her passing but still feels guilty about refusing to go out with her grandmother when she was younger. The speaker describes walking into the grandmother’s narrow room filled with items from her antique shop. These items, like sideboards and cupboards, were things the grandmother never used for storage but felt she “needed.” This underscores how the items in the shop provided the grandmother with the comfort she lacked from human relationships.

The speaker observes the cupboards and sideboards, noting that there were “no finger marks…there.” The items were clean and undamaged, only beginning to gather “new dust falling through the air.” The dust collecting on these meticulously cared-for items for the first time signifies the end of the grandmother’s life and highlights the importance she placed on these mundane objects.

Thank you.

Beloved by Tony Morrison

 About Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was one of the most celebrated and influential authors of her time. Born in 1931 in Ohio, she faced racial discrimination from a young age but found solace in reading and writing. Morrison made history as the first African-American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her powerful novel Beloved, which explored the traumatic legacy of slavery. Her other acclaimed works, such as The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon, shed light on the African-American experience and race relations in the United States, earning her numerous prestigious awards and honors. In addition to her novels, Morrison wrote plays, essays, and children's books. She taught at various universities, including Howard and Princeton, inspiring generations of writers with her groundbreaking literature. Morrison's lasting impact on American literature was recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other accolades, before her passing in 2019.

Brief overview of Beloved

Beloved begins with Sethe, a former enslaved woman, living in Cincinnati after the Civil War with her daughter Denver. Their home is haunted by the ghost of Sethe's other daughter who died as an infant when Sethe tried to kill her children to save them from slavery. Paul D, who knew Sethe from the plantation where they were slave, arrives and his presence forces Sethe to confront her traumatic past. 

A mysterious pregnant woman named Beloved then shows up and moves into their home. Sethe comes to believe Beloved is the reincarnation of her dead daughter. Beloved grows extremely attached and abusive towards Sethe, controlling her movements and demanding her undivided attention. After learning that Sethe killed her infant daughter by slitting her throat, Paul D leaves, disturbed by Sethe's past act. 

As Beloved's behavior becomes increasingly parasitic, Denver finally breaks free from the house to get help from the community. They rally together to exorcise Beloved from the home. After a confrontation, Beloved disappears, allowing Sethe and Denver to begin healing. Through the metaphor of Beloved's haunting presence, the novel explores the lasting psychological impacts and intergenerational trauma caused by the inhumane institution of slavery.

Major Characters Analysis

Sethe

An iron-willed, iron-eyed woman, Sethe is haunted not only by the ghost of her dead daughter but also by the memories of her life as a slave. While she has been scarred by the physical brutality of schoolteacher's nephews, she seems even more deeply disturbed by her discovery that most white people view her as nothing more than an animal. She asserts her humanity through her determination to reach freedom and to give her children a free life. Her escape from Sweet Home demonstrates the force of her will to overcome impossible circumstances and foreshadows the desperate measures that she'll take to keep her children from becoming slaves.

                  

Much of Sethe's internal struggle also derives from her ambiguous relationship with her mother. Because of the long hours her mother worked, Sethe barely knew her. However, through Nan she knows that she was the product of a loving union. Of all her mother's children, Sethe was the only one given a name and allowed to live. The comfort she may derive from this knowledge is tempered, though, by the suspicion that her mother was trying to run away when she was caught and hanged. If her mother was indeed trying to escape, she was abandoning Sethe in the process. This abandonment was twofold, because her mother not only left Sethe without her only living relative, but she also forced Sethe to face the horrors of slavery on her own.Her mother's abandonment affected Sethe deeply and helps explain the choices she makes as a mother. Notice Sethe's resolve not to do the same thing to her children. She refuses to leave them without a mother when they've gone ahead to Ohio, and she risks her own life to reach them. When faced with the reality that her children may be sent back into slavery, Sethe chooses to free them through death rather than allow them to encounter even a portion of her past experiences. In Sethe's mind, killing her children to save them from slavery is the ultimate expression of a mother's love.

Beloved

Some debate exists over the identity of Beloved. While some critics claim that she is the spirit of Sethe's murdered daughter, others argue that she is a human woman who is mentally unstable. The most common interpretation of the Beloved character, however, is that she is the spirit of Sethe's dead child and, as Denver notes, "something more." That something more is a collective spirit of all the unnamed slaves who were torn from their homes in Africa and brought to America in the cramped and unsanitary holds of slave ships. You can find evidence for this interpretation in Beloved's stream of consciousness narrative in Chapter 22. In this chapter, Beloved remembers crouching in a hot place where people are crowded together and dying of thirst.Because Sethe's mother came from Africa, the experience that Beloved remembers is also Sethe's mother's experience. In a sense, Beloved is not only Sethe's daughter but her mother as well. Because Beloved is supernatural and represents the spirit of multiple people, Morrison doesn't develop her character as an individual. Beloved acts as a force rather than as a person, compelling Sethe, Denver, and Paul D to behave in certain ways. Beloved defines herself through Sethe's experiences and actions, and in the beginning, she acts as a somewhat positive force, helping Sethe face the past by repeatedly asking her to tell stories about her life. In the end, however, Beloved's need becomes overwhelming and her attachment to Sethe becomes destructive.

Notice that Morrison dedicates the book to "sixty Million and more," an estimated number of people who died in slavery. Beloved represents Sethe's unnamed child but also the unnamed masses that died and were forgotten. With this book, Morrison states that they are beloved as well.

Denver

Denver experiences the most positive personal growth in Beloved and represents the African American hope for the future. Sethe comments that Denver is a charmed child, and indeed Denver seems to survive impossible circumstances. However, physical survival is not enough. Denver displays intelligence and promise as a child, but her innocence is destroyed when she discovers what Sethe did to her sister and planned to do to her as well.

            

With the loss of her brothers and grandmother, Denver becomes increasingly isolated and self-centered. Even as a young adult, her attitude is still very childlike; for instance, she behaves rudely when Paul D arrives and wants only to hear stories about herself. Denver's initial immaturity demonstrates how Sethe's inability to escape her past has also trapped her daughters. One daughter, Beloved, is dead and remains forever a child haunting their house, and the other daughter, Denver, lives as a child, never venturing beyond her own yard.Beloved's arrival at 124 marks the beginning of Denver's transformation. She finally has someone to devote herself to — someone to love. Note how Denver becomes industrious after Beloved arrives, whereas before she was lazy. As Beloved gradually takes over the house and weakens Sethe, Denver recognizes that the family's survival rests upon her shoulders. Denver is finally able to step out of Sethe's world into the outside world and begin her own life. By the end of the novel, Denver is a mature young woman who has become a part of a larger community and who appears to have a future of love and family ahead of her.

Thank you.