" . . . If you go there—you who was never there—if you go there and stand in the place where it was, it will happen again; it will be there, waiting for you . . . even though it’s all over—over and done with—it’s going to always be there waiting for you."
This week, I would like to talk about the importance of this quote taken from a passage in chapter 3 of Beloved. Sethe (the main character) is talking about how she thinks the past is a "physical entity" and and it is destined to repeat it self. I think this shows her narrow view of things, and she doesn't really try to redeem herself. She tells this quote to Denver, her daughter, and this sort of instills bad values in her I would think. It definitely shows how Sethe regrets what she did, but she seems like she would rather live with it than go for redemption.
hmmm... That's how a lot a of people live. and that's how people think. "Why live for the future when it doesn't matter?"
ReplyDeleteI have meet a lot of people who think like that I find it very sasd because they never take chances or anything like that. They just let things stay the same so they don't have to deal with trying something new.
ReplyDeleteI believe the past repeats itself. Human history has shown such. It is sad that is how they live their life though.
ReplyDeleteI think what Sethe is expressing here is her inability to break from her past...that her past will always haunt her...like an entity present in her life. Which now that I think about it, makes Beloved make more sense to me. You'll see what I mean as you continue to read. I never felt that Sethe was selfish; I always felt that she was trapped in a past that would never forgive nor ever forget. Now, who kept her trapped there, society or herself, is a much more difficult question. But what was difficult to "watch" is how she dragged Denver into her sadness...although she just didn't have the strength to push Denver away. It's a fascinating dynamic and fascinating story.
ReplyDeleteI think that reading Toni Morrison is like tackling a riddle...a complex, beautiful riddle that I can't resist. This is definitely a novel I wanted to hash over with someone who had read it so they could help me figure it out. Great choice of a quote, btw.